Results are in!
Congratulations to the five (5) newly elected Board Members who will officially take seat on October 15,
2021 joining Celita Schutz and Ed Rodriquez on the Board. Election Committee Chairman, Philippe
Morotti provided a report with the election results below as provided to him from the independent
election company, Association Elections.
USJA Board of Directors
October 3, 2021
Dear Board of Directors:
As you are all aware, the USJA Election for the five (5) open Board of Director seats opened on
September 15 and ended September 30, 2021. The voting process was conducted through Association
Elections, an online, third-party voting company to preserve voting integrity. Members had to be sure
that their profiles were up to date or verified as a Lifetime Member with their own unique email by the
deadline of September 8. Once the data was transferred, no one was allowed to vote who wasn’t on the
approved list. One ballot link went to each unique email.
The voting window was 16 days, ending at 11:59pm PST on Thursday, September 30, 2021. During this
period, a total of 887 ballots were cast and out of these, 887 eligible ballots were counted. There was a
total of seven notifications sent to members as follows: The initial notification on September 15, then
reminders to those who hadn’t voted on 9/18, 9/22, 9/25, 9/27, 9/29, and 9/30.
The new voting system was successful. The top six (6) candidates in the election were as follows:
- Andrew Connelly;
- Peter Mantel;
- John Borsch;
- Robert Reilly;
- Jessie Goldstein;
- Bonnie Korte
One of the requirements to serve as a Director for the USJA is that the individual must be a Member in
good standing. Unfortunately, an Ethics Complaint had been filed against Candidate, Jesse Goldstein, in
July, 2021, which resulted in a thorough investigation by the Standards and Ethics Committee and
ultimately recommending that he not hold a position of leadership for a probational period of two years.
As a direct result, in accordance with Article VII ( C ) (i), Mr. Goldstein is disqualified to serve as a
Director and his position will now be filled by the top sixth (6th) candidate, Bonnie Korte.
Please welcome and congratulate your complete 2021 Board of Directors:
- Celita Schutz;
- Ed Rodriguez;
- Andrew Connelly;
- Peter Mantel;
- John Borsch;
- Robert Reilly;
- Bonnie Korte
It has been an honor and my great pleasure to oversee the 2021 USJA Board election process.
I made it a point to remain unbiased in all conversations and dialogues between parties.
I can assure you that the election has been carried out with the utmost professionalism
and integrity by the independent voting company. It is my sincere hope that the newly elected
board members put their differences aside, and quickly move forward. We need to act in the best
interest of the USJA and in the future of Judo in the United States.
Respectfully
Philippe Morotti
USJA Election Chairman