Amendment to the Bylaws (Council Members)

[ChrisBuono]

After reviewing the bylaws document and participating in the Reef Central forum discussion regarding members’ goals, I propose we amend the CDMAS bylaws by expanding the number and refining the role of each Council Member.

I believe this will have the effect of greater club organization, greater membership participation, and a greater likelihood of achieving our individual and collective goals. Moreover, I have heard a number of times that members may not have much time to dedicate to their prospective Council Member position. I think this proposed change spreads the responsibility out further and more evenly.

Specifically, Article 1, Section 1 refers to five Council Members. Treasurer, Events and Public Relations, Secretary, Membership Chairman, and Donation Chairman.

I propose we alter the bylaws to read:

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“…nine Council Members.”

A. Council Member â€"œ Treasurer
B. Council Member â€"œ Events Coordinator
C. Council Member â€"œ Secretary
D. Council Member â€"œ Membership Chairperson
E. Council Member â€"œ Webmaster
F. Council Member â€"œ Local Vendor Relations
G. Council Member â€"œ Online Vendor Relations
H. Council Member â€"œ Newsletter Publisher
I. Council Member â€"œ PR/Education Chairperson

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Similarly, Article 2, Section 1 describes the role of each Council Member. I propose the descriptions for each remaining role remains the same except where below proposed.

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1. Strike “while also managing communications to the local community” from the Events and Public Relations Chairman duties, leaving the description of the role of the above proposed Events Coordinator.

2. The Local Vendor Relations Council Member will be responsible for liaison duties including the solicitation of donations and/or discounts to the Society from outside sources including local companies, local manufacturers, local stores, or individuals. The Chairperson will acknowledge and inventory all donations and prepare a list for CDMAS COUNCIL review.

3. The Online Vendor Relations Council Member will be responsible for liaison duties including solicitation of donations and/or discounts to the Society from outside sources including non-local companies, manufacturers, or online stores. The Chairperson will acknowledge and inventory all donations and prepare a list for CDMAS COUNCIL review.

4. Webmaster Council Member will be responsible for maintaining the CDMAS website.

5. The Newsletter Publisher Council Member will be responsible for the periodic creation of a CDMAS newsletter. (NOTE: I noticed our bylaws referred to a newsletter, but I am not aware that one exists.)

6. The PR/Education Chairperson will be responsible for managing communications to the local community, including the interaction with any non-vendor public entities including soliciting presentations from marine aquarist experts as well as offering willing CDMAS resources to local schools and the like for appropriate marine projects.

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We need three members to state their agreement to bring this proposal in front of the Board.

After that, this will come to a membership vote at the next General Meeting.

Thoughts?

Seconds?

 

[jallard]

ummm Im definatly NOT in favor. I see no benifit in adding that many more seats to the council. Does the term all chiefs and no indians mean anything Most if not all the additional "jobs" can be deligated by council at any time.

*edit* as you may have noticed we aren't exactly getting tons of members interested in running for the 2 available seats we have now. How would we fill 4 this year and another 3 at the next elections. OUr club isn't that big.

 

[Dave ESPI]

We need " ENTERTAINMENT and FOOD AND BEVERAGE ADMINISTRATOR" as a position. :thumb-up:

 

[jallard]

There must be at least another 5 or so more positions we can come up with don't ya think :lol: 9 just isn't enuff

 

[upstatedave]

the club really isn't that large that it needs 9 council members....a year ago or so we had none...lets not over-engineer this thing...I think 5 is fine.

 

[ChrisBuono]

Does the term all chiefs and no indians mean anything?

Chiefs? Who's a chief. Those positions are all worker roles.

Most if not all the additional "jobs" can be deligated by council at any time.

Delegated to who? If what you say is true, then there is no one to delegate to.

------------------------------------

The impetus for this comes from my own experience as well as my impromtu conversations with other members. I know at least one or two who agree.

Also, I'm up for the Events and PR role. As I originally said, the two duties together seem like a lot of work (plus I don't know what they have to do with each other). Coordinating the next two year's events seems like a lot more work than Treasurer or Membership Chairperson, then add the PR role.

Plus the duties seem confusing to me. Who is the liaison between our group and Eddie's or Swamp Bottom? Is it the PR Chairperson or the Donations Chairperson?

And if you look at what people say their goals are, where is education represented?

