Susan A. “Sue” Petrisin will be the first female president-designate of a major international service organization following elections at the 100th Annual Kiwanis International Convention held in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Lance Incitti, of Denville, a member of Denville Kiwanis Club was elected to the Kiwanis International Board of Trustees.

Kiwanis celebrated 100 years of service to children of the world with a pancake lunch and birthday celebration, a playground dedication and a business meeting.

“In being elected it is an opportunity to continue serving the children of the world” said Incitti, a 28-year member of Kiwanis. Incitti has served as a Distinguished Club President, Distinguished Lieutenant Governor, Distinguished Governor of the New Jersey District of Kiwanis and in 2008 was appointed to the Kiwanis International Foundation Board and served as President of the International Foundation in 2013-2014. The Kiwanis Club of Denville provides annual scholarships to County College of Morris, sponsors a little league team, Eagle Scout projects, St. Francis Octoberfest, the Deville food pantry and rings bells for the Salvation Army.

Petrisin, of East Lansing, Michigan, USA, will assume her duties on October 1, 2015. She is associate director of alumni programs for the Michigan State University Alumni Association and has been involved in Kiwanis for nearly 25 years as a member of the Kiwanis Club of East Lansing. She also has held multiple leadership roles with Kiwanis youth programs.

Also elected were Jane Erickson, Bellevue, Nebraska, USA, president-elect, and James “Jim” M. Rochford, Peoria, Illinois, USA, vice president. Erickson, a Kiwanis member for 25 years and past governor of the Nebraska-Iowa District, has served in nearly every club leadership role and as president of Kiwanis International Foundation. Rochford, an international trustee and past governor of the Illinois-Eastern Iowa District, has been an active member of Kiwanis since 1979.

“Kiwanis will concentrate on serving the children of the world in our 101st year,” Petrisin said. “Our mission is serving the children of the world, wherever we have a Kiwanis club, and we’ll focus on how to best serve our communities as we launch our next century of service.”

Also elected at the 2015 Kiwanis International convention in Indianapolis, home of Kiwanis International, were new members of the Kiwanis International Board of Trustees. They include: John E. DeVilbiss, West Alexandria, Ohio, USA and Terry A. White, Evansville, Indiana, USA. Their three-year terms also begin October 1, 2015.

The new members join Immediate Past President John Button, M.D., of Ridgetown, Ontario, Canada; Kenneth A. Alovera, Roxas City, Capiz, Philippines; Patricia “Patti” Barsotti, San Ramon Valley, California, USA; Bruce Berven, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Kevin Dean, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Patrick R. Ewing, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada; Koshiro “Kit” Kitzato, Tokyo, Japan; Marcel Kreienbühl, Gossau-Flawil, Switzerland; Florencio C. “Poly” Lat, Inter-City Homes, Muntinlupa, the Philippines; Arthur N. “Art” Riley, Westminster, Maryland, USA; Dewey Smith, Albany, Georgia, USA, Barbara K. “Barb” Thompson, St. Louis, Missouri, USA; and Daniel Vigneron, Howald, Luxembourg, elected last month in Luxembourg at the Kiwanis International-European Federation convention.

About Kiwanis
Founded in 1915, Kiwanis International is a global organization of clubs and members dedicated to serving the children of the world. Kiwanis and its family of clubs, including Circle K International for university students, Key Club for students age 14–18, Builders Club for students age 11–14, Kiwanis Kids for students age 6–12 and Aktion Club for adults living with disabilities, annually dedicate more than 18 million service hours to strengthen communities and serve children. The Kiwanis International family comprises nearly 600,000 adult and youth members in 80 countries and geographic areas. For more information about Kiwanis International, visit www.kiwanis.org.

SUMMIT —  Union County Superior Court Judge James Hely issued an opinion on Monday, July 13 that the Summit Housing Authority failed to properly reply to an Open Public Records Act request for minutes of the non-public (executive or closed session) meetings of its Board of Commissioners.

The ruling followed oral argument on July 10. The court date was announced along with details of the case last week (click here to read article).

The Judge opined that the request for the last three sets of closed session minutes was unambiguous and found fault with the Authority’s attempt to narrow the search window to only the tenure of its current Executive Director / Custodian of Records. The request included no such limitation, nor does the law authorize that interpretation, the court ruled.

Per its own admission, the agency hasn’t kept minutes for closed session meetings held since its current Director, Joseph M. Billy, Jr., began on April 1, 2013. The agency didn’t contest that minutes exist for closed sessions held in earlier years but failed to provide copies of those minutes in its response to the OPRA request.

Decision is still pending with regard to Open Public Meetings Act violations, which include the agency’s failure to keep minutes for its non-public meetings.