[H-GEN] The next Exec meeting

[Russell Stuart]

As you have probably seen on announce, there is an Exec meeting just
prior to next normal meeting.

This will probably be the last exec meeting we have before the AGM.  I
am going to be discussing with the Exec their thoughts on changing the
nature of the Exec for next year.  Those of you interested in discussing
this should come along, or put your 2c worth in here.

The trigger for the change is membership numbers.  I think they have
remained pretty static this year, with some leaving and some joining.
The problem is that we are close to a magic number: 15.  15 is what our
Constitution says is the required quorum at AGM's.  It is defined as 3
times the number of people on the Exec.  Getting 15 people to attend the
AGM is becoming difficult.

I've been the president for some 18 months now, and it has become
obvious you don't need 5 people to arrange a fortnightly meeting for 20
people.  There simply isn't that much to do.

So my proposal will be to reduce the committee size to 3: President,
Secretary and Treasurer.  The constitution allows the President to
create non-Executive positions, so this isn't a big a change as it might
first seem.  (That said, if it turned out the President felt the need to
appoint people to non-Executive positions year after year, I think they
should be elected.)

Alternative proposals might be to change the quorum requirement to 50%
of eligible voting members, or to not require people to be physically
present.  Or perhaps some combination.

I guess when it is all said and done I an not too fussed on how we solve
the AGM quorum issue.  But I do think it is something we must address at
this next AGM.  So we must come up with something we can all go along
with, and pass it this September.