By Simon Cole, Chair.
The General Meeting on 17 of March was a good learning experience. Successful amendments were noted in the April NewsLETS, along with some that weren’t. Since then, Elizabeth Shaw has offered some sage advice based on her experience on the subcommittee that last looked at updating the constitution many years ago. We on the MC learnt that there was a real need to workshop suggested changes with interested members in advance, so that they can come to the next round well versed in the ins and outs, as well as feel more vested in them.
Why another round? Some of the rejected amendments were misunderstood and others have since been proposed that, in the MC’s opinion are of such merit and importance that they warrant consideration. For example, a definition of membership for voting purposes – pointed out by Liz Stanhope. There was only one amendment properly approved at the last General Meeting. It costs $25+ to amend the constitution with the Office of Fair Trade, so in order to save paying that fee twice, we have held off on it. In any case that particular change (in 3 Objects) has been incorporated into an overhaul of Section 3. We hope you can take an hour out of your valuable trading time at the Market Trading Days before the AGM for a presentation and Q&A of MC’s proposals. Please take a look at them on this page and come ready with your thoughts and questions. We welcome your involvement.
The latest proposed changes can be downloaded as a pdf [CLICK HERE] Constitution Amendments 2.2 2019
They will be modified as member consultation continues until August 3rd, when the deadline for notice of the AGM is required of the Secretary.
The Constitution as amended by the March 17 General Meeting can be downloaded as a pdf from the Constitution page here. Note the Constitution on the BrisLETS Constitution page (under About Us) only shows the amended name of the association for the reasons explained above. The March 17 changes included changing the name of the association to BrisLETS Community Exchange. The OFT charges about $70 to change the name. To save money, we will register all changes to the Rules at once if and after they have been completed and approved at this year’s AGM.
Rule 5. Not sure about a rule in the Constitution which can only be altered by Special Resolution at a General Meeting depending on the Ts and Cs which can be amended by the MC, at ehe moment could be 2 people
I think it’s advisable to give Management Committees this leeway for redefining an active account without going to a General Meeting. In the story ‘Preparing for the AGM’ in the June newsletter, I’ve mentioned that members can, after electing the President, Secretary and Treasurer, decide to elect any other willing members (who already have a role, such as a Team Coordinator, IMO) to the MC.
CT
I hate to nag when I am ignored 🙂
but
but, as I mentioned in the email to the MC, we still have the unregistered version up on the website
https://brislets.com/help/brislets-constitution/
would it be useful to have a copy of the legal constitution AND the draft one up so people can compare?
The current updated constitution with the change of name of the association was uploaded about a month ago, but the date in the footer wasn’t changed. That’s been corrected now.
The proposed changes are on the website in the article linked to the homepage “Constitution Amendments (cont.)” The changes are shown in bold and strikeout text and explanatory notes in the right hand column.
thankyou
But it is the current Constitution isn’t it, not an updated version, just the name has been changed?
That’s right. Nothing’s changed except the name of the association.
If we send out an annual donation request at the end of December, people can contribute according to their ability – from $0 to whatever amount they like. We could include in it a simple statement of our projected annual operating costs based on the previous year (let’s say it’s about $650), and a wish-list of things we’d like to get that aren’t available in Units, such as a decent projector for presentations (let’s say about $650). We include the # of active members (say 130) and then let members know that there needs to be $5 from each member to cover operating costs, and $5 to cover the wishlist. Of course a grant or two would reduce the wishlist amount. As the number of members grow, the amount per members can reduce.
This has nothing to do with renewing or retaining membership. Having thought about it, to me it makes better sense to keep the membership list (active accounts on CES) up-to-date via the T&Cs by requiring a transaction or log in at least once every year (or 2). They get plenty of notice before their account is closed (and membership ends) and they can reopen it easily and get all their records back (as long as they provide the same name they used or email address so we can find it) by paying the joining fee. This would help raise a few more $s.
To accommodate this, Section 9 When membership ends (3) (c) may need to be amended to include something like “should any membership fees OR TRADING REQUIREMENT imposed by the management committee be in arrears for at least 3 months”
This would mean members have 1 (or 2) year(s) + 3 months to retain their membership and account.
Wasn’t it decided yo set up a team to re-write the Terms and Condituons and the Constitution?
Let that take the time needed, no rush trying to pass any changes before the AGM