Chapter Bylaws
To ensure that the chapter bylaws adhere to the requirements of EAA headquarters and that the bylaws accurately describe the way the chapter has been operating, the Chapter Officers have been revising the existing bylaws. A revised copy of those bylaws were presented at the March 2008 meeting for review. A PDF copy is available here as well.
These were approved by the members in August, and submitted to the EAA. The EAA has since reviewed these by-laws and has responded with the following recommendations. Please review the following email and be prepared to submit your comments at the next chapter meeting.
Subject:EAA Chapter 509 - Bylaws
From:"Brenda Anderson"
Date:Fri, 24 Oct 2008 11:48:58 -0500
To:
Received:from irwin.eagles.internal.eaa.org (irwin.eaa.org [66.84.177.250]) by mail925c35.nsolutionszone.com (8.13.6.20060614/8.13.1) with ESMTP id m9OGn1p1003711 for ; Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:49:03 -0400
Thread-Topic:EAA Chapter 509 - Bylaws
Jim,
Good morning! Thank you for giving us a copy of the revised bylaws for EAA Chapter 509. In reviewing them there were a couple of items that I would like to bring to your attention for review by your chapter:
· Article VII – It can be helpful to allow for an odd number of members to be on the Board of Directors. This can be especially important when it comes time to vote on various issues or topics for discussion. If there is not an odd number of people you may find that the chapter ends up with “tied votes.”
· Article VIII – Implied Proxy – The chapter may want to consider a statement regarding the use of proxies that says something to the effect of “The Secretary shall be responsible for the method by which any proxy votes or issued, accepted or counted. Such process shall be reviewed and approved by the Chapter Board of Directors prior to its use.” We have had an example where an individual member sought out proxies of members to “push” a vote through on a topic of great significance to the chapter. You want to make sure the bylaws provide for a way to insure this type of situation doesn’t arise.
· General Members – This term is referenced throughout but not defined. Is a General Member just a “member?” Please note that your membership types must agree with the bylaw guidelines, which yours do, however, there is the reference of General Member which is a little confusing.
· Article X – Your bylaws do not allow for an existing officer to take over a vacant officer position. That is acceptable however, if the President would need to step down, it is not uncommon for the Vice President to step forward to fulfill the role as they have been an active board member and familiar with current chapter activities. Or in some cases a person may fulfill the roles of Secretary and Treasurer until the next election. Just something you may want to review and discuss.
· Also noted that the sections of Dispute Resolution, Dissolution and Chapter Charter Authorization were omitted. Particularly the Dissolution section is important to have as if a non-profit goes inactive their assets need to go to another non-profit. Please review this section in the bylaw guidelines.
Hope this information helps. I am going to send back to you the original set of bylaws your chapter submitted for a second review. If your chapter decides to re-submit them “as is” we will sign off on them however I think your chapter may want to at least discuss some of the points noted above.
If you have any questions, please let me know.
Brenda Anderson, EAA #650581
Chapter Administrator
EAA-The Spirit of Aviation
Phone: 920.426.6867
Fax: 920.426.6579
See you at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh-July 27 - August 2, 2009
