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Our annual meeting is in mid June(17-18 this year). I have two sets of questions which I will put into separate emails. 

 

There was a bylaws revision committee (not a standing committee) appointed at the last annual meeting to revise the bylaws to report at this annual meeting. The revision they proposed has many objectionable provisions because it proposes very large changes in governance among many other issues. There were so many objections to Bylaws I, that changes were made and a second Bylaws II has been proposed. 

 

 These two documents have different requirements for running for  the executive committee from the current constitution. So the nominating committee will be presenting three different slates of candidates (current, Bylaws I, Bylaws II).

 

In our current constitution, executive committee members were elected at-large. There are categories that they would have to be eligible for in order to keep a balance of different groups on the board, but there are no other requirements other than that they are members of the association.

 

In addition to new requirements for running for executive committee, the bylaws revision creates an entirely new system for electing executive committee members, requiring several steps, call for nominations on a regional basis,  each of the three regions determining their own method of selection of nominees, and a  regional meeting to elect the regional executive committee members. 

 

Since the bylaws committee report is before the elections, they claim that a vote on which of the Bylaws to consider can first be taken, and whichever one passes,(if either)  that will determine  the slate voted on, even though none of the proposed steps leading up to election of regional executive board members have been taken.  They are using Robert's Rules that bylaws amendments become effective immediately, although our current constitution says July lst, and their own revisions both say that bylaw amendments shall become effective immediately upon final adjournment of the annual meeting. 

 

  There is a proviso in both Bylaws I and Bylaws II (the proviso  apparently doesn't get voted on) that says that regional directors shall be conducted in the current bylaws (meaning at large) and not as described in the proposed revision, but that it will only be for a one year term. In other words they are choosing which provisions to implement immediately  and which not 

 

We strongly object to this. We think that candidates should be selected based on the requirements in  the existing constitution this time and wait to use the new system until it can be fully implemented.

 

 Can we move that the election is to proceed under the terms of the existing constitution?  Would this be a motion saying we move to delete "effective immediately?" or put in effective at the end of the meeting or July lst?  Thanks. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 Can we move that the election is to proceed under the terms of the existing constitution?  Would this be a motion saying we move to delete "effective immediately?" or put in effective at the end of the meeting or July lst?  Thanks. 

 

Yes, though I'm not certain doing so would be required. The "effective immediately" statement is redundant anyway, since any motion is effective immediately unless otherwise specified. If you believe the "upon final adjournment" statement is to push the effectivity to the end of the session, you would need only to raise a point of order if the election is not done in accordance to the existing constitution. Also, depending on how the new bylaws are written, even if there are several steps that the nominating committee must follow, it may still be in order for nominations to be made from the floor.

 

As for this stuff about the nominating committee presenting existing, bylaws I, and bylaws II options, I don't necessarily disagree with that, but there may well be a bylaws III method by the time the nominating committee makes its report.

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