By-law amendment/making a motion to change a by-law

[Guest vanzoll]

To amend our by-laws it states:

ARTICLE VIII

Amendments

Section 1. – Procedure. These By-Laws may be amended by vote of the majority of the members at the annual meeting or at any special meeting duly called for that purpose, provided that notices of such proposed amendments shall be delivered in writing one or more of the following ways, hand delivery, delivery to the member’s mail box at the station, delivery by USPS mail service, delivery to the members @newburghfire.com email account at least ten (10) calendar days or conspicuously posted for 30 calendar days in multiple locations at the station, prior to the day for which the meeting is called. Proposed amendments shall be submitted in writing to the Chairman of the By-Law's Committee, if appropriate, or the President of the Board of Directors at least thirty (30) days before the date of the annual meeting or the special meeting.

Section 2. – Compliance. Any amendment to the By-Law’s affecting any substantive change in the Association shall conform to applicable provisions of the Indiana Corporations Act.

Section 3. - Amendments. All amendment changes shall be incorporated into the body of the By-laws.

We do have a by-law commitee and the proposed changes are to be written and turned into the chairman. I am a member of the by-law committee and have been asked if a person who is submitting a written by-law change has to have their name written to or announced during the membership meeting to vote on the said by-law change reequest. This person feels as they may be singled out by other members for making such a by-law amendment. The person will sign the request that is given to the committee but askes that their name not be given during the meeting when the voting takes place. Does a persons name have to be given to the membership as the aurthor of a motion to amend the by-laws. I hope this is somwhat clear.

[hmtcastle]

Does a persons name have to be given to the membership as the author of a motion to amend the by-laws.

The name of the maker of the motion (to amend the bylaws) will be recorded in the minutes. It will also be obvious, when that person makes the motion, who that person is.

[Chris Harrison]

Under RONR it would be obvious who proposed the bylaw amendment since it would have to be proposed by the member in a meeting and the minutes would reflect who proposed it and that it was referred to the bylaw committee. However, since you have customized rules in the bylaws (where the proposal can take place outside of a meeting) it will be up to you all to work out the details.

[David A Foulkes]

Additionally: "If required to be in writing, the notice should be signed by two members, who thus serve as mover and seconder." (RONR, 10th ed., p. 577 ll. 32-34.)

I think in general that motions are not considered "anonymously", although under certain circumstances the Chair can assume a motion and call for a vote without a member formally making the motion. This would not be the case in your circumstance, however.

If this member feels uncomfortable authoring the proposed amendment, perhaps another like-minded member who does not share this discomfort could be enlisted to assume the making of the motion. Not every member will necessarily approve of the amendment, but that's what democracy is about - majority rule. If the sense is that the majority will disapprove (not only in voting but on a personal level) it may be well to reconsider the amendment to begin with.

[Guest vanzoll]

Thank you for your replys and help.