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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 IV Officers
Section 1. There shall be nine officers of OSHNA, with the following titles: A. President B. Vice President C. Secretary D. Treasurer [E. Five (5) Trustees
Section 2. All officers shall have an office term of one year or until a successor has been elected.
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Section 2. Terms of Office A. The term of office for all officers shall be two (2) years. B. Officers shall serve until a successor has been elected. C. At the election following the approval of this section of the bylaws, officers shall be elected for terms as follows: vice-president, treasurer, and two (2) trustees for terms of one (1) year; president, secretary and three (3) trustees for terms of two (2) years. Immediately subsequent to the end of the election, lots shall be drawn to select two (2) trustees to serve one year and three (3) to serve two years. At subsequent elections all officers will be elected for terms of two (2) years.
Terms of office extended and staggered to provide continuity. Section 2: C provides for the beginning of the staggered terms.
Section 3. Term Limits A. The president shall be eligible to serve two (2) full terms consecutively. B. C. Officers who have become ineligible to run because of term limits shall become eligible to run again after an interim of one year. D. Term limits shall not apply to the time served by an individual who has been appointed to fill a vacancy on the board and who serves less than one-half of a regular term. E. The limits of Section 3 shall apply only
New section added to outline term limits for officers.
Section 4. Succession: If the office of president becomes vacant, the vice president, if in agreement, shall assume that office New section added to clarify the succession of officers. |
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
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Section 3. Term Limits
Why Presidents are singled out to two (2) contiguous terms (or 4 years by definition from Section 2:A) and yet other elected officers can serve for five (5) consecutive terms (or 10 years) makes no sense whatsoever. And, as an added bonus for the "other officers" who may have already served 10 or more years, Part C. states that the limits are after the bylaws are passed. This does not seem right overall. Presidents are volunteer members just like Trustees or any other officer and a term limit of two two (2) year terms should apply to ALL officers allowing for more neighborhood involvement. I'm sure that the argument will be made that the problem is that no one wants to serve on the Board; well, that provision is all ready covered in Part B. which allows for an officer to serve until someone else comes forward even if that's a lifetime. All members should be treated equally.
Section 4: Does not make clear what happens if, for instance, the Secretary were moved into the Vice Presidency. Would they hold two offices?
Concerning Secton 4. - good question, but no. Article VI, Section 1. provides that no person shall hold more than one office simultaneously.
Concerning terms - fter careful consideration we made all terms the same but decided to leave the term limits as shown.
Section 3[C] should have clearer language regarding the prospective application of the provision. I propose: "The limits of this Section 3 shall only apply prospectively and shall become effective upon all officers elected after the Membership votes to approve these Bylaws."
Amended to make it clear that the limits will not be applied retroactively because this would be unfair and contrary to common law and to general legal principles.
Oh, and "contiguous" should be "consecutive".
Changed to use that wording since it is clearer.
I agree with Larry's assessment that all officers (including the President) should abide by the same term limits, all are volunteer positions to be treated equally. I don't agree with allowing five (5) consecutive terms, ten continuous years on the board for any one or more person is an over excessive amount ot time and only reduces the chance to allow new people to serve. Also, the part of allowing the proposed 10-yrs to start once the bylaws are passed reduces that chance even further if those currently on the board have already served 10 yrs or more (with some already hitting that mark). I agree with Larry, this makes no sense whatsoever as good policy overall. This proposal should be changed.
The Committee had carefully considered the term limits, and discussed them again as a result of this comment. We concluded that the point was a good one and all officers should have the same term length. However, applying the term limits retroactively would be unfair and contrary to common law and general legal principles.
Being an incumbent does give someone an advantage in an election, of course, but the history of OSHNA shows that this is not an overwhelming barrier. In the 21 OSHNA elections from 1989 through 2009, there were only 3 years in which no one new to the Board was elected.
Section 3 Term Limits:
Term limits should be imposed on all positions: two (2) years terms.
This will encourage more participation within the OSHNA.
Section 4 Succession:
With the exception of the office of Vice President to President. All other positions should be filled by referring to the most recent election results, to fill all other vacancies. This is the most democratic way to fill the vacancies. And, this honors our members wishes, as per the election results. As I mentioned in another thread, otherwise we have a Club ! Not, a membership based organization.
We have made all terms the same but after careful consideration, decided to leave the term limits as shown.
Certainly considering those who were candidates in the most recent election is a good suggestion. The Committee felt, though, that limiting choices in that way would be restrictive.
Section 2: Terms of Office
Terms should remain 1 year .
All officers shall have an office term of one year or until a successor has been elected.
Many officers have said that one year terms are very short and give little time to accomplish projects and build good working relationships. The Committee considered making all terms two years but was concerned about the possibility of a significant portion the Board changing after two years.
In extending the terms and staggering them the Committee had two goals in mind: ensuring continuity since no more than half the board could be new in any one year; and making elections smaller and simpler for both the election committee and for voters.
Propose: Term Limits
Term Limits of 5 years, any partial years are included as full years.
The limitation would apply to the period served to fill the unexpired term caused by a vacancy for any reason. The limitation would apply to any service consecutive service on the OSHNA board
Propose: Time off
After 1 year out the clock resets on the term limit and the member may run as a candidate for election and serve up to the limit again ...
2 years time off after 10 years years served on the board. Any partial years served are included as full years.
Term Limits - The Committee considered this but settled on limits of two terms for president and five terms for all other officers. We also added a rule about counting the majority of an appointed term for this purpose.
Time off - An excellent suggestion. The Committee had not included any clear rule about time off after someone meets term limits. We added such a rule.
Section 4. Succession:
In regards to filling a vacancy for vice-president:
If the vice president succeeds to the office of president, the office of vice president shall, whenever possible, be filled by a currently serving ELECTED member of the Executive Board, chosen by vote of the Board, for the remainder of the term.
Certainly in filling the very important position of vice-president, the Board would look for the most experienced and best suited person (and, of course, someone who is willing to assume the job). Considering those who were elected is a good suggestion. The Committee felt, though, that limiting choices in that way would be too restrictive.