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proposed changes to bylaws


Guest Sharlene

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An attorney presented bylaw changes to the board and now will be presented to the general membership for a vote. Each amendment will be presented and voted YES or NO. When presented, can the members question and even motion to amend the change after discussion and vote on the amended change or do we have to accept as is and vote yes or no?

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. . . can the members . . . even motion to amend the change after discussion and vote on the amended change

Beware:

If previous notice is involved, then your ability (flexibility) to amend might be limited.

The amendment cannot exceed the scope and purport of whatever notice was given, assuming previous notice is a requirement. - Some customized rules do not require previous notice, and thus override the default requirement in Robert's Rules of Order, which does require previous notice for bylaws amendments.

. . . do we have to accept as is and vote yes or no?

No:

• You may debate.

• Within limits, you may amend.

For that matter, you may apply any number of motions, e.g., postpone definitely, refer to committee, etc. - It isn't a forced choice "up/down" for you.

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An attorney presented bylaw changes to the board and now will be presented to the general membership for a vote. Each amendment will be presented and voted YES or NO. When presented, can the members question and even motion to amend the change after discussion and vote on the amended change or do we have to accept as is and vote yes or no?

Is the membership being told ahead of time that only straight yes/no votes will be allowed, with no opportunity for debate or amendment? If so, are you looking for the mechanism to counteract this decree?

If this is the case, one additional thing you will almost certainly need to do is some pre-meeting education of other members, so they have some idea what you are talking about, and what their powers (as the general membership assembly) actually are when the issue comes up at the meeting. Often people will simply accept such statements (e.g. "we will vote yes or no, without discussion") by someone 'in authority' as fact, and believe they have to abide by them.

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I am trying to educate the membership by telling them to come out and vote that it is not a done deal. There are several amendments that are not to our liking. Our current bylaws do need some tweeking but some of what is being proposed is too beneficial for some, 2 year terms to serve, conflict of interests, etc.

Many plan to be there - I want to be able to say that we can discuss the articles and make a motion to amend the proposed change and vote to accept the amendment. Then should we vote again, that night, on those amended articles that the membership discussed and amended? It seems that the general membership should have that right - I always thought that this is the correct procedure.

Also, should and can these proposed changes be adopted immediately after the vote? Our new officers and board will be voted in on June 24 - some want these changes to go into effect immediately so that it can benefit and accomodate some that are running for the board. I think they should go into effect starting the new term - July 1.

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I can't be specific about your detailed changes, but... bylaw amendments go into effect IMMEDIATELY upon their adoption - no going back - unless some sort of a delaying proviso is adopted right along with the amendments.

And yes, you first vote on whether to change (amend) the proposed bylaw amendments, and then vote to accept (or not, of course) the possibly amended proposals. All at the same meeting.

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