The Nominating Committee has completed the list of candidates for the election to be held at the Annual Meeting on Tuesday April 11, 7 pm. The nominees are:

President – Matt Sment. Matt joined SWTU in 2014 when he became a volunteer instructor for Project Healing Waters. He has also staffed the Stream Explorer’s activities at the Icebreaker, served on the Nominating committee, served as Vice President and coordinated the 2016 Riversmith Casting Clinic. Matt is co-owner of Badger Tenkara.

Vice President – Tristan Kloss. Tristan has been a TU member since 2008. Prior to moving to Madison, Tristan was active in the Southeastern Wisconsin TU chapter and helped start the Education Committee there. Since moving to Madison he has joined the SWTU Education Committee and has served as Secretary and President the past several years. You can often find Tristan working at the local Orvis store.

Treasurer – Tom Parker. Tom has been a member of TU since 2013. He has served on the Executive Board as a Director, served as Treasurer for the past year and also Co-chaired the 2016 Nominating Committee. Tom has over 30 years’ experience in finance and administration in the insurance industry.

Secretary – Mark Maffitt has been an SWTU member for 25 years. He served on the board for about eight years that included 2 years as vice president. He chaired the Ice Breaker for a couple of year, and served as Newscasts editor for 6 or 7 years. In recent years, he has enjoyed serving (sic) as a March Madness auctioneer and recently stepped into the Secretary position after joining the Board as a Director. He has experience working with other volunteer driven, non-profit organizations (the Bombay Bicycle Club).

Chapter Delegate to the State Council of TU – Scot Stewart. Scot has been a member of Southern Wisconsin TU since 1987, when he moved to Madison. He served on the SWTU BOD in the late 1990’s. He recently retired from Wisconsin DNR after 33 years working in Fisheries Management. Since 2010, he has been actively involved with the State Council as the head of the WDNR Trout Committee, so is knowledgeable about current issues and familiar with many of the members.

Director – Bill Hayes (new nominee) Bill was taught fly fishing for trout over 25 years ago by a friend. Since then he has enjoyed many experiences with family and friends on fishing outings. Most enjoyable, is helping someone learn to fish and develop an appreciation for preserving the environment all life needs to flourish. Bill is active with several area groups sharing the common mission of protecting our waters and joined SWTU in 2015.

Director – Dave Fowler (new nominee) Dave has been a TU member for about 20 years, first with the Harry & Laura Nohr Chapter and more recently with the SWTU Chapter.  While a member of the Nohr Chapter, Dave was on the Board for 6 years and was involved in the Chapter’s various stream restoration projects and drafting the Chapter’s Conflicts of Interest Policy, the first such policy for any TU Chapter.  Over the last 3 years, Dave has been a fly tying instructor for the beginning class at the Fitchburg location.

Topf Wells, Jim Hess, Michael Burda and Mary Ann Doll are all currently serving on the Board as Directors and would like to continue. They are active on many initiatives. Topf is helping to lead our advocacy efforts. Jim chairs our Conservation Committee. Mike is very involved in the Healing Waters program. And Mary Ann co-chaired this year’s Nominating Committee and serves on the Education and Membership Committee.

At the April monthly meeting, the nominees or a member acting on his or her behalf will be given the opportunity to present any information relevant to his or her candidacy.

In addition to the nominees selected by the committee, the chapter bylaws provide that any member may make a nomination from the floor. For those positions with more than one candidate, secret ballots will be used.

Per the Chapter By-laws Amy Klusmeier will be stepping down to make room for two new Directors. Amy has agreed to chair the 2018 Icebreaker, help organize the upcoming Nash Williams Award Banquet (stay tuned for details!), and looks forward to being more actively involved in the Stream Keepers program.

Check out the About section of www.swtu.org for specific details on election procedures and the expectations for each position.

Thanks to Mary Ann Doll and Amy Klusmeier, co-chairs of the Nominating Committee, as well as committee members Tom Thrall, Drew Kasel and Bob Selk.