Club By-Laws - July 2017
My fellow Kiwanians,
When you elected me as your President, one of the first things I did was to ask for a copy of our club’s By-Laws so I would know the responsibilities (and limitations) of my office. When I received a copy, they were marked up and had obviously been recently reviewed but there was no evidence of being approved by either the club or Kiwanis International (as required) and no one in the club could answer that question. Subsequently, I proposed updating them to be one of the goals of 2017 which was adopted by the Board on December 15, 2016. After securing a copy of the “Standard Form for Kiwanis By-Laws”, I transposed the text from the marked-up copy to create the document you have before you. During April & May, a sub-committee of the Board reviewed them and at the June meeting, the Board voted to bring them forward to the entire membership for your approval. My goal is to have the club vote on them at our August 1st meeting. If approved they will be forwarded to Kiwanis International who will also approve them.
With one exception, the By-Laws are congruent with the “marked-up” existing copy with one exception. Section 3.6 has been added to read:
This club may host activities to inform club and community members about matters of interest including public forums. If it is the desire of the membership to host such an event, it shall only be held if representatives of all viewpoints are present and given the opportunity to present their perspective at the same meeting with equal time allotments provided for each. However, this club will not express any opinion or take any action regarding any candidate, legislation or other matters of a political nature.
The purpose of this addition is to prevent presentations of any certain political viewpoint or measure at our meetings unless at the same meeting, a representative of any opposing position is present and given equal time to present their perspective. By adding this section, it is my intention to level the field and avoid creating the impression that we may be favoring one viewpoint over another. I think you will all agree it prudent to memorialize this.
Please take the time to read through the entire document, keeping in mind that with the exception of this addition, there are no changes to our existing By-Laws. If you have any questions, feel free to call me at 953-7763 or email at [email protected].
Cordially,
Randy
When you elected me as your President, one of the first things I did was to ask for a copy of our club’s By-Laws so I would know the responsibilities (and limitations) of my office. When I received a copy, they were marked up and had obviously been recently reviewed but there was no evidence of being approved by either the club or Kiwanis International (as required) and no one in the club could answer that question. Subsequently, I proposed updating them to be one of the goals of 2017 which was adopted by the Board on December 15, 2016. After securing a copy of the “Standard Form for Kiwanis By-Laws”, I transposed the text from the marked-up copy to create the document you have before you. During April & May, a sub-committee of the Board reviewed them and at the June meeting, the Board voted to bring them forward to the entire membership for your approval. My goal is to have the club vote on them at our August 1st meeting. If approved they will be forwarded to Kiwanis International who will also approve them.
With one exception, the By-Laws are congruent with the “marked-up” existing copy with one exception. Section 3.6 has been added to read:
This club may host activities to inform club and community members about matters of interest including public forums. If it is the desire of the membership to host such an event, it shall only be held if representatives of all viewpoints are present and given the opportunity to present their perspective at the same meeting with equal time allotments provided for each. However, this club will not express any opinion or take any action regarding any candidate, legislation or other matters of a political nature.
The purpose of this addition is to prevent presentations of any certain political viewpoint or measure at our meetings unless at the same meeting, a representative of any opposing position is present and given equal time to present their perspective. By adding this section, it is my intention to level the field and avoid creating the impression that we may be favoring one viewpoint over another. I think you will all agree it prudent to memorialize this.
Please take the time to read through the entire document, keeping in mind that with the exception of this addition, there are no changes to our existing By-Laws. If you have any questions, feel free to call me at 953-7763 or email at [email protected].
Cordially,
Randy