Post by MTD on Mar 19, 2004 0:53:21 GMT -6
I threatened (see campechesteel.proboards15.com/index.cgi?board=Division&action=display&thread=1079586617) Bylaw change proposals. Here is the 15th, and at least as far as I can see this moment, final one.
Unlike the rest, this one actually is a fundamental change, and really deserves the opportunity for argument. This is the one where I break my word about things being fixes instead of changes. This one is a genuine issue. To think that this one could have a consensus by April 3rd is a stretch goal. I really would not want to see April 3rd to be consumed as a battle over this proposal. If it's time has not yet arrived, or if its time never should arrive, let it not spoil the meeting.
I honestly do not have a good sense for whether this one does or does not have support from across the membership of the Division right now. But, if it does, I would hate to miss a good opportunity to vote on it.
(It's also rather long, as the invention of a brand new Division body requires specifying a lot of details which aren't already in the Bylaws. Sorry.)
"Proposition 15": Create a Division Board
Overview:
The current Bylaws state "...the management of THE DIVISION shall be vested in an Executive Committee...." The USFA Bylaws state "The management of the Division shall be vested in a Divisional Executive Committee which shall consist of the elected officers and other annually elected members in accordance with Section 7 of this article" (where Section 7 speaks of the Division members casting votes).
Recently, the Division was in a situation where the interests of a large portion of the membership were perceived as not being satisfied because of a political situation where the majority of the votes in attendance at the previous annual meeting were from one single interest group. Without regard to the truth of this perception, accept it as a hypothesis and consider the consequences.
Given a situation where a majority has no incentive to accommodate the rights or opinions of a minority, no system based on direct democratic vote can solve the problem. No matter how many or how few people are directly elected to govern policy, they can all get elected by and from the same single interest group. A requirement would have to exist which would prevent a policy-maker from being elected from the same interest group as another policy-maker. (For example, it has been suggested that no two members of the Executive Committee belong to the same club. But, this specific requirement can make elections very difficult to conduct, never can two good people be elected from the same club, yet there exist ways for two people from the same club to contrive differing club memberships to circumvent the intent of such a rule.)
Consider also that the Division probably would run most efficiently when managed by as small a group as possible to satisfy the actual manpower demands, but that this is incompatible with the idea that the Division would most wisely govern with representation as broadly based as possible.
The simplest and least disruptive change to the status quo seems to be the creation of a legislative body superior to the Executive Committee which cannot necessarily meet easily, and does not actually get involved in the day-to-day operations of the Division, and which by its design has broadly-based representation which is not necessarily (and probably cannot be) based on direct democratic election.
Current text:
None.
Motion:
In the Gulf Coast Division Bylaws, increment by one the number of all articles from Article VI onward, and insert "Article VI -- Division Board", reading: "Section 1. Powers: There shall exist a Division Board with the power to set policies for THE DIVISION. Except where in conflict with provisions of these Bylaws, or with USFA, Inc., policies established by the Division Board must be followed by the Executive Committee, the Officers and other members of the Executive Committee, standing committees of THE DIVISION and their members, any other positions or bodies described in these Bylaws, and any positions or bodies established under authority granted by these Bylaws. The Division Board shall not be responsible for the management of THE DIVISION beyond setting policies.
Section 2. Composition: the Division Board shall consist of one member of THE DIVISION serving as a representative of each club which belongs to USFA, INC in the geographic area of THE DIVISION. Such representatives will be selected by the clubs. Whenever a club selects a representative, or an alternate for a representative, it must notify the Officers of THE DIVISION of the selection and means for contacting the person. The Secretary shall then notify the other representatives and alternates of the newly selected representative or alternate and his contact information, and notify the newly selected person of the existing other representatives and alternates and their contact information.
