CCAA By-Laws
BYLAWS
OF CAMP CHANCO ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
These Bylaws of the Camp Chanco Alumni Association, hereinafter CCAA, are enacted as of November 15, 2007.
ARTICLE I
Name
The name of this organization shall be Camp Chanco Alumni Association, hereafter referred to as CCAA. Camp Chanco is an Episcopal Church camp under the Diocese of Southern Virginia.
ARTICLE II
Mission
The mission of CCAA is to provide a network of support for the Camp Chanco alumni community. While doing so, CCAA will strive to maintain a spirit of loyalty between the alumni and Camp Chanco, to participate in the camp's efforts to attract campers, to actively and financially support the goals of the camp, and to ensure Camp Chanco's continued existence through donations and service.
ARTICLE III
Membership
Membership in CCAA shall be open to all who are 18 years of age or older and have attended a summer session at Camp Chanco as either a camper or as staff, as well as all who have attended a Diocesan event at Camp Chanco, such as but not limited to October Weekend, Happening and Cursillo. Membership is confirmed by payment of dues annually. Only members shall be eligible to vote or to be elected to the Board of Directors.
ARTICLE IV
Meetings of the Members
CCAA shall be primarily an online organization and correspondence and voting will take place online.
ARTICLE V
Voting by the Members
All voting shall be through email or online. Each member shall be entitled to one vote. Elections are won by a majority of voting CCAA members. Elections will be announced via email and the alumni website fourteen days in advance. Polls will be open for ten days.
The Board of Directors shall present the budget to CCAA members at least once annually to be approved by a majority of voting members. Any member can petition the Board of Directors regarding any issue at any time.
ARTICLE VI
Governance of CCAA
The Board of Directors shall consist of eight (8) members, including four elected officers and four at large directors. The directors shall be chosen for a term of two (2) years. The President shall be Chairman of the Board of Directors. The directors must be 21 years of age or older.
ARTICLE VII
Term of Board of Directors
The directors shall be chosen for a term of two (2) years.
ARTICLE VIII
Powers of the Board of Directors
The Board of Directors shall have general power to control and manage the affairs and property of CCAA in accordance with the purposes and limitations set forth in the Articles of Incorporation. The Board of Directors shall prepare CCAA’s annual budget. By a majority vote of the Board of Directors, any issues may be presented to the general membership for approval by a majority of voting members.
ARTICLE IX
The Board of Directors will meet at least twice annually at a time and place determined by the Board. The Board of Directors or President shall have the authority to call a special meeting with two days notice and such notice shall be sent by email and posted online. Five (5) directors shall represent a quorum at all meetings of the Board of Directors. Elections are won by a majority vote.
ARTICLE X
Removal of Directors
Removing a director from the Board of Directors shall be a three-step process.
- A CCAA member must petition the Board of Directors for a removal vote.
- A majority of total CCAA members must approve the recall petition.
- If the petition is approved, a two-thirds majority of voting CCAA members must approve the director's removal.
ARTICLE XI
Committees of the Board of Directors
Committees shall be established as deemed necessary or desired by the Board of Directors.
ARTICLE XII
Officers
The officers of CCAA shall be President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer.
The President shall preside at all meetings and shall provide supervision and guidance for all programs and projects. The President shall appoint all committees, subject to the approval of the Board of Directors.
The Vice President shall assume the responsibilities of the President in the event that the President is absent and/or unable to carry out his or her duties, as well as other responsibilities as decided by the President.
The Secretary shall keep the minutes and records of CCAA. All minutes shall be submitted to the Board of Directors within 30 days of the meeting. All minutes shall be readily accessible on the CCAA website and are the property of CCAA. The Secretary shall also be responsible for all correspondence and shall notify members of meetings.
The Treasurer shall have the care of all monies belonging to CCAA, keep accurate records of all income and expenditures and report annually to CCAA.
ARTICLE XII
Dues
The dues for CCAA shall be $30 per annum, payable upon registration and then each subsequent year. At the discretion of CCAA board, additional monies may be donated (true donation or required to be paid by members?) annually for purposes consistent with CCAA's tax exempt purposes.
ARTICLE XIII
Amendments
The bylaws may be amended or altered by a majority of voting CCAA members.
Voting
One final comment, if you look at the votes for officers, you can see that differant numbers of people are voting on each office, this informs us that people are only going to vote on issues that they want to. Again, some mechanism must be set up to handle potential statemates in the process.
I also can't find the Yes/No voting boxes on the By-Laws, I'll keep looking! But my vote is No, without some minor amendments.
By-Laws
Although I appreciate the work done by everyone on the By-Laws, I can not vote in favor or them. I believe there are significant issues as follows:
1. the voting process, the fact that a majority of membership votes is required, without setting up a process to quantify that majority, could handicap if not shut down the associations ability to function. There needs to be a process that first requires people to accept the invitation to vote and then a majority of those votes, or something that doesn't shut you down if only a few people vote. Again, an email out to everyone and if no response in one week then the proxy is assigned to the Presdient. If this was in the by-laws then it is done and those who don't respond with an acceptance of thier vote will automatically pass by proxy. THIS IS A BIG DEAL.
2. No section on Notice of Meetings. The Meetings section should permit Notice of Regular Meetings by email and online. It should also say the Board or President can notice a Specail Meeting with two days notice and that such notice shall be sent by email and posted on line. This is to cover emergency situations in which the Board needs to meet.
3. Membership - I agree with Harry that participation at a weekend event should not be full membership, rather as suggested in my comment on the subject there shoudl be a category of "associate membership" with less dues, no voting rights, but otherwise full participation.
Finally, i would suggest that if thse By-Laws pass as they are that the Board immediately amend them to cover some of these issues and get the vote before people are no longer checking this site or their emails very often. If you get lots of membership and lose the chance to amend, there will be issues with future voting.
Kirk Voting for the bylaws
Kirk
Voting for the bylaws is now closed, which is why you can't find the yes/no options.
Since I helped write them, I will add that they were written to be amended. I think you made some great points and the board should definitely discuss them.
As for the voting ... once the board is established and has filed all of the necessary paperwork, the only voting members will be those that have paid dues. Hopefully they will have enough of a vested interest to participate in the voting. But again, that can be something that can be amended if needed.
As for membership -- I also thought that only those who have actually attended or worked at a summer session should be allowed membership. When I mentioned this, though, most people disagreed, and that's why the bylaws were written to be more inclusive. I think your idea of having associate members would be a great alternative.