Posted by the C.A.R.E Group
Neil......
"May I ask why you sent your personal proposal to a director to be brought up at a meeting rather than submitting it to a Bylaws Committee and let them handle it as a Bylaw change, proposal or amendment.
Answer: Members do not send bylaw amendments to the Bylaw Committee, the office staff does this.
Neil said "I am, however, a member and as a member I have always had a latest copy of the Official Rule Book. I always kept in the folder. I carried it with me to shows along with all my horse entiies information. I never know when I will need to look up a rule procedure."
Neil,
Since you always have a copy of the latest Rule Book with you, please tell me where you find in the Rule Book that members should send rule bylaw amendments to the Bylaw Committee. You seem so sure of this procedure, I would like to know just where you found this procedure in the Rule Book. I can't find it.
The Flow Chart for Rule Changes says "Annual Meeting Preceeding YR of Study--deadline for submitting all proposed rule changes. Submitted to AMHA Headquarters" next step Staff Review-for Economic Impact, Computer programing requirements, Office Administration Requirements, Legal Liability implications. Next step--Deadline of February 1, for Office to submit rule proposals and staff comments to Show Rules, Rules and Regulations and Bylaw Committees.
Article XIX, Amendment of Bylaws states, "To be eligible for consideration by the Bylaws Committee A Bylaw change proposal or amendment must be presented in writing and signed by the originator in accordance with Article VI, Section 4-E. All proposed Bylaw amendments shall be reviewed by Staff, Executive Director (if applies) and then passed with an impact statement to the Bylaws committee.
Article VI, Section4, states "Proposals to amend a Bylaw, amend the Articles of Incorporation or dissolve the corporation may be proposed at an Annual Meeting and voted upon at the next Annual Meeting. Proposals to amend a Bylaw, amend the Articles of Incorporation or dissolve the corporation may be made by a petition signed by at least five (5) percent of the voting members as of April 1st preceeding the meeting, or by a majority of the Board of Directors, and notice of such proposal shall be published in the Miniaure Horse World or by mail to all members at least sixty (60) days prior to the next Annual Meeting or special meeting etc."
Article XVI Amendment of Rules states (in part) "To be eligible for consideration by a standing committee a rule change proposal or amendment must be presented in writing and signed by the originator prior to the adjournment of the AMHA National Convetion. All proposed amendments will be reviewed by staff, Executive Director, and then passed on with an impact statement to the appropriate committee(s) for evaluation. The effective committees will then review the proposed changes and work them in appropriate legal terms, etc"
These bylaws were the ones the CARE group studied and followed when we sent our bylaw amendment for mail/internet voting to the Directors. No where in the Rule Book could we find, as you said, that we should have sent the amendment to the Bylaws Committee. All rules we could find stated that the Office staff would review the amendment and make impact comments and sent the amendment and comments on to the Bylaws Committee.
Now to answer questions anyone may have as to why we sent our amendment to the Directors. The deadline had passed to submit a bylaw amendment before the close of the annual meeting. The only options left for us was to follow were:
(1) Article VI, Section 4 E, Special Measures which contains the wording , "or by a majority of the Board of Directors." When reading this bylaw as printed above, the board is given the power to make amendments by a majority vote. We asked the Board to use their power to vote to send our proposal to the members at the 2009 Annual meeting for a vote to allow mail/internet voting.
(2) We also followed the Bylaw Article V, Section 3, Powers of the Board, which states (A) "The Board of Directors shall have the power and authority to make, amend, repeal, and enforce such rules and regulations, not contrary to law, the Articles of Incorporation or these Bylaws, as they deem expedient and necessary concerning the conduct, management and activities of the Association, etc"
The reason we sent our proposed amendment to the directors was because we were asking them to use the power the bylaws give them to vote to send our proposal on to the Annual Meeting and allow the membership to have the final decision on allowing voting by mail ballot or by internet vote.
Our proposal was well written, it gave rational for implementation of the vote, date, method, and it also gave a means for defraying cost to AMHA. Because we were well informed of the rules we knew that bylaw amendments do not go from members to the Bylaws committee. By sending the proposal to the directors several weeks before the June Board meeting we expected the directors and office staff attending the meeting to have had plenty of time to do necessary studies and impact statements before submitting the amendment to the Bylaws Committee at that meeting.
Neil said, "As members I feel that the CARE group should have made sure they had copies of the Rule Book or at least made sure they read it online or the AMHA web page. At some point members need to stand up and take responsibility for themselves and stop relying on others and blaming others for their short comings."
Neal, now that we have explained our procedure in submitting the amendment maybe you and others can understand that we did follow the rules to the letter. The CARE group has become very knowledgeable of the AMHA rules. We have some experienced advisors both with knowledge of the rules, and in the legal system.. Our group wants nothing more than to have the rules enforced, as our bylaws require, for all members including the directors.
Just a note concerning the directors vote to allow a 1/4 inch protest measurement for all height divisions at the shows. Refer back to the bylaw Article V, Section 3 (A) which states, "The Board of Directors shall have the power and authority to make, amend, repeal, and enforce such rules and regulations, NOT CONTRARY TO LAW, THE ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION, OR THESE BYLAWS" There are several bylaws that state that the AMHA Miniature Horse must measure 34 inches and under at the base of the last hairs of the mane to meet the requirements to be registered with the Association. The 1/4 inch protest measurement is in conflict with all these bylaws.
This is another reason for the concern the CARE group has for the directors not enforcing the rules.