Section 3: Continuity through membership lapses: if membership of a club in USFA, INC. lapses at the beginning of the membership year due to lapse in dues payment or other failure to take action, but not for a reason prohibiting the club from rejoining, a representative of that club shall continue to be considered to belong to the Division Board for one month if the club declares that it is remedying the lapse. If the membership in THE DIVISION of a representative lapses at the beginning of the membership year due to lapse in dues payment or other failure to take action, but not for a reason prohibiting the person from rejoining, that representative shall continue to be considered to belong to the Division Board for one month if he declares that he is remedying the lapse.
Section 4. Quorum: a quorum shall consist of representatives of over one-half (1/2) of the clubs, or four clubs, whichever is greater.
Section 5. Proxies: club representatives may not vote by proxy at meetings of the Division Board. However, a club may select a new representative at any time. Also, if the selected representative is not present, then an alternate for the representative shall automatically be entitled to serve as the representative in the absence of the representative. An alternate representative does not automatically assume any special significance which might have been granted by the Division Board to the usual representative.
Section 6. Minutes: The Secretary shall record the minutes of meetings of the Division Board, but shall not ex offico be a member of the Division Board. The Secretary shall provide on request and shall have on hand in printed form the minutes of all the Division Board meetings. These shall be available to the members at the divisional meetings and shall be communicated to the membership in an analogous fashion to minutes of Executive Committee meetings.
Section 7. Meetings: the Division Board is not required to meet. Meetings of the Division Board shall be called by agreement of four representatives, and held at such time and place as the four representatives designate. All representatives and the Secretary shall be given not less seven (7) days notice of all meetings. The Division Board may select a chairman and may select a vice chairman from among the representatives, who shall hold those positions until the Division Board specifies otherwise. If the representative from a club is replaced temporarily or permanently by the club, the new representative does not automatically assume any special significance which might have been granted by the Division Board to the previous representative.
Section 8. Representativeness: the clubs shall be free to select as representatives any members of THE DIVISION who they consider to be able to serve satisfactorily to represent the interests of their clubs, without regard to any other role the member may serve in the club or in THE DIVISION. However, to such extent that the interests of owners and paid employees of clubs and the interests of the members of THE DIVISION within that club may differ, clubs are to avoid selecting owners and paid employees as representatives."
Unlike the rest, this one actually is a fundamental change, and really deserves the opportunity for argument. This is the one where I break my word about things being fixes instead of changes. This one is a genuine issue. To think that this one could have a consensus by April 3rd is a stretch goal. I really would not want to see April 3rd to be consumed as a battle over this proposal. If it's time has not yet arrived, or if its time never should arrive, let it not spoil the meeting.
I honestly do not have a good sense for whether this one does or does not have support from across the membership of the Division right now. But, if it does, I would hate to miss a good opportunity to vote on it.
(It's also rather long, as the invention of a brand new Division body requires specifying a lot of details which aren't already in the Bylaws. Sorry.)
"Proposition 15": Create a Division Board
Overview:
The current Bylaws state "...the management of THE DIVISION shall be vested in an Executive Committee...." The USFA Bylaws state "The management of the Division shall be vested in a Divisional Executive Committee which shall consist of the elected officers and other annually elected members in accordance with Section 7 of this article" (where Section 7 speaks of the Division members casting votes).
Recently, the Division was in a situation where the interests of a large portion of the membership were perceived as not being satisfied because of a political situation where the majority of the votes in attendance at the previous annual meeting were from one single interest group. Without regard to the truth of this perception, accept it as a hypothesis and consider the consequences.
Given a situation where a majority has no incentive to accommodate the rights or opinions of a minority, no system based on direct democratic vote can solve the problem. No matter how many or how few people are directly elected to govern policy, they can all get elected by and from the same single interest group. A requirement would have to exist which would prevent a policy-maker from being elected from the same interest group as another policy-maker. (For example, it has been suggested that no two members of the Executive Committee belong to the same club. But, this specific requirement can make elections very difficult to conduct, never can two good people be elected from the same club, yet there exist ways for two people from the same club to contrive differing club memberships to circumvent the intent of such a rule.)
