Sponsor: Russell Freeburg

Sponsor’s statement of purpose: Under section I, articles B and C, I propose a 2/3 majority be required on motions which under section III, the trustees are required to submit for approval to the Assembly membership any action which would 1. cause a major change in the natural appearance of the Assembly. 2. involve a major change in uses or availability for sale of Assembly property or a major purchase of additional Assembly property. 3. authorize any basic change in the character of the program of the Assembly. Also, on motions interpreting or defining the scope of limitations provided in the article. The intent is to form a greater consensus when changing Assembly fundamentals. With a simple majority as a threshold, divisions can linger. With a 2/3 majority required to enact a change, it is hoped that a clear and reasonable purpose can be attained before changes are defined acceptable to the membership.

At our 2009 Annual Meeting, held on Saturday July 25, the membership voted to adopt five proposed amendments to the bylaws.  These five amendments pertain to:

1)  Section II, Article A:  Cleaned up the language  on “Annual Meeting”‘,

2)  Section II, Article B:   Increased the notice time for special meetings from 10 to 21 days,

3)  Section II, Article C:  Increased the size of a quorum from 20 to 40 Members and clarified that proxies do not count in determining whether a quorum is present,

4)  Section IX, Article A:  Added a sentence stating that a two-thirds majority is required to pass a bylaw amendment.

5)  Section IX, Article B:  Revised language to say that when proposing an amendment it must be filed at least ninety days in advance of the notification required to be sent to the membership per Section II, Articles A and B.

The above five amendments have been incorporated into the bylaws posted on this site and will also be incorporated in the version of the bylaws published in the 2010 Assembly News.

Associate Members Ask: Why Did I Get a Bill?

At the 2006 Annual Meeting the sections of the CSA bylaws pertaining to Members and Associate Members were amended, in particular making it possible for the first time in many years for new Associate Members to be approved. Because Associate Members are not authorized to vote on that kind of bylaw amendment many of you who are Associate Members may not have followed the discussion on this issue over the years.
There are two provisions in the changes, however, that directly affect all Associate Members whether new or of long standing. In the past adult members of family units were designated Associate Members if they met certain criteria and they could retain their Associate Membership either by purchasing a privilege ticket while in residence or by paying a retaining fee. In the amended bylaws Associate Membership is by individual rather than by family unit. In the place of a retaining fee, individual Associate Members are receiving a bill for an Associate Member fee each year. The exact amount will be determined by the Trustees, but it is intended to be equivalent to the cost of a two week privilege ticket. Payment will be credited to the individual and, upon registration during that summer season will be applied to the privilege ticket being purchased. (If you don’t register and purchase a privilege ticket it will be treated as your fee for being an Associate Member for that year.)

This season, 2008, is the first year that we have sent bills for Associate Member fees and we are still working out some of the kinks in the system. We used the existing list of Associate Members kept in the CSA registration system and we added to that the new Associate Members whose applications were approved in 2007. Because of the change of designation by family unit to individual Associate Membership our lists may not be complete. If only one name was on our list we only sent the invoice to that person, and you may have asked “Why did my husband/wife/adult child get one of these and I didn’t?” or “Why did I get this and no one else in the family got one?” The Membership Committee suggests in these situations that you send in the check for the person(s) named on the invoice. Then, upon registering at the office this summer, ask for an Associate Member Application to update our records. The Membership Committee meets weekly from mid-June until late August so your application will be reviewed quickly and our lists will be more accurate for 2009.

If you have any questions about this policy, you may post them on the CSA issues forum here on the website. The forum is monitored and your questions will be answered quickly.