President of PSAS

[trido]

Ghazni, The reason I was questioning where the idea of a constitution came from is that I couldnt find any written mention of them in the minutes from the last two meetings. I assumed that you had taken it upon yourself to simply draft them up for the better of the club without any BOD vote.
I don't remember ever discussing them. I have two children and lack of sleep is very hard on ones memory.
I was only asking if we need them because of the way they are written. We will essentially be voting Ed off of the BOD if we approve them the way they are written. Did anyone catch it when Ed made that comment recently? Voting him out would be the biggest mistake the BOD can make this year. He is an asset to clubs all across the northwest and has been part of this club longer than most of us, have even had reef tanks.
Also, what good are the by-laws if there are only two or three BOD members like in the past? Does there need to be some sort of concession for that? I think its great to have some set of guidelines for questions that arise and basic voting dates etc.... But do we need a set of laws? We are trying to bring this club one step further along and Im all for it. But I need to remind everyone here. The club members, as much as they like formal speaker meetings, also like drinking beer in the garage and just plain talking and relaxing with each other. IMO we need to be careful how far and how quickly we take these steps. If you look on the PSAS forum there is a Kitsap club forming, a new East side club, Ive heard of a southend group, and my friends and I have discussed a northend group as well. There is a Marysville group forming also. If we rush quickly to make all of these wonderful changes are we going to make everyone happy or mad? the things we do now are either going to help bring these small groups together more regularly or solidify them as individual groups that have more fun than we can provide. I think we need to take things one step at a time, and listen to the member, our friends, before making any more drastic changes.

Just some things to think about....

 

[ghazni]

Duane, it's quite right that we never voted on it in BOD meeting to create the draft. But it has been discussed in last 2 meetings.

I merely took the constitution and bylaws of another aquarium society from the internet and made modifications whereever was necessary. And also I forwarded it to you all so that we can discuss the objectionable things, clean it up and then approve it within us and get approval from our members.
I would also hate to see Ed leave the BOD just because he cannot make it to the BOD meeting. His experience alone beats my lifetime achievements . To faciliatate for everyone, I tried to setup conference call so we can all be @ the comfort of our house/garden/beach and join in and discuss club matters. Nevertheless, I understand we all have other commitments and cannot follow all the by-laws. So, mark the objectional lines and bring your objections whenever we discuss it. It's like a document review process.

I agree with you overall as I have been telling to everyone before. There're other things that needs priority 1st (like consolidation of other new clubs). That's why I presented the idea of having representatives from those areas under PSAS banner so we are all united as our name suggests.

Again to the point of crying, I agree with all of you: Put the other things on hold and slow down. However, we still need to do things like arranging speakers, getting conference rooms booked, etc. etc to continue the club activities.

I really think we need to have another meeting where we can all discuss these topics whenever it is convenient for us. There're too many things that are happening and we need to sit together and discuss and re-focus our energies.

 

[krisfal]

First of all there is no rush.

So I am thinking it is the name of these documents that may be causing some of the issue. Basically we are creating a charter-which states the purpose and objectives of the club and a set of norms which states how the club is run. They can be whatever we want to call them and they should be what we want them to be and be flexible enough to easily accommodate the club now and whatever the future may bring. They are not laws, they are guidelines that are the framework of how the club is run. Once you guys left the garage and started charging membership the need for this framework would have become necessary.

Ideally we would all get together and hash them out in an hour or so. But I know I don't have time for a meeting and I am sure that is the case with others. What Ghazni created is a good framework for a beginning but IMO not at all suitable to the club as it is too restrictive. I took a stab at changing it to just cover the basics of what I think would work. I think it would be great if we can continue work on this but there is definitely no rush, just working on it together will help us all get on the same page on how we are going to do this task we volunteered ourselves for. I do not feel we can finalize this until after the president is chosen and has provided input and then I feel it should be approved by all of the club.

So my changes made the document pretty sloppy so I am going to clean it up to make it easier to read. I encourage you to read it and see what you think, but I am not just e-mailing to all, to many emails going around already so if you don't want it I won't bug you. If you would like to read my version just send me an e-mail [email protected]

If we rush quickly to make all of these wonderful changes are we going to make everyone happy or mad? the things we do now are either going to help bring these small groups together more regularly or solidify them as individual groups that have more fun than we can provide. I think we need to take things one step at a time, and listen to the member, our friends, before making any more drastic changes.

Just some things to think about....

I truly believe these documents will make the majority happier. The club can understand how the board works, how the elections work. It could make it easier for new boards to take over, they do not have to hash out all these details again. But once again there is no rush-I believe the process of developing these itself is going to really bring this group together and working together.

Edit: in addition I feel these ultimately would be posted on the website.

 

[trido]

There're too many things that are happening and we need to sit together and discuss and re-focus our energies

Your not kidding....



Ive looked over the drafts briefly but havent had time to really do any editing. Ill try to make time Sunday during football.

 

[trido]

Great points made by both of you.


