Flyfunston

On behalf of Vice President Ken Martin, I am posting the following proposed bylaw amendments. These proposed amendments were drafted by Tom Low in response to a request by President Zac Majors at the January 2014 club meeting regarding clarifying article XII.

The wording which is proposed to be removed is underlined. The wording that is proposed to be added is in bold type;




ARTICLE XII: AMENDMENTS
Section 1: These bylaws may be amended by an affirmative vote of two thirds (2/3) of the members present at two consecutive meetings. Proposed amendments to the bylaws shall be posted in their entirety on the Fellow Feathers website at least ten days prior to the meetings.
Section 2: At least ten days before the meetings, the proposed amendments shall be e-mailed to those members who have provided the Club with their e-mail addresses. first of the two consecutive meetings, a notice containing the topic of the proposed bylaw change will be posted on the Fellow Feathers website. The wording of the proposed amendment may be refined before and/or during the first of the two meetings. If passed at the first meeting, the amendment wording will be posted in its entirety on the Fellow Feathers website at least ten days prior to the second meeting. At the second meeting, the amendment will be voted upon with no additional changes.
Section 3: Any such amendments must be consistent with the provisions of the
Club’s permit agreements and any other requirements, regulations or agreements with state and local governments, other relevant authorities and affiliated organizations.

The proposed amendment is an apparent response to the fact that the 20 hour requirement was never properly changed to 10 hours because it was not posted in its “entirety”.

The problem with the proposed amendment is the definition of “refined”. The dictionary definitions of “refined” are “improved to be more precise”, “removing impurities or unwanted elements”, “cultured”, “polite”, “purified”, “sophisticated”, “effective”. Here the apparent definition of “refined” is “improved to be more precise”.

If used with this definition, it is meaningless. What is “refined”? Who determines what is “refined”? Is reducing the requirement for voting, the most basic right of club membership, by 50% a “refinement”? Was Ken Martin changing his statement that because of his GPS: “I would suggest that I am the only pilot who flies at Funston that actually knows how many hours he or she has flown this year at any flying site” to “I really don’t actually know how many hours” a “refinement”?

Small changes may be made without a bylaw amendment. The so called Scribner’s errors routinely are “refined” - changing a colon to a semi-colon, a common to a period, etc.

Leave refining to refineries.

Dan Brown

There is more than the narrow definition you are focusing on.

one source:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/refine
re•fine (rɪˈfaɪn)
snip...
7. to make fine distinctions in thought or language.
8. refine on or upon, to improve by inserting finer distinctions, superior elements, etc.

Another recognized source:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/refine
Full Definition of REFINE
snip...
2: to make improvement by introducing subtleties or distinctions.


But rather than getting us bogged down in a debate, let me ask this: If "refine" is not the best word, in your opinion, what word would you use?

I've written a few sets of bylaws (both for HG clubs and for non-HG organizations). It's always tough to ensure that the bylaws are flexible enough to be responsive and yet rigid enough to maintain a sense of stability and continuity.

I think I'm in agreement with Dan that bylaws changes shouldn't be made without members having lots of time to look carefully at the exact wording - word by word. Sometimes a single word can blow a hole through the original intentions of the entire bylaws change or create some other unintended side effects. So for that reason, I think it's good to have them cast in stone throughout the examination and voting process. If they're not what's ultimately wanted, then start over.

Of course the problem with that approach is that it can take a long time to make a change that might be needed more quickly.

One possible solution is to allow "provisional" bylaws changes to be made. In other words, if a proposed bylaws change is "refined" (changed in any way) during a meeting, then it becomes a "provisional" bylaws change until it can go through the entire process without any wording changes. You can put limits on provisional bylaws changes. For example, you can specify that a provisional bylaw change will automatically expire in 30 or 60 days (whatever length of time is needed for it to go through the entire process again). You can also limit the scope and/or effect of provisional bylaws changes. For example, you could specify that provisional bylaws changes are NOT allowed to change any pilot's flying access to your site. This would prevent last minute wording "revisions" from being able to constrain flight privileges without going through the full process.

Having said all that, here's my suggestion:

ARTICLE XII: AMENDMENTS
Section 1: These bylaws may be amended by an affirmative vote of two thirds (2/3) of the voting members present at two consecutive meetings which must be held at least 25 days apart.
Section 2: At least ten days before the first of the two consecutive meetings, a notice containing the topic of the proposed bylaw change and the exact wording of the change will be posted on the Fellow Feathers website with a title containing the phrase "Proposed Bylaws Change, 1st Meeting Vote". If passed at the first meeting, the exact amendment wording will again be posted in its entirety a second time on the Fellow Feathers website with a title containing the phrase "Propsed Bylaws Change, Final Meeting Vote" at least ten days prior to the second meeting. If passed at the second meeting, the amendment will become part of the bylaws.
Section 3: Any such amendments must be consistent with the provisions of the Club’s permit agreements and any other requirements, regulations or agreements with state and local governments, other relevant authorities and affiliated organizations.

Dealing with bylaws is a difficult process, and it has to be done very carefully to avoid potential unintended side-effects. For that reason, I think it's very important that any permanent bylaws changes be done carefully and deliberatively - word by word.

Good luck!!!