[H-GEN] Constitutional changes I will be proposing at the AGM

[Russell Stuart]

Change 1 - Membership fees
==========================

As some of you may know, I hope to get membership payments online on
day.  The major motivation for doing this is to allow Humbug members who
have moved away to remain financial members.  One stumbling block here
are the fees levied by the online payment provider.

Since I don't want to actually the change the fees Humbug receives from
the current $20, the ideal situation would be just charge extra for
online payments to cover the fees.  However, changing our fee structure
requires a change to the constitution and we don't as yet we don't know
what thee fees will be, so doing this is impossible.  Here is the
compromise I am going to propose at the AGM.

Change clause 6.a of our constitution from:

        a. The membership fee is $20.00 for one year or part thereof,
        and falls due the 31st day of August or the next AGM whichever
        is the latest.

to:

        a. The membership fee is $25.00 for one year or part thereof,
        and falls due the 31st day of August or the next AGM whichever
        is the latest.  The fee is discounted to $20 if payment is made
        with cash.



Change 2 - Changes to the Constitution
======================================

Currently, changes to our constitution can be made to from the floor of
the AGM and is typically passed after a few minutes of discussion.  I am
of the view changes to the constitution should not be made lightly.
Members need time to think it over, and to discuss them on the mailing
list if necessary.  Therefore I will be proposing we add the following
clause to section 10 of the constitution:

        d.  Changes to this constitution can only be moved if a public
        notice containing the text of the proposed change has been sent
        to members at least one week prior to the meeting.



Change 3 - Eligibility for voting at Special Meetings
=====================================================

The constitution says you must be a financial member for at least 3
months before you can vote at a Special Meeting such as the AGM.  For
those of you wondering, I am told it was put there because previous UQ
clubs have had a whole pile of people turn up to the AGM, vote
themselves into the Exec, then spend the clubs bank account on booze.

The issue with the clause is it isn't clear how the 3 months is measured
if you have let you membership lapse for a while.  Is it from when you
first became a financial member, or from the start of the last unbroken
stint as a financial member?  Either answer would work perfectly in
preventing the style of raid described above.  Nonetheless, the issue
has arisen and provoked lengthy discussion.

So I propose we change clause 5.h to make it unambiguous:

        h. A Financial Member must have been a member for a minimum of
        three months to have voting rights at a Special General
        Meeting. 

to:

        h. Only current Financial Members who have accumulated at least
        3 months as Financial Members in good standing have voting
        rights at a Special General Meeting.
        

If any of you have ideas on how these might be improved, particularly if
you think alternate working would be clearer, please post ASAP.  The
wording has to be finalised by this Saturday.

If you have comments - positive or negative, it would be best if you
post them here before the AGM.  That gives people time to think your
input over.  Besides, it would be nice to avoid a long drawn out
discussion on them at the AGM.

And finally a reminder: passing a change to the constitution requires a
2/3's majority.