September Membership Meeting

This entry was posted by Chuck on Wednesday, August 16th, 2006 at 8:50 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

8 Responses to “September Membership Meeting”

1. Anne Remley says:
   

   Thanks to all who worked so long to develop the proposed new Committee Structure and Process. As one who served on the Structure & Process Subcommittee last year, I know that the task was large and challenging and at times stressful. This reflected the importance of ICPJ to members of the working group and to the wider Ann Arbor community. The organization is cherished by so many members of local faith groups as a focal point for unified peace and justice work. I’d especially like to acknowledge the dedicated work of David Bassett, who was part of the small S & C committee that labored for months to produce the draft document, now somewhat amended by the Steering Committee. Others who gave long hours included Louis Leedle, Bill Thomson, Henry Herskovitz, Farouq Shafie, Chuck Warpehoski, and for part of the work, Gretchen Bingea The final product will not meet all of the concerns of any one of us, but for me it is a laudable and sensible document that deserves support by ICPJ members. David and I, as Quakers committed to consensus, would have hoped for more use of consensus in Steering Committee decision-making. But the practice is included as a goal, which is a good step. When the task force section is completed, I hope to see that practice included there, as a way to foster discussion and search for common ground. Finally, this document is one that I commend to ICPJ members for adoption in the September Membership Meeting.

   August 16th, 2006 at 5:15 pm
2. Chuck says:
   

   There’s a bit more information about the by-law edit process available at: http://www.icpj.net/?p=182

   September 20th, 2006 at 11:38 am
3. Anne Remley says:
   

   Typo: page 3, 2nd line from the end: “of” should be “on.”

   Query: Is the presidetn no longer to be elected by the membership at the annual meeting. That person represents the whole organization before the public and with all the members. The membership’s support of and election of that person is an important symbolic and real affirmation of the members’ views.

   Amendment: I propose that the president be elected by the members at the annual lmeetng (rather than being appointed by the board).

   September 24th, 2006 at 5:54 am
4. Anne Remley says:
   

   I note that Bill Thomson is proposing several amendments, which I hope will speedily be posted on this site. One of Bill’s amendments (below) concerns Roberts Rules of Order. I hope that ICPJ’s decision making–in the Board meetings and in task forces–will commend to members that decisions are to be reached by general agreement whenever possible. Majority voting under Roberts Rules can lead to divisiveness and factionalism within an organization. Particularly in this interfaith group, I hope members will take the time to work through their differences and to find common ground. If Bill’s amendment, below, would affect that process (via Roberts Rules), I ask that my language be apended thereto. Here is Bill’s amendment:

   X. (or XI) Precedence

   When allowed, these By-Laws take precedence over Michigan State Law known as “non-Profit Corporation Act, Act 162 of 1982″, which in turn takes precedence over “Roberts Rules of Order”, which will be used in situations not covered by these other documents.
   ——————————– end of amendment

   September 24th, 2006 at 1:12 pm
5. Chuck W. says:
   

   Regarding the voting for the president by the Board, this is what our Lawyer wrote (emphasis added):

   Secondly, the bylaws refer to a Board of
   Directors which is the typical descriptive term but your other document
   refers to a “Steering Committee”. Use of the word “committee” is
   inappropriate to refer to a body with the power and authority you confer
   on it in your document. If you are a membership organization, the
   membership would elect the Board of Directors and the Board would then
   elect the officers, including the President.

   September 25th, 2006 at 6:22 am
6. Anne Remley says:
   

   Amendment:
   The president of ICPJ shall be elected by the membership at the annual membership meeting.

   Rationale:
   Although the lawyer is stating a typical process for election of officers and President, the ICPJ has the legal right to decide on this one important selection in a different manner. As I stated above, the president of this organization represents the whole organization before the public and with all the members. The membership’s support of and election of that person is an important symbolic and real affirmation of the members’ views as to who can best represent the totality of ICPJ.

   September 25th, 2006 at 12:09 pm
7. Chuck says:
   

   Personally, I consider a process where the democratically-elected Board elects their President to be a democratic system, so I’m comfortable following the lawyer’s advice here. As Russ Fuller, one of our founders, said regarding another one of the by-law revisions, “Otherwise, follow his [the lawyer's] advice. That’s why we pay him.”

   September 26th, 2006 at 2:42 pm
8. Betty Kemnitz says:
   

   I never knew what, exactly, the Steering Committee did/does. From this document I see how the members struggled with the future and wellbeing of ICPJ. Many thanks.

   September 27th, 2006 at 3:04 am

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