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OLD SEMINOLE HEIGHTS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION, INC. Suggested revisions for the BYLAWS |
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| Existing Bylaws | Proposed Changes (12-28-2009) |
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Article I Name, Purpose and Membership
Section 1. Name: The name of this organization shall be Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association, Inc., a non-profit organization located in Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida. Hereinafter referred to in this document as OSHNA.
Section 2. Purpose: To promote and encourage the preservation and restoration of the area known as Seminole Heights while revitalizing a sense of community in a safe and healthy residential neighborhood as further defined in the Articles of Incorporation. Section 3. Membership: [1] Voting: There shall be one category of voting membership. A person eighteen years of age or older, interested in promoting the purpose of OSHNA, who lives within the boundaries of OSHNA, or who owns a business within the boundaries of OSHNA is eligible for voting membership. Membership shall be granted upon the payment of ten dollars ($10.00) annual dues.
[2] Non-Voting: There shall be three categories of non-voting memberships. A. SIMPLE NON-VOTING: Open to anyone who is eighteen years of age or older, interested in promoting the purpose of OSHNA, who does or who does not reside within the boundaries of the organization. Membership shall be granted upon payment of fifteen dollars ($15.00) annual dues.
B. HONORARY: An honorary membership may be conferred by the Executive Board upon members of the community or upon past officers of OSHNA that the organization wishes to recognize for exceptional or outstanding services. Honorary memberships are lifetime. C. BUSINESS: A business membership is available to businesses operating within the Old Seminole Heights area. Upon becoming a member the business will be entitled to have its name listed in the newsletter once a year. Membership shall be granted upon payment of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) annual dues.
[5] Enrollment: New members may enroll at any time. Renewal of membership may be made at any time. Past members whose membership has lapsed for more than one year shall be enrolled as new members.
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Section 1. Name: The name of this organization shall be Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association, Inc., a non-profit organization located in Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida, hereinafter referred to in this document as OSHNA. The last phrase was a sentence fragment. This is corrected Section 2. Area: The area of OSHNA is bounded by the following: from the intersection of Hillsborough Avenue and the Hillsborough River north and then east on the River to 22nd Street, 22nd St. south to Hillsborough Ave., Hillsborough Ave. west to Interstate 275, Interstate 275 south to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. west to Florida Ave., north on Florida Ave. to Hillsborough Ave., and then west to the intersection of Hillsborough Ave. and the Hillsborough River. OSHNA boundaries had not been included in the bylaws.
Section 3. Purpose: renumbered
Section 4. Membership: renumbered [1] Voting: There shall be two (2) categories of voting membership. A. STANDARD: A standard membership is available to a person eighteen (18) years of age or older, who is interested in promoting the purpose of OSHNA and who lives within the boundaries of OSHNA. Membership shall be granted upon the payment of annual dues. B. HONORARY: An honorary membership may be conferred by the Executive Board, or the Board’s designee, upon members of the community or upon past officers of OSHNA whom the organization wishes to recognize for exceptional or outstanding services, or longstanding membership. Honorary memberships are lifetime. Voting privileges are subject to the same residency requirements as standard memberships. * Membership types rearranged to be simpler and to provide that an honorary membership is a full voting membership.
[2] Non-Voting: There shall be two (2) categories of non-voting memberships. A. SIMPLE NON-VOTING: Open to anyone who is eighteen (18) years of age or older, who is interested in promoting the purpose of OSHNA, and who is otherwise not eligible to be a voting member. Membership shall be granted upon payment of annual dues or by action of the Board Membership types rearranged to be simpler and to provide that an honorary membership is a full voting membership. B. BUSINESS: A business membership is available to businesses operating within the Old Seminole Heights area. Upon becoming a member the business will be entitled to have its name listed in the newsletter once a year. Membership shall be granted upon the payment of annual dues.
