Upcoming Vote – November 17th Meeting: REQUEST TO MODIFY STARC CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS

STARC members have met at the past two monthly club meetings (September 29th 2016 and October 28th 2016) and have held a healthy discussion on how to make STARC more effective and efficient for the coming years.   STARC’s current constitution needs to be updated to ensure the success of the club going forward.  

Current Issue:   STARC has approximately 47 current members.   Over the past several years, monthly meeting attendance has dropped to an approximate average of 10-20% of our current membership roster.   Our current constitution and bylaws define a quorum as 50% of members needing to be in attendance at our monthly meetings to conduct business.     While we would love to see 50% or greater membership attendance at our monthly meetings, that just isn’t a reasonable reality or requirement in our current, busy world.   This means that as our constitution and bylaws stand, we cannot even vote to pay for critical items such as our club and equipment insurance plans.

Proposed Solution:   STARC members who have attended the last two monthly meetings have come up with the following proposed modifications to the STARC constitution and bylaws:

• Modify Article IV:
  • Current definition:
    • The By-laws shall provide for regular and special meetings. At  a  meeting,  a quorum is required in order to conduct business. The quorum must be a minimum of fifty percent (50%) of Active Members, one (1) of whom must be a voting officer.
  • Proposed definition:
    • The By-laws shall provide for regular and special meetings. At  a  meeting,  a quorum is required in order to conduct business. The quorum must be a minimum of ten percent (10%) of Active Members, one (1) of whom must be a voting officer.
  • Reason for change:
    • With our current membership of approximately 47 members, this would allow STARC to conduct official business at meetings where at least 5 members are present.
    •  
• Modify Article VIII:
  • Current Definition:
    • This Constitution or the By-laws may be amended by two-thirds vote of the  Active  membership. Proposals for amendments shall be submitted in writing at a regular meeting and shall be voted on at the next following regular meeting, provided all members have been notified by mail of the intent to amend the constitution and/or by-laws at said meeting.
  • Proposed Definition:
    • This Constitution or the By-laws may be amended by two-thirds of active vote participants. Proposals for amendments shall be submitted in writing at a regular meeting, posted to the STARC website and sent out to members of the STARC email distribution list. and shall be voted on at the next following regular meeting, either in person, or by proxy ballot.   Proxy ballots may be submitted by postal mail to the STARC post office mailbox, or submitted via sending an email to the STARC Info email box (info@starc.org).
  • Reason for change:  
    • STARC would like to give all of our members the ability to vote on crucial items, such as changes to our Constitution and Bylaws.   Under the current definition, we would need 32 of our 47 members to vote to make such changes.   Again, STARC would love to see such an amazing voter turnout, but the reality is STARC has not seen that high of membership participation in a vote in many years.   Therefore, we are proposing to modify Article VIII to make it as easy as possible for STARC members to vote on changes to the constitution and by-laws by providing the option to vote by either mail or email, if a member is unable to attend the meeting for any reason.

• Modify STARC Bylaws definition of Active Membership to remove requirement to attend 9 meetings per year
  • Current definition:
    • It is the Responsibility of an Active member to maintain an attendance record of 75% in the most recent past 12 months of General Membership meetings. (Attend 9 meetings out of 12)
  • Proposed change:
    • Remove the entire statement and therefore, the requirement, from “Active Membership” definition
  • Reason for change:
    • While STARC encourages all members to attend as many meetings as possible, we do not want to exclude members who cannot meet such a requirement due to work requirements or family engagements.

• Modify STARC Bylaws definition of Associate Membership to allow associate members the right to vote
  • Current definition:
    • An Associate Member is an individual who does not hold an Amateur Radio license, but who takes part in STARC activities for the betterment of STARC and for personal satisfaction. He/she has paid the Associate Member annual dues, with the same timing as that required of an Active Member. An Associate Member may hold the office of Secretary, Treasurer or Alternate Treasurer, and may take part in all STARC activities. An Associate Member may speak to the issue at hand at any STARC General Membership or Special Meeting, but he/she does not have the right to vote.
  • Proposed definition:
    • An Associate Member is an individual who is not required to hold an Amateur Radio license, but who takes part in STARC activities for the betterment of STARC and for personal satisfaction. He/she has paid the Associate Member annual dues, with the same timing as that required of an Active Member. An Associate Member may hold the office of Secretary, Treasurer or Alternate Treasurer, and may take part in all STARC activities. An Associate Member may speak to the issue at hand at any STARC General Membership or Special Meeting and has the right to vote.
  • Reason for change:
    • Our most recent meeting attendees believe that all paying members of STARC should have a voice, and therefore the right to vote within our organization.

Voting:   STARC has made a motion to vote on these four items individually.   The vote will take place in person at the following:

     Date:                                       November 17, 2016

     Time:                                       7:30pm EST

     Location:                       St. Albans VFW, 353 Lake Road, St. Albans, VT 05488

Proxy ballots will be accepted for these four items by the following methods:

Postal Mail:                            

1. Please print out the attached ballot – CLICK HERE FOR BALLOT
2. Mail your fully completed ballot to:

          STARC, Inc.

          PO Box 211

          St. Albans, VT 05478

POSTAL MAIL PROXY BALLOTS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 11/17/2016

E-mail:

1. Please fill out and attach your completed ballot –  CLICK HERE FOR BALLOT  –  to your email, or cut-and-paste the ballot into the body of the email.
2. Email completed ballot to: info@starc.org

EMAIL PROXY BALLOTS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 3PM EST ON 11/17/2016

Originally posted by Jason Garneau – STARC Treasurer on 2016-10-30