Update: the MMTC membership approved the proposed Bylaws changes at the October MMTC meeting with one change – increasing the notification time for a special meeting from 24 to 48 hours. Here are the approved Bylaws and the changes from the 2010 Bylaws. The Board proposed one more change to stagger the terms of Board members so that 5 or 6 Board member terms expire each year instead of all terms expiring every two years. This change was approved by the membership at the November 2019 meeting.
The additional Bylaws change is to Article IV and is a new section 4, which reads:
4. The terms of office for Directors shall be staggered as follows:
a. Group 1 Director terms expire in odd-numbered years: President, 2nd Vice-president – Membership, Secretary, Parliamentarian, Director at Large 1, Director at Large 2.
b. Group 2 Director terms expire in even-numbered years: 1st Vice President – Programs, Treasurer, Newsletter Editor, Director at Large 3, Director at Large 4.
The MMTC Bylaws review committee, chaired by parliamentarian Charlene Ellsworth, has recommended some changes to the bylaws to be more consistent with current practices. One problem with the existing bylaws is that they were written for a time of postal mail and paper checks, which have been superseded in many cases by electronic mail, websites and electronic checks. For example, the current bylaws require 10 days notice for a special meeting, which ensured that a notice by postal mail would reach all members, but also defeated the purpose of having a special meeting to deal with an urgent issue. The new bylaws reduce the minimum notification time to 24 hours. The previous bylaws required two signatures on each check, but the bank cannot enforce that requirement and it doesn’t work with electronic checks. That is changed so that checks for more than $1,000 require written confirmation from a second authorized signer (the President, Secretary and Treasurer are the authorized signers). The treasurer will also be authorized to use a debit card on the account.
One significant change is extending the terms of Board members to two years. Anyone who has been on the Board knows that it takes some time to learn how to be an effective Board member, and this change is intended to reduce premature turnover.