15 Proposed Motions and By-law amendments for 2007

Pursuant to Article VII: Amendment of the BY-Laws and in preparation for Article V: Meetings, Section 7, I am posting the following points to the membership to examine at your leisure.

I propose that, at some time during the remaining 2007 calendar year, we re-examine the following points and those related to the Club's By-laws, with plenty of notice to the membership.

Potomac Mountain Club BYLAWS
1. Officially recognize JANUARY, as the renewal month for current members, instead of 4.5 month period described in the current by-laws; this coincides with the calendar year for the officers which also begins in January; 2007 is proof that this can be done effectively.
2. Clarify reinstatement period for non-payment which is now 60 days. I think we should have a current member renewal period (EVERY JANUARY) and a penalty for MISSING the renewal period. The amount of work to keep track of every form of payment or who paid when is daunting. If members maintain their records that helps. (article 1 section 2 TERMINATION) I propose we re-examine this section entirely.
3. Write into the By-laws, if a new member joins during the last quarter of the year, (ROCKTOBER), this membership is current through to the following year.
4. Eliminate the out of area membership fee, which is archaic, and reword the section on DUES (Article 1 section 3)
5. By-laws talk about the LISTSERVER as for members only. Re-visit this point.(article 6 section 5) Change eliminate or modify. (Article 1 section 4)
6. Officially add the newsletter editor, LISTSERVE coordinator and/or webmaster, to the EXCOM .
7. Establish a minimum number of EXCOM members necessary to CONVENE an EXCOM MEETING, with the minutes provided to members who can not attend.
8. Amendments Article IV: 1b: consider revising this to include respondents to LISTSERVE and/or DATABASE EMAIL (includes every club member) notices instead of by U.S.P.S. mail.
9. Officially recognize the PMC database. Describe it's function to include security, membership data management, newsletter management, club directory management, club gear management, club video management.
10. CREATE an EXCOM YEARLY Calendar with a schedule of duties that the EXCOM (executive committee) must perform on a regularly scheduled basis. Items on this calendar could include such things as ordering the PIZZA for the monthly meeting, or bringing 1 bag of ice, scheduling EXCOM meetings, planning for the new election of club officers, membership renewal, budget meetings, preparing for the annual meeting, etc.... (Article 3 section 3).
11. Add to the description to the Club Secretary description that assigns a proxy secretary (attending officers) to take the minutes to record and maintain the reports of business conducted at EVERY regular, special, annual and EXCOM meetings. The minutes of these meetings are important for the membership to keep informed as to what business occurs at these meetings, most importantly the annual meeting . These minutes will be sent to the Membership via LISTSERVE, posted to the "meeting page" on the PMC website and finally, to reside on the Current events and Notices section for the benefit of the membership and visitors surfing the website.
12. Add to the description of the Treasurer: major club purchases should be made by the Treasurer, in order to disburse monies in which treasury, grant or gifts are utilized and accounted. This will ensure that Dividends and Credit purchases will always be returned to the club, over a pre-determined amount, to cover gas and expenses to make local purchases. The treasurer can assign a "buyer", to makes purchases with the above provisions understood beforehand.
13. Reinstate the August Monthly meeting, if only on a tentative basis. I see no real reason to NOT have this meeting. If the principals won't be there, then we don't have a meeting. It is still a good time and everyone was here LAST year.
14. Create a percentage yearly budget based on the January membership drive so we can plan for growth and activities.
15. During the 2005 administration, we enacted a policy that EXCOM members be exempt from club dues because of the service they provide by stepping forward to serve the Club. This exemption is a very modest incentive. Further, it was determined that besides the chairman, who is required to be a PATC member, the EXCOM would be granted a PATC membership, if they chose , that could not be transferred or converted , and must be used on a "use it or loose it" basis when offered, early in the calendar year. I would like to re-examine this and make it official, or not.