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Honorary Membership


Guest Sara

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The bylaws of my local garden club state that an Honorary Membership may be voted on at the Annual Meeting, held in April of each year.  if  there was no "Annual Meeting" held in April (a field trip was taken instead), and the only time an Honorary Membership may be voted on is AT the Annual Meeting, could(1)  the next general meeting in September be treated as THE Annual Meeting for 2015, OR (2)could the Executive Committee call for a Special Meeting (allowed for in the bylaws) and stipulate it is to be treated as THE annual meeting with the only business to be voting on an Honorary Membership, PRIOR to September?"

thank you,

Sara

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When do you (or when did you) elect officers?  Don't you do that at the annual meeting, too?

 

If the bylaws say honorary memberships can be awarded only at the annual meeting, then that's the way it must be.  However, if for some reason the annual meeting was not held in April, then I suggest that you hold the annual meeting asap.  You do still need to elect officers, don't you?  If not, how did you pull that off?

 

Stay tuned for other opinions.

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The following were part of the Minutes of the Club:

 

The following quote is from the Minutes:

"

"Minutes: There was no General Meeting in April because of a scheduled field trip. However, the Slate of Officers for 2015‐2016 was approved as presented at a short meeting of those in attendance in Spreckels Park before departure." 

 

So, it would appear there was NO meeting, BUT the officers were elected.  I must, in my defense, say that although I am a Sustaining Member in good standing, I was not at the April event.  The question has been posed to me because a club member would have liked to nominate a member as an Honorary Member, and was not able to do that because the scene was rather chaotic.

NOW.....just because the presiding officer did not follow the bylaws by declaring this the Annual Meeting, but rather at least got the new officers elected (which she thought was the primary action to be taken in April)....should the April event STILL  be considered THE Annual Meeting since 12 of the 125 members gathered at a field trip and elected officers!!??

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It appears to me that the general meeting was held, but it was just held in Spreckels Park before departure. I'm aware of no rule that requires the presiding officer to declare a meeting the Annual Meeting, that is just what it is because that's what the bylaws say it is. If Honorary Members were to be elected, it should have happened at that meeting. The only 12 of 125 members is, however, a problem.

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The following were part of the Minutes of the Club:

 

The following quote is from the Minutes:

"

"Minutes: There was no General Meeting in April because of a scheduled field trip. However, the Slate of Officers for 2015‐2016 was approved as presented at a short meeting of those in attendance in Spreckels Park before departure." 

 

So, it would appear there was NO meeting, BUT the officers were elected.  I must, in my defense, say that although I am a Sustaining Member in good standing, I was not at the April event.  The question has been posed to me because a club member would have liked to nominate a member as an Honorary Member, and was not able to do that because the scene was rather chaotic.

NOW.....just because the presiding officer did not follow the bylaws by declaring this the Annual Meeting, but rather at least got the new officers elected (which she thought was the primary action to be taken in April)....should the April event STILL  be considered THE Annual Meeting since 12 of the 125 members gathered at a field trip and elected officers!!??

 

If a quorum was not present, then nobody was elected.  Does 12 members qualify as a quorum in your bylaws?

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I agree that having only 12 of 125 members present presents the question of whether a quorum was present.  That is less than ten percent of the membership.  What do your bylaws say about the quorum requirement?

 

Another problem is that if it had been announced..... even erroneously.... that there would not  be an annual meeting or any kind of meeting in April, but after 12 of the 125 members happened to be together for a field trip, the president announced that "Oh, we need to elect officers.  Let's do that before the bus leaves", then, quorum or no quorum, it strikes me that the April field trip was not a meeting at all and that the "election" of officers was invalid.

 

Note:  If your bylaws set the actual date for the annual meeting, Such as "April 15 of each year" or "The second Saturday in April", then it could, perhaps, be argued that no other notice of the meeting, except for the time and place, would have been necessary.  Is Spreckles Park where you usually have your meetings?  

 

Unless the bylaws specify the date, time and place of the annual meeting, some sort of notice of the meeting must be sent to the membership in order for it to be valid.  It can't be slipped into a "field trip" prior to loading up the bus or cars.

 

The bottom line is that I question whether any kind of valid meeting of any kind was held.

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