Q9. "Are elections legally sanctioned with the present legal situation with Blundo?"
1. Top 10 Member Questions:
Answer: As explained fully elsewhere, Mr. Blundo was relieved of his duties as executive director on November 17, 2023, so he had no impact on the recently conducted election (May/June 2024) for the MMHCA Board. Mr. Blundo, Dr. Schaeffer, Dr. Ametrano and Dr. Emde’s group, DBA Michigan LPCs, is an entirely different group that they started after the November 2023 election when they refused to accept the election results. There is clear continuity of MMHCA under the current and just elected board. Mr. Blundo’s group has no bearing on that.
How will voting work if we get emails from both groups asking us to vote?
The election just conducted by the Elected Board of MMHCA (which concluded in June 2024) is the official election of the Michigan Mental Health Counselors Association. We used a secure voting system (Election Buddy) that you were taken to through a link in an email you received which guaranteed one person, one vote and anonymous voting. Election Buddy is a highly regarded, online election system that is known for running elections with integrity (it is used by professional associations, unions, industry associations, etc.) We have detailed records of who actual members are with their member status. When reporting our results you received total votes cast and the totals for each candidate. It was run under the guidelines outlined in MMHCA’s 4.19.24 Bylaws. We are committed to transparency in all we do for members, but especially for elections. The 4.19.24 Bylaws can be viewed on our website, mmhcaNow.org. 4.19.24 Bylaws - MMHCA
The election run by DBA Michigan LPCs was not an MMHCA-approved election. First, the DBA Michigan LPCs group does not even know who current members of MMHCA are and are not. This is because they are not MMHCA and do not have access to our systems and data. They are welcome to start a completely new organization and run it however they choose. However, they are prohibited from using the MMHCA name or any of our resources.