DALLAS--The election of the American Optometric Association's (AOA) 2005-2006 board of trustees and officers will have an unusual twist at this month's Optometry's Meeting here: actual competition for some of the positions.

Four candidates will be competing for the two open trustee slots on the 11-member AOA board of trustees at the organization's annual meeting. And for the first time in the memory of most attendees at the event, two candidates are competing to be chosen president-elect of the group: C. Thomas Crooks, OD, the Alabama optometrist who is currently the AOA's vice president, and Alan Frank, OD, a Pennsylvania eyecare practitioner who has thrown his hat into the ring in what he told VM is a move to bring a fresh perspective to the organization.

The board of trustees consists of six trustees plus the AOA's officers: the organization's president, president-elect, vice president, secretary-treasurer and immediate past president. Traditionally AOA officers have moved up through the ranks and been elected unopposed as part of a slate chosen by the group's nominating committee. This year, Richard Wallingford, OD, the 2004-2005 president-elect, is expected to be elected as AOA president in an unopposed race, succeeding current president Wesley Pittman, OD, who will become immediate past president.

Crooks, a member of the AOA since graduating from optometry school in 1979, points to his experience within the organization as a strength. "I spent three years as a trustee, then was re-elected for one year," he told VM. "Then I was elected secretary-treasurer before becoming vice president last year."

Frank, on the other hand, feels his lack of experience within the AOA hierarchy is a plus for him. "The organization needs an outsider, someone who can see the trees from the forest," he declared. Frank said he disagrees with the current AOA leadership on several issues, such what he considers optometry's adversarial relationship with ophthalmology and the AOA's InfantSEE program, which he sees as ineffective.

The election will be held during the AOA House of Delegates meeting on Friday, June 24.  --Cathy Ciccolella