WSBA Board elects Nam Nguyen treasurer after lunch-ballot tally

The Washington State Bar Association Board of Governors elected Governor Nam Nguyen as treasurer after members cast ballots that were tabulated following the meeting's lunch recess, board members announced during the afternoon session.

Board members had two candidates on the ballot and were given the opportunity to nominate from the floor; materials for the treasurer election were distributed in the meeting packet at page 164. Candidates who addressed the board framed the treasurer as a communicator between staff, the audit committee and the full board, and emphasized work on reserves, reporting and investment oversight.

The election mattered to governors because the treasurer chairs the budget and audit committee and explains committee recommendations to the full board, functions candidates said are central to how the board makes decisions on reserves, license fees and facilities. The winning candidate, Governor Nam Nguyen, will assume those responsibilities following the board's internal procedures.

Candidates and discussion Two candidates submitted materials in advance: Governor Wynne and Governor Villeneuve. In addition to those filings, the board allowed nominations from the floor and provided time for candidate remarks and questions.

Governor Wynne told governors that the treasurer's role is primarily to "explain and just to facilitate decision making," and described the position as a communicator between staff (including Tiffany) and the board. "The treasurer actually doesn't really do the cutting on the nitty gritty details. The treasurer is more of a facilitator, a communicator between the budget, the staff, Tiffany, and the rest of the board," Wynne said, adding that the treasurer chairs the budget and audit committee and presents that panel's recommendations to the full board.

Governor Villeneuve said a deep comfort with numbers and a multi-year view were central to her candidacy. "I spent my entire life with numbers. I'm an engineer," Villeneuve said, and described wanting to provide clearer dashboards and trend reports to help governors understand multi-year projections and risk scenarios.

Discussion also included an eligibility question about whether the treasurer position, described in materials as a lawyer-governor role, would exclude law-clerk graduates or other categories of Bar membership; the transcript records the question but does not attribute a formal ruling. Governors and candidates repeatedly emphasized reliance on staff and outside auditors for detailed accounting work while framing the treasurer's job as translating technical financial information for the board.

Risk, reserves and reporting Both candidates addressed how the board should handle reserves and investment risk. Villeneuve warned about potential economic downturns and urged forward-looking scenario planning, giving a hypothetical example of reserve drawdowns to illustrate how near-term declines could magnify over time. Wynne said the board should consider a focused budget retreat to resolve long-term reserve policy questions and improve member-facing explanations of fee policy decisions.

Procedure and result Ballots were distributed to governors before the lunch recess and were tabulated after the recess. During the afternoon roll call the board announced the election result: "the person who had the most votes, is governor Nam Nguyen." The transcript does not provide a numeric vote tally or a motion maker/second for the election; the tally was described as tabulated internally and not read aloud in the transcript.

What's next The board did not record additional formal directions in the transcript about specific immediate implementation steps for the treasurer's agenda. Candidates and governors discussed possible topics for future work: clearer dashboards showing multi-year trends, a reserves policy discussion at a retreat-style meeting, and continued reliance on staff and auditors for day-to-day accounting and compliance.