Austin Chapter Volleyball Newsletter 2016
Issue 18
10/29/2016

Playoffs

If you are assigned to any playoff matches, you should take a few minutes to review the Playoff Platter to refresh yourself on what is recommended when working a playoff match.

Final Meeting of the Season

Note the important issues and elections noted below and make you plans to attend.

The final meeting of the season will be Wednesday, November 9th at the Austin Police Union Hall. Food from the Olive Garden will be served beginning at 6:00PM. The meeting will begin at 6:30PM. Please accept or decline the Event in Arbiter based on your plans to attend the meeting so we get a good headcount for the food.

Board Position Nominations

Here are the current nominations for the open positions: Remember that the final day for nominations that will appear on the ballot is Saturday, November 5th.

Vice-President – Christle Miersma Linda Polley

Assigning Secretary – Harvey Madrigal Ronnie Kaase Craig Smith Janiece Nelson Charlie Tamez

Recording Secretary – No current nominations

At-Large Rep – Chez Slaton

Proposed Changes to the By-laws

The By-Laws Committee Proposal has been posted to the Chapter website. There have been other proposed By-laws changes from the Audit Committee and a member posted to the Chapter website. These are all posted below.

From the By-laws Committee

Remove all references in the body of the By-Laws stating: "The Chapter," “chapter,” "Chapter," "The Austin Chapter," "Austin Volleyball Chapter," "Volleyball Chapter," "Austin Chapter Volleyball."

Change to: ACV

Reason: It will read consistently and not have different text.

Remove all references to the Executive Committee

Change to: Board of Directors

Reason: It will read consistently and not have different text.

Remove the Code of Ethics from the By-Laws

Move to: a stand alone document, subject to the same rules as the Stated Policies.

Reason: Document does not belong in the By-Laws.

Remove: These Bylaws may be amended at any regular or called meetings by three-fourths (3/4) majority of the votes cast of members present at the meeting.

Change to: a two-thirds majority of the members attending a regular or called meeting be required to change the by-laws and that the change(s) be made effective immediately or at a subsequent date, as stated in each approved amendment.”

Reason: Even though changes to the By-Laws should be carefully reviewed and considered, this proposal allows some flexibility to the effective date of new items and provides a more reasonable threshold for approval.

The By-laws Committee has added the following from the Audit Committee as a separate amendment to be considered

Section 5 The Treasurer of the Austin Chapter shall have the following duties and responsibilities:
ADD
File all mandatory IRS and State tax documents and provide copies to the Recording Secretary for Chapter records.

Section 6 The Recording Secretary of the Austin Chapter shall have the following duties and responsibilities:
ADD
Maintain copies of all mandatory IRS and State tax documents submitted

A proposal from David Plaisance - Update coming later this evening

Proposal1. As I read through the bylaws, it strikes me there are no provisions for handling charges against any member brought by a member of the board. I propose the following language updates that would have any board member that brings charges not be involved in the process from that point forward - this includes notifications/discussions/ decisions - with the obvious exception of participating in any investigation. For example, should the president or vice president bring charges that the ethics committee determines to be valid, he/she/they would be excluded from any actions described in the bylaws and replaced as needed by another officer as described in the bylaws.

Change Article XI Discipline, Section 3 subsection b “Upon conclusion of the investigation, the committee will make recommendations to the President as to the actions that should be taken against the member in violation”

“Upon conclusion of the investigation, the committee will make recommendations to the President as to the actions that should be taken against the member in violation unless the President is involved as either the complainant or the accused, in which case the committee will make recommendations to the Vice President.”

Change Article XI Discipline, Section 3, subsection d “If the member is in agreement with the recommended actions or sanctions and notifies the President or Vice President of their acceptance, they will be enacted and no further action is needed. “

“If the member is in agreement with the recommended actions or sanctions, they should notify either the President or Vice President (unless either was involved in the violation as the complainant or the accused, the notification should go to the officer not involved), they will be enacted and no further action is needed.”

Change Article XI Discipline, Section 3, subsection e “If the member is in disagreement with the recommended actions or sanctions, they must notify the President or Vice President within ten (10) days of receipt of the notification that they wish to proceed with Section 4 below. “

“If the member is in disagreement with the recommended actions or sanctions, they must notify the President or Vice President within ten (10) days of receipt of the notification that they wish to proceed with Section 4 below. In the event the President or the Vice President was involved in the violation as the complainant or the accused, the notification should go to the officer not involved.”

