[press release]
Zais and Moticha Join AFDCS Board

The Board of Directors has two new members: Mike Moticha and Mick Zais. They were running unopposed, along with incumbents Jim Tatum and Lloyd de Vries. The vote totals were:

Lloyd de Vries 236
Michael Moticha 234
Jim Tatum 233
Mick Zais 224

In addition, Fred Collins, Mark Gereb, Michael Rosenthal and David Lorms each received

Michael Moticha and Mick Zais

one write-in vote. The Election Committee chaired by Otto Thamasett (with Jack Ginsburg and Roy Souther) received 245 ballots, of which four were disqualified.

Tatum, who lives in Oregon, was first elected to the board in 2020, de Vries, of New Jersey, in 1986. Moticha is a long-time active member of the Claude C. Ries Chapter (Southern California) and is part of the AFDCS Auction Committee. Zais is a former president of the American Philatelic Society who resigned that post in 2018 to become U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education and later Acting Secretary of Education. He currently lives in South Carolina.

Four seats on the AFDCS Board of Directors are elected each year for three-year terms, beginning Jan. 1. In addition to the 12 elected directors, the president, the editor of the official journal First Days, and the general counsel serve on the board ex officio, if not elected to the board in their own right.

AFDCS directors are not compensated for serving on the board nor reimbursed for their travel expenses.

For more information on the AFDCS, visit www.afdcs.org or write to the AFDCS, PO Box 246, Colonial Beach, VA 22443-0246, or via e-mail at afdcs@afdcs.org.

From AFDCS Auctions chair John White:

With apologies, the pre-packaging and sending of final invoices for Auction 95 has been delayed due to vandalism in the county I live in – Moore County. Unknown parties shot-up multiple power sub-stations throughout the county, leaving over 40,000 people without power. The outage is estimated to extend to Thursday December 8th.

As many of you know, I am a full-time Firefighter/EMT with Aberdeen Fire/Rescue. I was on duty when the incident occurred. We were busy all night running calls of various nature, and assisting law enforcement with traffic control. Today I am at my part-time station, and will be back at Aberdeen tomorrow (Monday).

The lots have already been separated out by the winning bidders. As soon as power is restored, I will be able to get back to the task and get the invoices out to everyone.

According to The New York Times, the local sheriff “said that the attack appeared targeted, but did not provide further details on a motive or suspect.” A state senator called it a “terrible act, and it appears to be intentional, willful and malicious.”

Some of the damaged equipment will need to be replaced completely, and the outages could last until Thursday for some power customers.