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

[Russell Stuart]

On Wed, 2010-08-25 at 00:15 +1000, James Iseppi wrote:
> Why not the wording below for the fees amendment. It adds flexibility
> and will allow the exec to determine any necessary fees for certain
> payment types. This has the benefit that if there is deemed to be no
> additional cost, the exec can not charge an additional fee. It also
> ensures that the club is not disadvantaged by fees associated with
> different payment types.
> 
>        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. An additional fee may be charged for the processing
>        of non cash payments, and is to be determined and published by
>        the exec for each type of payment that will be accepted.

I did consider something like that.

The problem with it is the constitution clearly says any change of fees
requires a constitutional change.  Any wording that allowed the Exec to
vary fees as it saw fit provides an end run around that provision.

I didn't want to get into a discussion about the merits of having the
fees as part of the constitution.

In fact I was do my level best to introduce only one change that had as
few side effects as possible.  That change was to allow for online
payments, while not altering the amount of money Humbug receives for a
membership payment.