Consider also that the Division probably would run most efficiently when managed by as small a group as possible to satisfy the actual manpower demands, but that this is incompatible with the idea that the Division would most wisely govern with representation as broadly based as possible.
The simplest and least disruptive change to the status quo seems to be the creation of a legislative body superior to the Executive Committee which cannot necessarily meet easily, and does not actually get involved in the day-to-day operations of the Division, and which by its design has broadly-based representation which is not necessarily (and probably cannot be) based on direct democratic election.
Current text:
None.
Motion:
In the Gulf Coast Division Bylaws, increment by one the number of all articles from Article VI onward, and insert "Article VI -- Division Board", reading: "Section 1. Powers: There shall exist a Division Board with the power to set policies for THE DIVISION. Except where in conflict with provisions of these Bylaws, or with USFA, Inc., policies established by the Division Board must be followed by the Executive Committee, the Officers and other members of the Executive Committee, standing committees of THE DIVISION and their members, any other positions or bodies described in these Bylaws, and any positions or bodies established under authority granted by these Bylaws. The Division Board shall not be responsible for the management of THE DIVISION beyond setting policies.
Section 2. Composition: the Division Board shall consist of one member of THE DIVISION serving as a representative of each club which belongs to USFA, INC in the geographic area of THE DIVISION. Such representatives will be selected by the clubs. Whenever a club selects a representative, or an alternate for a representative, it must notify the Officers of THE DIVISION of the selection and means for contacting the person. The Secretary shall then notify the other representatives and alternates of the newly selected representative or alternate and his contact information, and notify the newly selected person of the existing other representatives and alternates and their contact information.
Section 3: Continuity through membership lapses: if membership of a club in USFA, INC. lapses at the beginning of the membership year due to lapse in dues payment or other failure to take action, but not for a reason prohibiting the club from rejoining, a representative of that club shall continue to be considered to belong to the Division Board for one month if the club declares that it is remedying the lapse. If the membership in THE DIVISION of a representative lapses at the beginning of the membership year due to lapse in dues payment or other failure to take action, but not for a reason prohibiting the person from rejoining, that representative shall continue to be considered to belong to the Division Board for one month if he declares that he is remedying the lapse.
Section 4. Quorum: a quorum shall consist of representatives of over one-half (1/2) of the clubs, or four clubs, whichever is greater.
Section 5. Proxies: club representatives may not vote by proxy at meetings of the Division Board. However, a club may select a new representative at any time. Also, if the selected representative is not present, then an alternate for the representative shall automatically be entitled to serve as the representative in the absence of the representative. An alternate representative does not automatically assume any special significance which might have been granted by the Division Board to the usual representative.
Section 6. Minutes: The Secretary shall record the minutes of meetings of the Division Board, but shall not ex offico be a member of the Division Board. The Secretary shall provide on request and shall have on hand in printed form the minutes of all the Division Board meetings. These shall be available to the members at the divisional meetings and shall be communicated to the membership in an analogous fashion to minutes of Executive Committee meetings.
Section 7. Meetings: the Division Board is not required to meet. Meetings of the Division Board shall be called by agreement of four representatives, and held at such time and place as the four representatives designate. All representatives and the Secretary shall be given not less seven (7) days notice of all meetings. The Division Board may select a chairman and may select a vice chairman from among the representatives, who shall hold those positions until the Division Board specifies otherwise. If the representative from a club is replaced temporarily or permanently by the club, the new representative does not automatically assume any special significance which might have been granted by the Division Board to the previous representative.
Section 8. Representativeness: the clubs shall be free to select as representatives any members of THE DIVISION who they consider to be able to serve satisfactorily to represent the interests of their clubs, without regard to any other role the member may serve in the club or in THE DIVISION. However, to such extent that the interests of owners and paid employees of clubs and the interests of the members of THE DIVISION within that club may differ, clubs are to avoid selecting owners and paid employees as representatives."