[TVARC] TVARC: 5th Board Member Idea

[Anthony Hackenberg]

There is a movement afoot to amend the club's Constitution/Bylaws in order
to add a fifth member to TVARC's Board.  Without getting into the merits of
this proposal, I sincerely hope its proponents intend to comply with
TVARC's Constitutional procedures regarding amendments.  These procedures
are contained in Article V of the Constitution.

You can read about that idea (5 member board) in the President's "odds and
ends" message, which can be found on the club's website in this section:

*Have you heard? *
*(President's Message)*
*By Ron Adcock/K4YCW*
December 12, 2018
Click HERE
<https://www.k4vrc.com/uploads/7/8/8/6/78865320/presidents_message_december_2018.pdf>
to
read K4YCW's Article.


Since such an important idea should not be so buried and hard to find, here
are the President's own words from that President's article concerning the
idea to add a fifth member to the Board:

3) At the January general membership meeting the Board of Directors will be
proposing for your consideration the addition of a 5th member of the Board.
With only 4 members, as is now the case, if two are absent from a Board
meeting no business can be done. That happened a couple of times this year.
And, a fifth member would also reduce the
chances of a tie vote on any of the issues that come before us. Adding a
5th member will
require a change in our by-laws. Only you can make those changes. You can
read the
Constitution and By-Laws on our web site. They are not very long or
complicated.

[Ref:
https://www.k4vrc.com/uploads/7/8/8/6/78865320/presidents_message_december_2018.pdf
]

Here are the procedures for amending TVARC's Constitution/Bylaws:

Article V. Amendments
Amendments may be presented, in writing, to the TVARC Secretary at any
General Membership Meeting. The amendment(s) will be read to the members
present at that meeting. The text of the amendment(s) shall be included in
the minutes of the meeting, for members who were not present. At the
following General Membership Meeting, the amendment(s) shall be read a
second time, and then opened for discussion. After members have had an
opportunity to voice their positions on the amendment(s), a vote will be
taken. Each amendment is to be voted on separately. Passage of an amendment
requires an affirmative vote of three-fourths (75%) of the members present.

[Ref: Article V of the "Constitution of The Villages Amateur Radio Club,"
as Approved by general membership vote on January 21, 2016].


You can easily access the club's Constitution/Bylaws document at either of
these direct URL (web addresses/links):

https://www.k4vrc.com/constitutionbylaws.html

or
https://www.k4vrc.com/uploads/1/0/1/5/10156032/160121-tvarc_constitution_official.pdf


In order for this idea of a fifth Board member to pass muster of those
Constitutional procedural requirements, the following would must happen:

   1. The actual, full text of the proposed amendment(s) must be presented
   to the Secretary;
   2. They must be read to all those present at a club meeting;
   3. They must be included in the minutes of that meeting;
   4. Then, at the next club meeting, they must be read a 2nd time and
   opened for discussion;
   5. Assuming there's a quorum present at that meeting, then each
   amendment is to be voted on separately with passage requiring a 3/4ths vote.

Since there's no general membership meeting in December 2018, the earliest
(assuming the amendments are drafted, in writing, in a timely fashion) that
the required 1st reading could occur is at the January 2019 meeting.  Then,
assuming the full text of the amendments appeared in the minutes from this
January meeting, the mandated 2nd reading could occur at the February 2019
meeting.  However, this is the meeting devoted to the election of the next
Board.

So, the timing of this idea (assuming it really gets to be a formal
proposal to amend the club's fundamental charter) is problematic.  However,
my goal behind this overly long message is to put the Board on notice that
they must abide by the aforementioned amending procedures.

Respectfully submitted,

Tony Hackenberg
TVARC Member
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