[H-GEN] Re: Constitutional amendments

[Anthony Towns]

On Mon, Jun 22, 1998 at 08:30:06PM +1000, David Starkoff wrote:
>   *  Should there be a provision allowing the club to remove a member of
>      its Executive?

Yes.
 
>   *  If so, how should this provision work?

By motion at an SGM. Conceivably with a supermajority. [66, 75, 80
percent?]
 
>   *  Should an outgoing Executive member appoint his (or her) successor?

I think voting on executive appointments at times other than an AGM is
painful.

In particular, when another exec member is nominated for the position
and is elected, that immediately requires another SGM in the next couple
of weeks. And if an exec member applies for that, it just recurses.

I'd rather have an election if the president resigns, and have the
president appoint people to other positions until the next AGM. Possibly
requiring a vote of confidence in the appointee at an SGM, which could
produce two SGMs in a row if the president resigns before an AGM, but
at least reduces the liklihood of any more than that.

>   *  Should there be more notice of meetings?
>   *  Should the agenda for meetings be published in advance?

Yes. Four weeks notice that there will be an SGM, then a fortnight to
submit agenda items, then an announcemnet of the agenda two weeks in
advance of the meeting itself would be a Good Thing, imo.
 
>   *  Should nominees for Executive positions be known before SGMs (or
>      AGMs)?

Yes. Any executive positions falling vacant should be made with the
original announcement of the position, giving two weeks for people to
get nominations in, then another two weeks for people to work out which
nominee they prefer.

Not knowing who's going for a position more than five seconds in advance
makes proxies kinda pointless. Not knowing that there's a position to be
gone for kinda does to.
 
>   *  How should the club be able to amend its Constitution?

Supermajority at a SGM?

[At least two week's notice on the exact text of the ammendment, in the
announcement of the SGM]
 
>   *  Should club members not able to attend SGMs (or AGMs) be able to
>      proxy their votes?

Yes.

>   *  If so, how should they be able to proxy?

By signing (either physically or with PGP(RSA/MD5) or some other
"recognised" authentication method) a note saying "I hearby authorise
J. Random Club-Member to vote for me at the SGM on the nth of Foo, 1901,
in the following manner: ..." or something similar. This note should be
presented to both the secretary and J. Random Club-Member.
 
>   *  Should the minutes of meetings be available to all club members?
>   *  If so, in what manner, how quickly and to what extent?

Yes.

Minutes to executive meetings and SGMs should be prepared by the secretary
and posted within a week to the announce list; and also archived on the
humbug web site.

The minutes should also include a list of who gave proxies to whom.

Any reports referred to in the minutes (eg the treasurer's report)
that aren't included directly in the minutes should be made available
on the humbug web site, and/or posted to the announce/general list by
the time the minutes are sent. The location of any reports mentioned by
the minutes should be included in the minutes.

>   *  Should the workings of the Executive remain a mystery to all except
>      those inducted into it, or should it report at regular intervals to
>      the club?
>   *  If so, in what manner, how quickly and to what extent?

[as above]

>   *  What should the quorum be for SGMs (and AGMs)?

*shrug*
 
> And anything that you think should, or should not, be in the constitution. 

  * Should there be other "Executive Positions" ?

I'm inclined to think that we should have a couple of voting,
non-responsibility positions on the executive. These would not necessarily
have to be filled at any time, and would probably be better filled by
a presidential appointment and a vote of confidence than nominations.

  * Should there be some provision for normal members to get an SGM
    to happen?

AFAIK, currently the only way to get an SGM is for the president to call
one. It might be hard to get an SGM for, say, a vote to dismiss the
president. I'd be inclined to give it a longer lag time than a month,
though. Multiple SGMs in a row are painful.


I'm half tempted to suggest formalising "official club documents", ie
things like the minutes, various reports, financial statements and
whatever else, and adding provisions that hard copy should be available
for viewing and photocopying, and that electronic copies should be on
the web in at least format X, or similar.

Cheers,
aj

-- 
Anthony Towns <aj at humbug.org.au> <http://azure.humbug.org.au/~aj/>
I don't speak for anyone save myself. PGP encrypted mail preferred.

      ``It's not a vision, or a fear. It's just a thought.''
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