Scott Lamky

As the newly elected President of our NPO I would like to put in place a No Alcohol and a No Guns set of rules for our meetings. Should this be addressed at our Executive Board meeting first, and then brought to the general membership for a vote. Or Would the rule be made by the Executive Board and then announced at the membership meeting? Or would this be considered an Item to add to the By-laws (using the Amendment to the By-Laws structures we have in place)? This is what our By-Laws state for the Executive Board

There is nothing in the Bylaws that state how any of the committees are determined, Only that the President Appoints the committee chairman.

E. The Nominating Committee shall prepare a slate of candidates for each elective office and four Board members, to be submitted at the Association meeting in October. The committee shall take care of elections in November and install officers at the December meeting.

Hello My name is Scott Lamky, Thank You for allowing me into your Group... I live in an unincorporated town in Southern California. Within the town we have a Non-Profit Organization that was formed back in 1947 A parcel of land was donated to the NPO, On the property there are 2 Buildings. One Building is rented out to a member of the community. The 2nd building is rented out to our local VFW. Over the last number of years the membership of the NPO has diminished considerably. Within the last few years it has been controlled by a small group that started ignoring the By-laws of the NPO. They did very little in try and recruit new members. And if someone did join they made them feel so unwelcome they would not want to come back. When the NPO started bullying the VFW into signing a new lease that was totally unreasonable. I got involved. I was a member of the NPO back in 2015, and knew how it operated. I joined the NPO again in May 2022. I decided to recruiter a number of Veterans and there wives (all members of our community), to join the NPO. The first month we showed up with 19 new members. I was told at that time the NPO was down to 14 active members. The following month 10 more new members were recruited. At our next monthly meeting a number of us repeated our demand for a copy of the NPO by-laws. We were not provided with a copy. Many arguments were flying back and forth. Before the night was over.(I be leave it was at the August 2022 meeting) The President, Secretary, and Treasure all resigned at the same meeting leaving only one elected officer, the Vice-president. Their term was from January 1, 2022 until December 31, 2022. It was not until September of 2023 that we were given a copy of the By-Laws 16 months after joining. After reading the By-Laws it became very clear of the number of our By-laws that were being broken. Instead of doing what our By-laws stated to do in the case of Vacancies. The Vice-President declared himself President. And locked out the membership from the building. This went on for many months. In addition to locking out the membership he entered into a new lease agreement with out the approval of the membership which was required in the By-Laws. After many months he opened up the building for our monthly meeting. If you want to call them a meeting it was more just a gathering to share a meal. No Parliamentary procedures at all. If a motion was put on the floor. He would ignore it. And abruptly end the meeting. Over and Over we asked for a set of the Bylaws. Excuse after excuse as to why they would not provide them. This Vice-president, often showed up appearing to be drunk and would drink through out the meeting. One of the meetings that we thought we were going to have an election. He started into his usual non-since. I challenged him on everything he was stating. Because it was lie after lie. During the meeting one of the members noticed he had a gun in his briefcase. He left the case open as if to intimidate those at the meeting.. his speech was so slurred, he was obviously impaired. He was so adjudicated by being challenged. When word started spreading among the members that the VP had a gun and continued to keep drinking. A number of them felt UN-safe and left. When I confronted him that he can not drink and have his gun out in the open like he did. His response was that he had a concealed carrying permit. When we tried to make a report with the sheriff the next day they told me we should have called that night not the next day. Only they can determine if he was impaired. After Resigning at the August 2022 meeting, In September of 2023 the Treasure who had missed meetings for at least a year. She showed up and stated the the VP could not get things done at the bank without a second signature. The VP reinstated her as the treasure. He did this with out an election. As the By-Laws state. This is when we finally were given a copy of the by-laws. The treasurer Stated in an open meeting that they (the VP and Treasurer) did not know the origination even had BY-Laws, The treasurer said In fact we did not know that the organization was even an NPO. Then before the meeting was closed. The VP stated that they had Discovered that our NPO had a money market certificate that was maturing in the next 3 weeks and that they planned to cash it and find a better interest rate. No discussion no vote nothing. Now that we finally had our copy of the By-Laws. It was unbelievable the number of BY-Laws that were being broken. It was so close to the end of the year we did not press for a special election. It would have been challenged and would just be that much longer that things would not get done... We nominated an election committee. And voted on their appointment. But instead of honoring that vote the VP put together his own Nominating committee, he picked and chose who to put on the election ballets. Totally disregarding the members that were nominated for various positions. The Wife of the VP and the treasure that had resigned presented the ballets to the members. They changed the electron process. Instead of voting for a