Changes to by-laws

[Guest mike]

How long does a change to by-laws need to be posted ?

Meeting are on the first Wednesday of every month, which in this case left only 28 days from the time these changes were posted till the vote.

[George Mervosh]

How long does a change to by-laws need to be posted ?

Meeting are on the first Wednesday of every month, which in this case left only 28 days from the time these changes were posted till the vote.

 

Look at your current bylaws for this answer.

 

" The bylaws should always prescribe the procedure for their amendment, and such provision should always require at least that advance notice be given in a specified manner, and that the amendment be approved by a two-thirds vote. If the bylaws contain no provision for their amendment, they can be amended by a two-thirds vote if previous notice (in the sense defined on p. 121) has been given, or they can be amended by the vote of a majority of the entire membership."  RONR (11th ed.), pp. 581-2.

[Robert B Fish]

While there is no reference in RONR to support this, it will always go better when proposing an amendment to the bylaws to be as transparent as possible.  That often means providing ADDITIONAL time for people to review the changes, providing clear interpretative materials to explain the change(s), grouping the proposed amendments to facilitate understanding, providing a clear rational supporting each change.  If one go at it is starting to get complex, consideration should be given to amending the bylaws in several steps.

 

Also, your approach must be quite different if the bylaws will be considered in a live meeting as opposed to organizations who vote by mail. (In the vote-by-mail case, it should be noted this must be authorized in your bylaws or you cannot do it.)

 

-Bob