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By-laws
Constitution
Mission Statement
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BYLAWS
ARTICLE l
MEMBERSHIP
Section 1.
Eligibility. There shall be two types of membership, open to all persons who subscribe to the purposes of this Club:
Regular Membership: Open to all Havanese owners who enjoy all privileges of the Club including the right to vote and hold office. Regular membership carries one vote.
Family Membership: Open to those living at the same domicile with each person enjoying all privileges of the Club including the right to vote and hold office. Family membership carries two votes.
Any person applying for a Regular or Family Membership must own or co-own at least one registered Havanese.
Section 2.
Dues
Membership dues shall be determined and set from time to time by the Board of Directors. Family memberships shall be less than those of two Regular memberships.
No member shall be considered in good standing or be allowed to vote or petition unless his dues are paid for the current fiscal year.
Dues of a new member, paid at the time of the application shall apply to that calendar year. Exception are dues postmarked on or after the first day of November which will be carried onto the next calendar year.
Section 3.
Election to Membership
Each applicant for membership shall apply on our approved form found under "join" on this website. (Two applicants may apply on one form if they meet the requirements for Family membership (section 1c). By submitting application you agree to conform and abide by the Constitution and Bylaws and Code of Ethics of the Club. The application shall state name and address and any other pertinent information, which information shall be used only to guide the Club in aiding the member in dog affairs if necessary, or for selecting qualified persons who may serve the Club if they are interested in doing so. Current dues must accompany the application.
All applicants¹ names and other pertinent information will be sent to the Recording Secretary who notifies the Board for review within 30 days. If any Board member has a concern about the applicant¹s desirability for membership they should express them in a letter to the Recording Secretary within that 30-day period. The Recording Secretary must notify the applicant with copies of any Board Member¹s letter regarding their application.
The applicant will have 30 days to respond in writing to the Recording Secretary. After 30 days, The Recording Secretary will forward to each Board member copies of all letters regarding the applicant, and the applicant¹s response, if any has been received. Included with this will be a secret ballot for each Board member to vote on the applicant and return to the Recording Secretary within 30 days.
If negative comments are not made by any Board member regarding an applicant within the initial 30-day period, the Recording Secretary will report the application as accepted and notify the Liaison which will add the applicant¹s name on the website member section.
Section 4.
Termination of Membership
There are two ways to terminate membership:
A - Any member in good standing may resign from the Club upon written notice to the Recording Secretary, but no member may resign when in debt to the Club for dues or other commitment. Dues obligations are considered a debt to the Club and they become incurred on the first day of each fiscal year.
B - A membership will be considered as lapsed and automatically ended if a member's dues are not paid by February 15 of the fiscal year. The Board of Directors however may extend a grace period for extenuating circumstances if merited.
The rights and interest of any member in any property of the Club shall cease absolutely upon termination of membership upon any cause or for any reason whatever.
No member shall be in good standing or exercise any right or privilege of membership, or be entered on the roll of members, unless he shall have paid to the Treasurer all financial obligations due and payable at the time.
ARTICLE II
MEETINGS
Section 1. Due to the wide national scope coupled with the number of members, it is not feasible for the Club to have meetings but any member wanting to bring up a subject is encouraged to post to our yahoo group or contact one of the board members for topic consideration. The Officers are empowered to act as in Article III, Section I. The Board of Directors (Officers) shall conduct its business by email, mail, or fax through the Recording Secretary. However, the Board may have a meeting at any time that the is feasible and agreeable to all a majority of the board members.
Voting of the general membership shall be by email, or mail, as conducted by the Recording Secretary.
ARTICLE III
BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
Section 1. The Board of Directors shall be composed of President, Vice President, Corresponding Secretary, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, and Newsletter Editor. All Board members shall be elected every two years when the membership roll has less than 60 members or one year if over 60 memebers. (see Article IV, Section 3)
The Board shall conduct their business by email, mail, or fax through the Recording Secretary. The Board may have meetings in person if the members choose to do so, and it is agreeable to the majority.
Vacancy:
In the event that a position in the Board becomes vacant, the Board of Directors shall fill the vacancy by appointment (simple majority vote), appointee shall serve until the next election. Except when the President's position becomes vacant, that position will be automatically filled by the then Vice President.
Duties and responsibilities:
The Board shall assure the continuous operation and complete functioning of the Club and promotes the purposes and best interests of the Club. It may adopt general and specific policies but it may and shall do nothing whatever inconsistent with the Constitution and By-laws of the Club.
The President shall reside at all meetings of the IHC Board, and shall have the duties and powers normally appurtenant to the office of President.
The Vice President shall have the duties and exercise the powers of the President in case of the President's absence, incapacity or death.
The Corresponding Secretary shall be charged with the handling of routine inquiries from the public, external club communication, location of breeders, rescue and related questions.
The Recording Secretary shall keep a record of all Club and Board meetings, all votes taken and all matters of which a club record shall be ordered by the IHC. He/she shall have charge of all inner club correspondence (including updating the member list), notify members of meetings, notify new Board members of their election to office and carry out such other duties as are prescribed in these By-laws. The Recording Secretary shall also submit a summary of Board decisions and any general membership votes to the newsletter for publication.