And we seem to agree donations and discounts are icing-on-the-cake, yet that is belied by our titled Council Member position (not Vendor Liaison, but Donations Chairperson (seems to imply greed)).

And shouldn't our "Vendor Liaisons" be soliciting for advertising (on our website, at our meetings, in our 'newsletter')? We might have more money to spend if we divided the work in a more logical and equitable way.

If the majority doesn't agree, so be it; but I ask you to take this seriously.

 

[plandy]

Chris,

I think you have some good ideas which can serve our club well in the future. But as many already voiced in at this point we are too small and informal to take on a rigid structure this early on. But I do think we should file Chri's idea for the future.

Thanks,

 

[upstatedave]

agreed plandy.....as the club grows....and hopefully it will continue to grow....those points would be well taken...but it seems that the present council has been doing quite well and informality has been the key to enjoyment...at least for me.

 

[ChrisBuono]

the club really isn't that large that it needs 9 council members

It's not about a number and it not about size , it's about the work that is already being done or that should be done (IMO) and how to best spread the responsibility.

None of this is in any way a criticism for the bylaws as they are now, it's a suggestion for possible improvement.

 

[WinkeyWoneye]

I understand where Chris is coming from. Many of us have a busy work schedule, possibly the reason many arent interested in the 2 spots open now. If we lighten the load on council members by adding a few more spots to spread out the work, possibly more would be interested in becoming a council member. I personally wouldnt have the time to take on a current council member position, but possibly in the future I would be willing to take on something along the lines of liaison between local sponsors and or online vendors. Krazy K and I both get bored from time to time and will take a cruise to all our local fish stores in the same day. Just 2 weeks ago we took a ride out to a fish store in Mechanicsville and if you didnt know this place sold fish...you would never know by looking at the outside. It is a hardware store at first appearance. Go inside and you will see half the store is dedicated to reptiles, FW and SW tanks. We both talked with the owner and told him it would be good for him and his business to join CDMAS. He was very interested in joining. He along with the rest of us are hobbyists. He was interested in possibly sponsoring CDMAS and holding meetings in his store after hours. I could easily take on a position like liaison between local vendors, without much interuption in my busy family/work schedule. But to take on that plus more would be too much on me. I think the term too many chiefs and not enough indians doesnt really apply much here as everyone would be in charge of something diffrent, rather than everyone in charge of the same things. I think it would make for greater organization but yet at the same time take some of the stress factors of being a council member away from the current council members. Just because something is more organized doesnt neccesarily mean we cant be laxed and laid back still. It just means that our council members would be more able to feel laxed and laid back also as they wouldnt have so much over there heads to worry about. I think the factor of being more organized would make things go smoother and give ALL of us the chance to feel laxed and laid back. I think Linda C would make a GREAT liaison for the educational end of it. As this is what she expressed interest in, and is already involved with schools. I think this would help our club to better spread out and explore ALL directions of interest in the club, thus making everyone happy. As for being or sounding greedy with the " Donations Chairperson", I dont agree here. Any and all clubs/volunteer work must hold some type of donations/fundraisers as this is what helps keep them going. As for frags/certificates/group purchases/club discounts, call them what you want but to me they are just a added bonus of being a club member. Everyone deserves a reward or pat on the back for what they have put in, I see nothing wrong with using the clubs discounts and benefits as long as you participate actively within the club. The frags and certificates that are put up for raffle during meetings are what help keep things fun.
On that note, I second Chris' motion to have nine council members.

 

[jaze36]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8316113#post8316113 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jallard
ummm Im definatly NOT in favor. I see no benifit in adding that many more seats to the council. Does the term all chiefs and no indians mean anything Most if not all the additional "jobs" can be deligated by council at any time.

*edit* as you may have noticed we aren't exactly getting tons of members interested in running for the 2 available seats we have now. How would we fill 4 this year and another 3 at the next elections. OUr club isn't that big.

Have to agree with Joe. I also think that right now to much on paper could have a strangling effect in the future. Remember the old saying "less is more". Before we put any of these positions in writing we should make them sub position or parts of a committee that a particular council member is responsible for. Our council is still very new(we are only holding our first elections) and the bugs are not worked out yet. Let it run for a few years and figure out where any weakness are before we go changing it. It will also be much harder to take away once on paper than it will be to add it if a clear need arises in the future. Also rember that the club is much older than the council and these positions were determind by people that have in the club for a while(years) with the best intentions for the group. I think we should leave things as they are.

