Curiosity brought me to the first official meeting of the Affiliate Council in December 1994, in a high-ceilinged room at the Waldorf-Astoria, where I joined about forty other candidates from institutes across the country. There had been previous candidate organizations in The American, but not one so formally constituted.
As I listened to the discussions, various questions occurred to me: How did people become members of the Affiliate Council committees? How were the officers running the meeting chosen and elected? What could I contribute? I felt like the newcomer on the first day of school, certain that the others had all known each other for years and that I was the outsider. Soon, though, I learned there were other newcomers, and that the Council was in the process of defining itself and its role. As the meeting progressed, a vigorous debate began over how candidates should be appointed to committees of The American — through the recommendation of the Nominations Committee of the Affiliate Council, or the traditional “tapping” method (recommendation based on personal contact with The American's committee members)? The debate was fascinating, and I gained my first insights into the Council's operation. I deepened my understanding by talking with fellow candidates informally, thus beginning a varied network of relationships.
Soon I no longer felt like the new kid in the class. I became intrigued by an exciting and worthwhile enterprise, and I began to see how I could participate.
At the next meeting of delegates, in December 1995, we discussed the degree to which power should be concentrated within the Executive Committee. Many candidates called for establishing a more democratic process for the nomination and election of officers. At that time, our Nominations and Executive Committees were tightly intertwined. The Nominations Committee was chaired by the immediate past-president of the Council, and its members were all appointed by the president of the Council. The Nominations Committee would request that the candidates put forward names of people to be considered for offices. The committee then chose one candidate for each of the offices and offered that list of candidates to the delegates for their approval. In effect, therefore, the election took place largely within the Nominations Committee, and not among the delegates at large.
This was a structure largely inherited from our parent organization, and it served us well in the early stages of the Affiliate Council's evolution. However, many candidates felt that a process offering greater inclusiveness and opportunity was essential. (A large part of this evolution has already been chronicled by Leslie Brown, Hinda Simon, and Glenn Good in this column.) In less than three years we have made a great deal of progress in developing a more democratic Affiliate Council. This progress is founded on the efforts of Marvin Margolis and others, who did so much to facilitate the involvement of affiliate members in the Association. The issues within our Council were often hotly debated, and a great deal of expertise and thought was contributed by both affiliates and members of The American. Robert Pyles and George Roark came to our Council's May 1996 meeting in Los Angeles and helped us focus on our goals and purpose.
During the course of our proceedings, numerous changes and additions to the Affiliate Council's bylaws were passed. Many dedicated and thoughtful people spent hours working on proposed changes, including Karen Sabovich, Joan Liebermann, and Lee Jaffe. After much work and discussion, the most significant additions to the bylaws stipulated that nominations should be solicited in advance, in writing, from all delegates; that there should be two or more candidates for an office whenever possible; that the Executive Committee and the Nominations Committee should be separate bodies; and that all members of these committees should be elected by the entire Affiliate Council.
In fall 1996, we had the satisfaction of seeing our efforts come to fruition in our first contested election for the president and officers of the Council. This event had a different cast than expected, though, after then-president-elect Hinda Simon found that she would be unable to serve her term as president in 1997. The Executive and Nominations Committee members requested that the two nominees for president-elect agree to run for president instead. Both agreed, and the election proceeded. At the same time, a referendum was held, and a substantial majority of the delegates voted to hold a second election early in 1997 to fill the post of president-elect, rather than appoint the runner-up. The success of this election was in large part due to the dedication and work of David Orbison, then chair of the Nominations Committee and previously the Council's first president. A letter was sent to each delegate, describing the offices to be filled and calling for nominations. The submissions were reviewed and approved by the four Nominations Committee members. Platform statements were requested from each of the nominees which were then distributed to all delegates with an explanation of the electoral procedures. Each institute has one electoral vote, so delegates were asked to inform and consult their fellow candidates before casting that vote. Delegates of twenty-six of the twenty-nine member institutes returned their ballots. At the December 1996 Council meeting, the mailed ballot procedure was overwhelmingly ratified, and the results of the that ballot were announced. Lee Jaffe of San Diego became our president, Jonathan Aronoff of the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute became treasurer, and Joan Liebermann, of the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute, was elected secretary. Recently, Nancy Brehm of the Psychoanalytic Institute of New England East was elected president-elect of the Affiliate Council.
The members of the Nominations Committee were elected by a show of hands at the December 1996 meeting. The Nominations Committee members for 1997 are David Axelrad, Eileen Wachter, Karen Sabovich,
Maxine Gann, whose doctoral degree is from UC Berkeley, is a candidate at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute. She has a private practice in Manhattan, and she has worked at The Spence School and now at St. David's School as a consultant. She chairs the Nominations Committee of the Affiliate Council.
and myself. The chair of the Nominations Committee is now chosen by the members of the committee. As the current chair of the Nominations Committee, I have learned firsthand what is involved in making an election happen. In the process I have benefited greatly from the experience and advice of my colleagues. The Affiliate Council is now an even more vibrant and useful organization than before.
Its growth and evolution is the result of the efforts of its many talented and hard-working members. Special thanks are due to Lee Jaffe for his leadership in making the Council increasingly democratic, responsive, and accessible. There are now more opportunities than ever for candidates to participate in the Affiliate Council and beyond.
The New York Psychoanalytic Institute, in celebration of its 65th anniversary, helped sponsor the affair.