The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2017

54 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2017 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS tions within the HR Bureau) and “employees engaged in criminal or national secu- rity investigations of other employees or who audit the work of individuals to ensure that their functions are dis- charged honestly and with integrity” (such as employ- ees assigned to Diplomatic Security investigative units or those assigned to the OIG). See Sections 1012(1) and (2), 22 USC 4112(1) and (2) of the Foreign Service Act. Other Restrictions As discussed above, the Foreign Service Act pre- cludes these categories of individuals from participat- ing in labor-management issues while serving on the Governing Board. The Foreign Service Act also imposes a two-year “cooling-off period” both before and after AFSA service, which restricts the movement of Foreign Service employees between certain positions on the AFSA Governing Board and certain Washington-based positions. • Pre-AFSA restrictions: Any individual who has served: 1) in a management position in Washington in which he or she has engaged in labor-management rela- tions or the formulation of personnel policies and programs; or 2) as a confi- dential employee to one of these management officials within two years prior to taking office in AFSA, is precluded from participating in labor-management issues while serving on the Govern- ing Board. • Post-AFSA restric- tions: Employees who have participated in collective bargaining while serving on the AFSA Governing Board may not serve: 1) in a man- agement position in Wash- ington that involves labor- management relations or the formulation of personnel policies and programs; or 2) as a confidential employee to such management posi- tions, for two years after leaving AFSA. Members should con- sider these restrictions before deciding whether to run for AFSA Governing Board positions covered by these restrictions. Please direct questions regarding this issue to Sha- ron Papp, General Counsel, by email: papps@state.gov. All other election-related queries should be addressed to the Committee on Elec- tions by email: election@ afsa.org . In addition to the above, due to AFSA efforts to educate Congress on issues related to Foreign Service conditions of employment, legislative proposals and other issues directly impact- ing the Foreign Service, employees serving in con- gressional fellowships may not serve on the AFSA Gov- erning Board. A conflict or potential conflict of interest exists between their position in AFSA and their official duties. AFSA members serv- ing as congressional fellows may run for the AFSA Gov- erning Board provided their fellowship ends before the incoming board takes office on July 15, 2017. Accepting a Nomination 1. A nominee must indi- cate his or her acceptance of a nomination by complet- ing the online Nomination Acceptance Form at www. afsa.org/nominationform no later than 5 p.m. EST on Feb. 10, 2017. Any nominee whose Nomination Acceptance Form is not received by the Committee on Elections by this time will be considered to have declined candidacy. 2. All active duty candi- dates accepting a nomina- tion must identify the posi- tion or positions they have filled for the past two years by completing the Nomina- tion Acceptance Form. All active duty candidates not seeking a full-time AFSA position (President, State VP, USAID VP, FCS VP, FAS VP) must also identify the department/agency position they will be serving in begin- ning on July 15, 2017, when the Governing Board takes office. This information is necessary to ensure compli- ance with section 1017(e) of the Foreign Service Act. 3. All candidates accept- ing a nomination must be members of the con- stituency for which they are being nominated. However, an active-duty member may run to be a retiree represen- tative, if he or she will be retired on July 15. Campaigning 1. Campaign State- ments. All candidates will be given the opportunity to submit campaign state- ments for dissemination to AFSA members with the election ballots. Further information regarding such statements and editorial deadlines is contained in “Instructions to Candi- dates,” which will be posted by the Elections Committee on the AFSA website (www.afsa.org/elections) by Jan. 3, 2017. 2. Supplementary Statements. Should candidates wish to mail supplementary statements to the membership, AFSA will make its membership mailing list or address labels available to the candidate upon request and at their expense. Further informa- tion on this and other cam- paign procedures is included in “Instructions to Candi- dates,” mentioned above. 3. Other Methods of Communication. Depart- ment of Labor requirements prohibit individuals from using government resources (including government email accounts) to campaign for AFSA positions. Candidates will be able to participate in the online AFSA Com- munity Open Forum from their personal computers/ devices during non-working hours. This online forum will be open to all members for whom AFSA has a valid personal email address.