 

[vmiller]

Chris,

As far as I know, the majority of the club wishes to keep things as simple and informal as possible. And in my opinion, the primary motivation for having a council is to have enough, but not too many, level headed people in charge to keep things from getting carried away. I think expanding the council to 9 members contradicts that. 9 people trying to maintain order is simply going to create more chaos than it manages. I think 5 is a good number.

Not all of the positions you mention are crucial to keeping this club healthy, and as such, we can delegate some of the responsibilities you mention to people who are not council members. As I said, the council wasn't designed to be the workhorse of the club, but rather a governing body to maintain order.

To accomodate your idea, I would entertain the possibility of a sub council to expand formal responsibility while not expanding the primary decision making core, but I think even that is not really necessary.

Vin

 

[WinkeyWoneye]

If not expand to 9 council members than I would say vmiller's suggestion of a sub council to handle this is a great idea. With the 5 council members overseeing things. This would probably work out better, as having 9 council member would possibly cause some chaos when it comes decision making time.

 

[jallard]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8316906#post8316906 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by upstatedave
lets not over-engineer this thing...I think 5 is fine.

Agree......we are a Saltwater Hobby club....
The 5 council seats are the Governing body of CDMAS fisrt and formost. The jobs attached to the 5 present seats are jobs we felt were needed to run CDMAS realitivly smooth.

If the position of Events/PR is confusing then I propose we drop the PR part of it. Leave the PR part to the donation chairperson. The events portion of it is easy IMO.... organize the monthly meetings and help plan events. A few events a year can't be that hard.

EDIT:a sub council to handle this is a great idea
These jobs if deemed nessesary can be deligated at any time to anyone by current council.

 

[plandy]

What I am reading into here that there are more people interested participating in an active role than positions available. Perhaps at the next & every election after we can add one or more of the roles mentioned by Chris. Or at the very least discuss them as each election comes up. It is true that with more people sharing the club's responsibilities the work load gets lighter but more efficient. On the other hand there will be more work for the coordinator who will have to oversee & govern this larger body of council members. But overall as Chris has pointed out, more will be done more efficiently. I am still in favor of proceeding slowly with caution ...a little change at a time to make certain our direction are well timed and consistant with the growth and well being of the club.

Just for the record, my personal ambition is to remain a permanent indian :bum: :dance:

 

[michaelg]

Maybe we can take those roles and delagate them now by the council, thus providing approval for others to represent the club in a formal capacity for some of these jobs. As time progresses, we can assess the importance of the positions and the role they are playing and then decide the need for a council position.

 

[Linda C.]

I recently joined MASNA and while at the meeting in Houston they discussed being able to give guidance to growing clubs like ours. What about contacting them for some ideas or thoughts for our "growing pains"?

 

[ChrisBuono]

I appreciate everyone's feedback as well as the constructive criticism.

A few things to keep in mind...

- I hear people referring to the proposal as some kind of sweeping change. The only significant changes are the splitting of the local and online liaison (from Donation Chair) and the new Newsletter and Education roles.

- The same person may hold more than one postion (a/k/a don't get hung up on the number, but the refinement of the roles).

Do I hear a third? (Keep in mind that agreement doesn't mean it becomes a part of our bylaws, but means it's worthy of a membership vote.)

 

[Dave ESPI]

I think EVERYONE in the club should have a position............


Just like when playing abig drinking game of "A$$HOLE".... Ya got the president, vice, sec, tresur, chief of beverages, Cabinet Admin of Munchies, Refill Wench, Vice a$$hole, etc, etc, etc..... and since stuff rolls downhill, you finaly get to the lowest position of all..... A$$hole.


I volunteer to be "a$$hole" ... Life seems to deal me chitty cards all the time, so I'm used to this position now, and it's quite comfy knowing your seat never has to change...... becides.. I DO get to sit next to "EL PRESIDENTE! ".

 

[vmiller]

I propose a new ammendment:

Article 1056A.3:

Any new member attending their first meeting must act as "Refill Wench", a.k.a "Beer B___h". To preclude alienating sensitive women, we can rename "Beer B___h" to "Beer Person". While acting in the role of "Beer Person", this individual must promptly seek out senior members without a full beer in their hand, introduce themselves stating loudly and clearly their full CDMAS pledge name, and hastily fill that senior member's empty hand with a new beer of choice.

OK, I've had enough fun with this. I'll play nice now.