president, vice-president, secretary, treasure, and 4 others to sever as the Executive Board. As the By-laws stated... A list with 8 names was presented it stated to circle up to 8 names for the board of directors. They did not explain that we were not going to elect our 4 officers. Most people thought this was to elect the members for the 4 positions of the Executive Board. And that the 4 officers would be voted on separately. After a number of people voted and left, They stated that this was to elect a board of directors and from that board the officers would be appointed. Nothing at all like the By-Laws state. We were able to get 5 members that were elected on this Board of Directors by writing in their names. So 8 members were elected. Now they want to use a part of the By-Laws that states that the VP that declared himself President automatically gets a seat on the board . Because the By-laws say that the past president, ex-officio would have a seat on the board.. I have called for the board to meet Jan 2nd 2024. Messages were sent out to the 8 elected members and included the VP. The VP has now sent out his own message calling for a meeting on the same day and time that I had scheduled. But at a different location. 5 of the elected Members will show up at my meeting as the By-Laws state we will have a Quorum. My thought is to vote a Chairman into position of the Board. As well as a Treasure. Both positions being temporary. I want to set a date in the near future maybe at the February meeting. To have a honest and fair election. At which time this board would be dismissed. We have added a number of new members with more wanting to join if the VP is out of the pitcher. The VP and the few members that are following him are greatly outnumbered. The VP and his appointed Treasure are signatures on the organization bank account. They have the P.O. Box Key, as well as all documents of our Organization. To include the 2 Leases, Insurance Policies, Property tax info. And Registrations with the County, State, and IRS. From what we have tried to find out the NPO has not filed a tax return in a number of years. At the VP's meeting they want to appoint the officer. And do a total rewrite of the By-laws. This is the only way they can stay in charge. They will only have 4 Board Members at their meeting. I apologize for how long this has been but we desperately need some guidance. Below are the pertinent parts of our by-laws. I can supply the entire document if needed. Thank you in advance for your help. Scott Lamky Officers Section 1: The executive officers of this association shall be president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer. Section 2: Executive officers shall be elected by the membership at the November meeting from a slate submitted by the Nominating committee at the October meeting. Additional nominations may be made from the floor, with consent of the nominee. A candidate for president shall have been a member for at least 1 year. Voting shall be by secret ballot if there is more than one candidate for any office. Section 3: Officers shall be installed at the December meeting and shall hold office for a term of one year, commencing on January 1. President and vice- president shall be limited to serve not more than two consecutive years. Section 4: Vacancies shall be deemed to exist upon death, resignation or absence from three consecutive regular meetings without mitigating circumstances. They shall be filled from time to time by the nomination and election of a new officer at the next regular meeting. Section 5: An officer may be deposed from office after previous notice and two – thirds vote of the members present. Duties of Officers Section 1: The President shall: A. Preside at all Executive board meetings and regular monthly meetings of the Association. B. Cast the deciding vote in case of a tie. C. Serve as a member of all committees, except the nominating committee. D. Appoint committee chairmen. Section 2: The vice – president shall: A. Assist the president in the executive work and shall perform all duties of the president in his absence, when called upon to do so. B. Plan programs for the general meetings as needed. Executive Board Section 1: The Board of Directors of the Terwilliger Community Association shall be known as the Executive Board and shall be comprised of nine members, including the elective officers and four Board members elected at large, and the past president, ex – officio. Section 2: The duties of the Executive Board are: A. To determine policy. B. To supervise the work of the Association. C. To negotiate the lease or rental of the Terwilliger Hall and present the agreement to the membership for approval. D. To approve committee appointments. E. To approve prospective members. Section 3: The Executive board shall meet once every month at a time and place set by the president. Section 4: The president may call an emergency meeting of the Board at any time. Section 5: Any Three members of the Board, by oral request to the president, may call a Board meeting, to be held at any time following forty – eight hours’ notice to all the directors. Section 6: A quorum shall consist of five members of the Executive Board. On any emergency matters the president needs to get approval of five Executive Board members. The By – Laws Committee shall review recommendations for amending the By – Laws and deletion to the By – Laws and report its findings to the membership. The committee shall provide the membership with printed copies whenever there changes are made. Amendment of By – Laws Section 1: Any recommendations for change in these by – laws shall be submitted to the by – laws committee for review. The chairmen shall give the committee’s report to the membership at the regular meeting. A vote on the amendment shall be taken at the next regular meeting. A two – thirds affirmative vote by the members present shall constitute acceptance. Authority Section 1: The current edition of Roberts Rules of Order shall be the parliamentary authority for this Association.