[3] Limitation of memberships: No person may hold more than one membership. To be in good standing a member must be current on all OSHNA obligations. ** [4] Dues: Dues shall be payable on enrollment and annually on the anniversary of enrollment. Any change in the annual rate will be proposed to the membership by the Executive Board and will be subject to approval or disapproval by a simple majority vote at the next General Membership meeting. Dues may not be increased more than 20 percent above the existing rate in any one year period. Drops the dollar amount of the dues from the bylaws but includes a limit on future increases. * Added to ensure that honorary members residing within OSHNA have the same voting privileges as standard members. ** Added to provide a definition of "member in good standing." |
Article I - Name, Purpose and Membership
Article II - Meetings
Article III - Quorum
Article IV - Officers
Article V - Elections
Article VI - Executive Board
Article VII - Duties of Office
Article VIII - Committees
Article IX - Amendments to Bylaws
Article X - Non-Discrimination
Article XI - Non-Profit Provisions
Article XII -Control and Disbursement of Funds
Please log in to comment.
In order to vote, members must be current on all OSHNA obligations which includes advertising in the Advisor and other OSHNA publications.
A definition of "member in good standing" was added to paragraph [3] that covers this.
I like the idea of having honorary memberships that do not expire. However, I think honorary members should only be able to vote if they qualify for a regular, voting membership. Also, some of our residential property owners do not reside in the area but do have a financial stake in the neighborhood; the proposed bylaws do not provide a vote for that type.
If a non-resident, honorary member can vote, then a non-resident residential property owner should be able to vote. Else, neither should be able to vote.
These were the subject of a great deal of discussion by the Committee. We amended the Honorary Membershp section to provide voting privileges to those who reside in OSHNA.
The exclusion of property owners, renters and businesses that are within the OSHNA boundaries are clearly against the “City of Tampa’s Guidelines for Neighbrhood Associations”** and place OSHNA in the position of losing their “recognized” status as a Neighborhood Association, as per the city’s standards.
**See- “Neighborhood and Community Relations Office Guidelines for Neighborhood Associations”, see Page 3, Neighborhood Association
These classes of voting members have been in our bylaws since OSHNA's inception for a good reason, all are steakholders of our community ! ! And, should remain so in the future.
In considering membership and voting, the committee worked hard to make the standards simpler and clearer. The Committee discussed the section on business memberships in the spring of 2009 and found that the chief difficulty was in defining what constitutes a business. A company that is licensed to operate in the city and that has a physical location would obviously qualify. But what about someone who operates a small business out of the back room of their home? Or someone who owns a house in the neighborhood and rents it? And how would we handle someone who owns more than one business. And what about all the used car lots? After a great deal of discussion the Committee decided to retain business membership but move it to the non-voting category.
We have very few business memberships and they have seldom, if ever, voted. OSHNA has a good recording on supporting, promoting, and speaking up for business in the neighborhood.
As to the other categories: the simple owning of property has never been a basis for membership and renters are not now and never have been excluded.
Section 1: Names the organization as Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association and where it is located, but does not give it's boundaries or references how they are determined such as "according to the City of Tampa Land Use maps and generally encompassing the area from MLK and the Hillsborough River to 22nd Street on the East and back to Hillsborough, etc..." If there are no delineation of the area who is to say that Tampa Heights is not a part of this neighborhood for example.
Section 2: Complicates the issue more in indicating the purpose is to preserve and restore the area "known as" SEMINOLE HEIGHTS. Ok, where are we talking about? The same area as the OLD Seminole Heights described above? This is just confusing.
Section 3: B. BUSINESS: Again, businesses can only be "within the Old Seminole Heights area" which has never been defined.
[3] Limitation of membership indicates that "No person may hold more than one membership" but as a resident in OSH and as an incorporated Company in OSH that happens to have the same name, there is the possibility of a person who is a person and a business of having two memberships and therefore two votes. Is this what the correction is trying to accomplish?
Larry: You are exactly right. Under the current bylaws it would be possible for one person to have a membership in his or her own name and others in the name of any businesses owned. The committee felt it was reasonable to add a limitation that results in one vote for one person.
The question about the boundaries brings up a good point. The Committee had thought that the boundaries were set down in the Articles of Incorporation but on checking found they were not, so we added the boundaries.
OSHNA’s purpose is not limited to its own area but aims to improve all of Seminole Heights.
I wanted to be sure there is clarification as to what "lifetime" and "good standing" meant, as it has been raised as an issue in the recent past. Traditionally, honoraria imply a quality of character which is beyond question. By including the additional language of what constitutes "good standing", the "lifetime" member is a member so long as they do not breach their OSHNA obligations, until dead, or per Shawn's comment, until they do not live in the neighborhood.
