Guest Ronny Posted September 13, 2019 at 06:57 PM Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 at 06:57 PM Austin Bass Club of the Deaf, Inc is a private membership organization located in Austin, TX. Established in 1998. Las Nov 2018, members voted to put the club as "inactive" due to too many tournament cancellations and lack of participation in its events and membership was down. Now our question is: There seems to be some interest increasing lately in having the club back. How do we do it properly? From inactive to active status. Can officers do that? Or the general membership? Thank you very much. Ronny Taylor - President Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Harrison Posted September 13, 2019 at 07:30 PM Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 at 07:30 PM Those details should be located in the Bylaws. How did the Membership make the Club "inactive" last November? Is there some actual process in place for doing so or did the members just decide they had better things to do than attending meetings and participating in Club activities since nothing of any interest was happening? Depending on the answer it may require some jumping through hoops to get things up-and-running again or it may be as simple as sending out a message to the members letting them know when the next meeting is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted September 13, 2019 at 07:42 PM Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 at 07:42 PM Since it is highly unlikely (in my experience) that your original bylaws defined or specified what an "inactive" status was (do they?), I would be willing to assert that the vote a year or so ago was meaningless. Unless the bylaws themselves said it was an option, you can't "suspend" bylaws, either in part - RONR page 13 - or in whole. (You could have rescinded them, but you didn't, evidently.) Thus it is fair to say that your organization simply exists as it always did; all you need do is read the bylaws, pick up the pieces (things that you might have missed doing since last November), notify the members of the next meeting and square things away. One thing to do at that first meeting is for the chair to formally declare the "inactive" motion null and void. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zev Posted September 13, 2019 at 09:15 PM Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 at 09:15 PM While putting a society in hibernation is truly extraordinary, I get the feeling that if the society gave notice and voted to do so by a two-thirds vote, then this would satisfy, at least for me, the requirements to amend the bylaws inserting a temporary proviso. In the future perhaps a good proviso would simply suspend the collection of dues and future meetings until a future meeting re-instated them and also defined under what circumstances or by whom such a meeting would be called. In the present case I would agree with Mr. Stackpole and notify the membership and have them decide what to do. I am not sure that declaring the "inactive" motion null does very much since if the meeting takes no action then the status quo is preserved and if some action is taken then as a practical matter the "inactive" motion is dead. Nevertheless, declaring it null and void may be a good idea just to clear up any doubts that some members may have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atul Kapur Posted September 13, 2019 at 09:16 PM Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 at 09:16 PM I wonder if the "inactive" status was just someone's bright idea at the meeting or if it is actually a term in some legislation that applies to the organization. Is ABCD incorporated? If there is applicable legislation, then hopefully it will state how to restore active status to the group. If not, then I would have hoped that someone had asked at the November meeting what exactly inactive status meant and how it would be changed. In the absence of both, I agree with Dr. Stackpole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zev Posted September 13, 2019 at 10:14 PM Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 at 10:14 PM 53 minutes ago, Atul Kapur said: In the absence of both, I agree with Dr. Stackpole. If Mr. Stackpole is truly a doctor then my apology. I did not mean to disparage him in any way. I will try to remember this fact in future references. Again, my apology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weldon Merritt Posted September 14, 2019 at 12:12 AM Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 at 12:12 AM 1 hour ago, Guest Zev said: If Mr. Stackpole is truly a doctor then my apology. I did not mean to disparage him in any way. I will try to remember this fact in future references. Again, my apology. As most of the regulars know, he's a Ph.D. But he doesn't make a big to-do about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted September 14, 2019 at 02:22 AM Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 at 02:22 AM In Meteorology, and that a long time ago. (At least I know how to interpret a hurricane track forecast.) Apology totally unneeded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted September 14, 2019 at 05:18 PM Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 at 05:18 PM 14 hours ago, jstackpo said: In Meteorology, and that a long time ago. (At least I know how to interpret a hurricane track forecast.) Apology totally unneeded. Thoughts and prayers to Alabama. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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