Remember, I'm just a simple carpenter. I never needed by laws for my one employee. Id just crack the whip on him.:evil: and as for my clients, after they signed my contract............ I owned them. muwah ha ha

JK.

Have a good night. I have to feed my fish now, and then im going topside to brows other forums.

 

[krisfal]

So I have finished cleaning up my draft and with further review have found these are easily combined into one document which I am calling a charter. I think you will like the feel and format of this much better. The original drafts from Ghanzi read to much like something you would see from a lawyer. My revised document I feel is more fitting of the club.

Let me know if you would like to review.

I never needed by laws for my one employee. Id just crack the whip on him.:evil: and as for my clients, after they signed my contract............ I owned them. muwah ha ha

lol, I wish it were that simple.

 

[trido]

Let me know if you would like to review.



lol, I wish it were that simple.

Send it on over.........



Its never that simple. Ive had to sweet talk myself out of the court room once or twice. Enough years as a General Contractor and its inevetable. No matter how hard you try to please.

 

[Vicki]

So I have finished cleaning up my draft and with further review have found these are easily combined into one document which I am calling a charter. I think you will like the feel and format of this much better. The original drafts from Ghanzi read to much like something you would see from a lawyer. My revised document I feel is more fitting of the club.

Let me know if you would like to review.

I would, most definitely, like a copy.

Vicki

 

[ghazni]

ditto for me....

 

[Vicki]

We need to decide on the manner of voting for this election SOON. The nominations close tomorrow and I'm sure it will be asked when the voting will occur.

1. Do we want to do it online?
2. Do we want to do it at the next meeting?

FYI and in the best of my recollection, the last election was done online because it was too confusing to do it at the April meeting (when it was first scheduled) and there were very few Members at the May meeting (where it was continued to after the April meeting).

Vicki

 

[krisfal]

We need to decide on the manner of voting for this election SOON. The nominations close tomorrow and I'm sure it will be asked when the voting will occur.

1. Do we want to do it online?
2. Do we want to do it at the next meeting?

FYI and in the best of my recollection, the last election was done online because it was too confusing to do it at the April meeting (when it was first scheduled) and there were very few Members at the May meeting (where it was continued to after the April meeting).

Vicki

Since it is several weeks until the next meeting I am thinking probably on-line though it is not my favorite method. I am assuming there were no objections from the club members about the online voting?

 

[Vicki]

Since it is several weeks until the next meeting I am thinking probably on-line though it is not my favorite method. I am assuming there were no objections from the club members about the online voting?

To the best of my knowledge, there were no objections. Many Members even preferred it as they were unable to make it to the meeting.

Vicki

 

[trido]

I agree with the online voting for the time being. Lets no keep our members in suspense any longer than necessary.

 

[Vicki]

What about letting last year's Members vote since most of them haven't been to a meeting yet for the current year and renewed yet? I know Bob pointed out that they've all been mailed the membership form (IF they were on the Evite list), but if they're like me, they probably don't have a stamp in the house.

Another point...Last year's Members elected Steven11, and now the vote is for his replacement.

If we don't allow last year's Members to vote, trust me, there will be an uproar. We just need to prepare for it.

Vicki

 

[krisfal]

What about letting last year's Members vote since most of them haven't been to a meeting yet for the current year and renewed yet? I know Bob pointed out that they've all been mailed the membership form (IF they were on the Evite list), but if they're like me, they probably don't have a stamp in the house.

Another point...Last year's Members elected Steven11, and now the vote is for his replacement.

If we don't allow last year's Members to vote, trust me, there will be an uproar. We just need to prepare for it.

Vicki

I agree, last years members got to vote for this years BOD and since we have only made the membership cards available in the last couple of weeks I think they should be allowed to vote (not as if we can really control it anyway) but we should include them.

 

[Vicki]

Okay, the question was just asked. I think we need to get this figured out today.

Here are a few thoughts on what we might want posted for the Poll. PLEASE let me know your thoughts, ideas, suggestions and corrections.

Title: Poll for PSAS President 2008--2009

The voting in this Poll is open to any PSAS Member in the 2007--2008 and the 2008--2009 Membership years.

If you are NOT a Member, please do NOT vote.

It also will be appreciated if NO comments or campaigning are made concerning the Candidates in this thread.

JUST VOTE!

 

[Eickhorn]

I think it should be open to all RF members, like it was last year! We have no way to determine who was or wasn't a member during 2007. Either that or make it paid to date members since everyone in our evite received the application and they knew the new year started on Sept 19th.

 

[trido]

Title: Poll for PSAS President 2008--2009

The voting in this Poll is open to any PSAS Member in the 2007--2008 and the 2008--2009 Membership years.

If you are NOT a Member, please do NOT vote.

It also will be appreciated if NO comments or campaigning are made concerning the Candidates in this thread.

JUST VOTE!

Looks good to me just the way its written.

 

[Vicki]

Looks good to me just the way its written.

It does need a cut off date.
Should I allow the poll to run for 10 days?

Vicki

 

[trido]

Sounds about right to me.