This leads to the residence requirement: I would suggest the more precise "maintains their primary residence" rather than "lives", to incorporate the statutory concept of living six months plus one day in the district, Fla. Stat. 63.032(15), as distinguished from seasonal residents ("snowbirds") or non-resident property owners ("landlords").
My point is simply that if there is to be a residence requirement, it should be explicit, and not subject to intepretation, only a granularity of fact-finding to answer the question yes or no. 1. DO YOU RESIDE IN OSH? If yes, go to 2. 2. DO YOU LIVE IN OSH >6 MONTHS OF THE YEAR? If yes, member eligible. Done.
We amended the membership section from “lives in” to maintains primary residence in” since that is clearer.
I agree with Shawn that some of our residential property owners do not reside in the area but do have a financial stake in the neighborhood therefore, they should have voting rights. With that logic the same should be afforded in respect with Business Owners.
A person who is the owner of a business with an address within the OSHNA boundaries should have the same membership voting privilege for they also are our neighbors and should not be excluded. Our neighborhood association’s bylaws should promote being all-inclusive and not discriminate between homeowners, property owners, and business owners who ALL have a financial stake and good will within our neighborhood. Doing otherwise is just plain wrong.
Gail,
My worry with this, and as you've read my prior comment you know where I stand here, is that we have a relatively new organization called BGOSH that is defined similarly to the neighborhood association but for local businesses, not residents. So while I agree that these businesses are part of the neighborhood, I try to keep in mind that we should not compete with our sister organizations like BGOSH. Somewhere here, there is a balance to be had.
In the very least, we should have a consistent view of membership in general and voting membership in particular. If an out-of-neighborhood resident can vote, then that policy should apply to both residential and commercial land owners. If an out-of-neighborhood person cannot vote, then that should also apply to both.
Your argument for why out-of-neighborhood property owners should be able to vote is well taken. I see both sides of this argument and have faith that our Bylaws committee, advised by our members, will come to a equitable solution.
Thank you for taking the time to comment. I can assure you that all of the comments here have been discussed and even now some alterations are being made based on Larry's and Brad's input.
Shawn,
Why after twenty years would OSHNA want to eliminate renters & business owners ?? And, why would we not want to include anyone who "OWNS" part of our neighborhood? They are after-all stake-holders of the neighborhood.
This is a poor policy and needs to be corrected.
Dirk,
Your comment assumes a motive that I do not believe exists. I really cannot answer the question since its basic premise, that OSHNA wants to "eliminate renters & business owners", is false.
Renters clearly qualify for membership under both the current and proposed bylaws, as do business owners. Renters qualify for voting membership. Where do you see evidence that this "eliminates" renters? Perhaps a section of the proposed bylaws are unclear.
Renters qualify because they "[live] within the boundaries of OSHNA." as described here:
"A. STANDARD: A standard membership is available to a person eighteen (18) years of age or older, who is interested in promoting the purpose of OSHNA and who lives within the boundaries of OSHNA."
Businesses qualify here:
"B. BUSINESS: A business membership is available to businesses operating within the Old Seminole Heights area."
I am not a member of this committee and it is not appropriate for me to speak on their behalf. Rest assured that all comments have been received, reviewed, and discussed by the committee. Your questions may be addressed directly to committee members when the proposed bylaws go before the membership for their first reading, or you may contact them personally if you wish.
Thank you for your participation in this process.
My bad Shawn, with regard to renters.
However business owners (non-voting?) Why ?
And, I think we should add all property owners should be "voting" members.
Again, all are stake-holders.
Shawn, you a may not be a member of the bylaws committee howver I would find you opinion helpful, just as any other member !
Thanks
Shawn, I am not able to know where you stand by reading your prior comment, no where do you refer to BGOSH as being a competitor to OSHNA. Yes, we agree that businesses are part of the neighborhood however, I don't believe OSHNA nor BGOSH are in competition for members, this is not an issue. We obviously have a different opinion which is your right, the voting membership as a whole will have theirs. Thank-you for taking the time to comment personally to my opinion. Gail
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So, to the members of the bylaws committee please know: my comment stands, all people are our neighbors who own property, commercial or residential, and business owners alike should not be discriminated or left out as a voting member as has been since throughout OSHNA's history. I see no really good reason to change this bylaw today.