The Treasurer shall collect and receive all monies due or belonging to the club. The Treasurer shall forward all new member and renewal information to the recording secretary, he/she will also on a quarterly basis provide a financial statement to the editor for publication.
ARTICLE IV
THE CLUB YEAR, VOTING, NOMINATIONS, ELECTIONS
Section 1. The Club's fiscal year shall begin on January 1 and end on December 31.
Section 2. Voting shall be conducted by email or mail for election of the Board, as well as any specific issues or questions which the Board feels should be submitted to the general membership. Ballots shall be secret (Article IV, Section 5) All voting shall be handled by the Recording Secretary.
Section 3. Elections shall be every three years when the membership numbers sixty or less or two years otherwise.
Procedure for elections:
The Board of Directors shall appoint a nominating Committee of three persons to select a slate for the offices in the board. One member of the nominating committee shall be a Charter member or a member of the board of Directors. All positions in the board are open for elections. Prospective nominees must give their written consent to be elected and serve if elected. No person shall run for office unless he is a paid member.
Voting shall be by secret ballot and conducted by email or mail as necessary. See Article IV, Section 5.
The person receiving the largest number of votes for each position shall be declared elected. If any nominee, at the time of the vote-counting, is unable to serve for any reason, such nominee shall not be elected and the vacancy so created shall be filled by appointment by the new Board of Directors.
Section 4. Nominations:
The nominating committee shall elect their nominees according to the rules in Section 3. The slate shall be presented in writing to the Recording Secretary no later than July 15. The Recording Secretary shall then notify in writing all Club members of the proposed slate before August 15 of that year. This may be accomplished through publication in the Club's newsletter.
Additional nominations of eligible members may be then made by written petition adressed to the Recording Secretary and received at his or her regular address on or before September 15 of that year. Petitions must be signed by five members in good standing and accompanied by the written consent of each person nominated that he or she will run for the proscribed office and serve if elected. Under no circumstances shall a member run for more than one office. When signatures are not available an email from member to the Recording Secretary will suffice.
The Recording Secretary shall prepare a ballot of all the nominees on the slate as well as the qualified nominees by petition. The list of names for each office shall be in alphabetical order with the names of the state in which each resides. This ballot must be submitted by mail, one to each member in good standing, by November 1 of the election year. (New term to commence on January 1 of the next year)
Ballots shall be returned to the Recording Secretary postmarked on or before November 15 of the election year. (Secret balloting method described in Section 5)
If no petitions for additional nominees are received by September 15, the slate presented by the nominating committee shall be declared elected on November 15.
All pertinent records and data as well as any Club property in their possession shall be surrendered by the out-going officers to the in-coming officers before January 31 of the new term.
Section 5.
Voting procedure: The ballot which the Recording Secretary shall mail to each member shall be secret. The ballot will be mailed with a blank envelope and a return envelope addressed to the Recording Secretary marked "Ballot" and bearing the name of the member to whom it was sent. The voter, after marking his ballot, shall seal it in the blank envelope which in turn shall be placed in the second envelope addressed to the Recording Secretary to whom it shall be mailed.
When the votes are counted, the member names on the outer envelopes shall be checked against the list of members whose dues are paid for the current year prior to opening the outer envelopes and removing the blank envelopes, thus certifying the eligibility of the voters as well as the results of the voting.
ARTICLE V
APPOINTMENTS
Section 1. The Board of Directors shall appoint the following each year;
Editor of Newsletter: The Newsletter is the primary form of communication within the Club. The Board of Directors shall appoint an editor who may hold another office. It shall be the editor's duty to gather and/or solicit news pertaining to Havanese, or news of Club members which is dog-oriented, or any other items that he or she thinks could be of interest to all members. Under no circumstances shall the editor use the newsletter to further personal interests, unless it is paid advertising in the appropriate areas of the newsletter.
Section 2. Committees: The Board may each year also appoint special committees for a specific purpose, or if necessary, standing committees to serve for one year each. Such committees shall always be subject to the final authority of the Board. Chairpersons of every committee shall be a member of two years good standing in the Club.
Section 3. Any committee or single appointment may be terminated by a majority vote of the full membership of the Board of Directors upon written notice to the appointee(s); and the Board may appoint successors to those persons whose service has been terminated.
All records and communications relevant to the committee business or activity, or any Club property used in the business of the committee, shall be surrendered to the Board within 30 days by the person whose service has been terminated.
ARTICLE VI
DISCIPLINE
Section 1. In that the Club expects its members to conduct themselves humanely and ethically in all matters pertaining to dogs and dog breeding, disciplinary proceedings shall be carried out by email or mail. All proceedings shall be decided by the Board of Directors with the final voting on the issue by the board.
ARTICLE VII
AMENDMENTS
Section 1. Amendments to the Constitution and By-laws may be proposed by any member to the Recording Secretary to be presented to the board for vote. Any such proposed amendment shall be included in the next newsletter and approved after 30 days if no objection has been brought up by any member. In the case of a dispute the board will require member votes to determine the final resolution of the matter.
Section 2. The Constitution and By-laws may be amended at any time by board members. To affect any amendment, a majority vote of the board members in good standing is required.
Dated: March 15, 2005 |
