Proposed Constitution and By-Laws

What you have

Below you will find links to 3 files. Please read the information on this page below to fully understand what has happened. 

  1. Please read the information contained on this page first.
  2. Here is a link to the proposed new constitution.
  3. Here is a copy of the current constitution.
  4. Here is an AI comparison Dale McNeill, N3DJO provided thanks to Casey.

What to do – Look at the new Constitution

  • We recommend reading through the draft constitution.
  • If you need more, the original constitution is there for your reference.
  • The comparison file can help understand the changes.

Action

  • Prepare to vote on the new constitution.
  • The vote will take place according to the policies in the old constitution.
  • Subsequent changes and adjustments will take place according to the new constitution.

What Has Gone Before

This is background and can be skipped.

  • After years of agonizing over the constitution and proposed changes, Dr. Mike and Don Lynn took on the task of making the constitutional changes that were called for.
  • Initially, changes on the drawing board were added to a new draft using the original constitution as the base.  Almost all the original constitution  is in the draft with little more than cosmetic change.  Most of the changes deal with changes in the club, entrenched policy, consistency, clarity, and the impact of electronic media on a document created in the pencil and paper era.
  • After a number of iterations between Don and Dr. Mike, a draft was ready.  This draft was messy and contained references to who proposed what change.
  • The draft was sent to several people.  These people had called for changes, pointed out flaws, or saw things that needed change.  Included in the group were major stakeholders.
  • The draft was revised and cleaned up.
  • The draft was then sent to a lawyer.  The changes were prodigious and it took several weeks to adjust the draft to cover the points listed.
  • One of the recommendations of the lawyer was to remove all references to who proposed a change, point, or clarification.
  • Dr. Mike then spent hours cleaning up the draft, creating a table of contents, and preparing a draft for the board.
  • Board comments and changes were reviewed.  Adjustments were made and the proposed constitution was made ready for the membership.
  • A vote for the membership is being scheduled.  The vote will follow the old constitution.
  • Subsequent changes will follow the new constitution.