Change Article XI Discipline, Section 4 “In the case of a member not in agreement with the actions or sanctions as recommended in Section 3 above, the member will have the opportunity to meet with the Board of Directors regarding the alleged violation. Once the President or Vice President has been notified, the member will be notified of the time and the location of the regular or called meeting of the board. This member must be notified via email and/or certified mail a minimum of 10 days prior to the Board of Directors’ meeting.

The member may waive the notification requirement if notified in person. At the request of the member and with mutual agreement of the board, this 10 day requirement may be waived in order to expedite the matter. Upon conclusion of the meeting with member, the Board of Directors will vote on the matter. A majority of the Board of Directors must be in attendance and a majority of the votes cast is required for the recommended verbal reprimand, probation, suspension, and/or termination to take effect. The member will be notified of the decision of the board by certified mail, or by email when confirmation of receipt is received within 48 hours.”

“In the case of a member not in agreement with the actions or sanctions as recommended in Section 3 above, the member will have the opportunity to meet with the Board of Directors regarding the alleged violation. If the complainant is a member of the Board of Directors, they will not participate in the meeting. Once the President or Vice President has been notified (assuming neither is the complainant or the accused, in which case the notification should go to the officer not involved), the member will be notified of the time and the location of the regular or called meeting of the board. This member must be notified via email and/or certified mail a minimum of 10 days prior to the Board of Directors’ meeting.

Change Article XI Discipline Section 5 “In the case that a member has been verbally reprimanded, placed on probation, suspended, or terminated, said member will have up to thirty (30) calendar days from the date of notice to appeal the decision. Any appeal must be in writing and submitted to the President or his/her designee. The Board of Directors will set up a meeting within fifteen (15) calendar days from the date of the appeal with said member and allow that member to present any further information to the Executive Board. This notice of meeting must be by certified mail, or by email when confirmation of receipt is received within 48 hours. The Board of Directors will then have fifteen (15) calendar days from the date of the meeting to take action and inform said member of the final decision. Notice of the final decision must be made by registered mail. Failure to follow any portion of the appeals process, by either party, will result in the probation, suspension, and/or termination being upheld or dismissed.”

“In the case that a member has been verbally reprimanded, placed on probation, suspended, or terminated, said member will have up to thirty (30) calendar days from the date of notice to appeal the decision. Any appeal must be in writing and submitted to the President or his/her designee (excepting when the President is the complainant or the accused, the appeal will be made in writing to the Vice President). The Board of Directors will set up a meeting within fifteen (15) calendar days from the date of the appeal with said member and allow that member to present any further information to the Executive Board. This notice of meeting must be by certified mail, or by email when confirmation of receipt is received within 48 hours. The Board of Directors will then have fifteen (15) calendar days from the date of the meeting to take action and inform said member of the final decision. If a member of the Board of Directors is the complainant or the accused, they will not participate in the appeal deliberation meeting. Notice of the final decision must be made by registered mail. Failure to follow any portion of the appeals process, by either party, will result in the probation, suspension, and/or termination being upheld or dismissed.”

Change Article XI Discipline Section 7 from “Any member of the Board of Directors that misses two or more called Board meetings may be immediately replaced by a majority vote of the Board of Directors. The President then will be responsible to fill any vacancy until an Election can be held per Article X, Section 5.”

“Any member of the Board of Directors that misses two or more called Board meetings may be immediately replaced by a majority vote of the Board of Directors. The President then will be responsible to fill the vacancy until an Election can be held per Article X, Section 5. If the member is replaced is the President, the Vice President will be responsible to fill the vacancy until an election can be held per Article X, Section 5.”

Proposal 2 – Chapter officers should be full time members of the Austin Chapter and not a dual member with another chapter. Dual members may run for office, but to help ensure Austin Chapter interests are paramount and there are no potential conflicts, if elected the dual member should declare the Austin Chapter their only chapter.

Furthermore, no person should hold more than one office. If a current Board of Directors officer run for another position and win, they will automatically resign the current position when the new of

Change Article X Elections Section 4 “The term of office for the President, Vice-President, Assigning Secretary, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, and the three At-large Representatives shall be for a period of two (2) years beginning December 1st of each year.”

“The term of office for the President, Vice-President, Assigning Secretary, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, and the three At-large Representatives shall be for a period of two (2) years beginning December 1st of each year. All officers may not be a dual member with another chapter. No person may hold more than one office. If a current officer is elected to another position that would result in that officer holding two offices during a ACV fiscal year, the officer will resign the current office in favor of the newly elected office on December 1st.”