Bylaws discussion forum

This report summarizes the Bylaws Discussion Forum that will allow members to discuss and debate the proposed bylaws changes that were passed by the Board of Directors on January 14, 2011. Please review this report. If you would like to take part in the discussion and have not been receiving Bylaws Discussion emails, you can subscribe by contacting Ruth Helein. The discussion will end on February 20th, 2011.

The ballot with proposed bylaws changes originally sent for member approval in September, 2010, was withdrawn in order to obtain more member discussion of these important proposed changes to our membership categories and membership rights and privileges. A number of changes in content and procedure have been introduced as a way to involve our membership in more active debate and thoughtful consideration of these changes. This report will address in detail the changes in both the ballot and voting procedure. The most important points are the following:

I. The bylaws ballot has been reformatted to allow members to approve some of the proposed changes but not approve others, allowing more choice.

II. The bylaw amendment to change our organization name has been withdrawn for further study by a new Task Force and will not be on the ballot.

III. An interactive listserv, Bylaws Discussion Forum, has been created to allow members to actively discuss and debate the bylaws changes for one month before the ballot is sent out.

IV. The ballot will be sent to the membership with pro and con statements via first class USPS mail. The voting period will be 30 days.