Your Board has also approved some revisions to the Club’s by-laws. To become effective, the revisions require the approval of two-thirds of the members voting in this election.

The revisions rewrite the Club’s purpose statement to match what appears on the Club’s website, authorize the Board to create new classes of members (with or without dues), reduce the number of Directors required to expel a member, authorize the Board to appoint an acting President in the event of the death or disability of the President, update some officers’ job descriptions, and make some minor changes in the timing and conduct of elections to bring those matters into closer conformity to what we actually do.

For those wanting greater detail, the proposed revisions would do the following:

1.     In Article I, the purpose statement would be conformed to what appears on our website, that is: 

“The purposes of the Club are as set forth in its Certificate of Incorporation and to provide outstanding bicycling activities for the enjoyment and education of members and guests; to further bicycling as a means of recreation, transportation, fitness and health; to work with and support organizations that promote cycling to underrepresented populations; to advocate for sustainable transportation solutions; to build bridges among the communities we live in and ride through and to promote a welcoming, supportive community for our members and guests.”

2.     In Article II (Membership), we currently allow regular members and junior members.  The latter are required to be accompanied by a parent or guardian on every ride. The proposed revision would allow the Board to designate additional classes of members, with or without dues and with or without this requirement. Examples might include extending membership to all Kids Ride Club participants or creating a class of membership for veterans.

3.     In the same Article, it takes eleven Directors to approve expulsion of a member.  The revisions would reduce this to two-thirds of those present.

4.     In Article III (Officers), if the President is incapacitated in any way, the Vice President of Programs assumes the duties of the President.  The revisions would empower the Board to appoint an acting President.

5.     In the same Article, the job descriptions of the Treasurer, Editor, Membership Director and the Ride Coordinators would be updated to reflect what those officers actually do. 

6.     In the same Article, Section 7, the immediate past President is made a member of the Board.  The revisions clarify that this is a transitional arrangement that applies only to the first year of a new presidency.

7.     In Article III, Section 8, key events in the election cycle would be tied to date formulas (e.g. “second Tuesday in September”) rather than to Club meetings that may or may not occur. Various obsolete balloting provisions would also be removed, and the availability of paper ballots on election night would also be discontinued.

8.     Finally, in Article V, Section 2, the revisions would clarify that all voting is electronic, unless a quorum raises new business from the floor at a Club meeting. Section 4, governing collection and counting of ballots, would be deleted as this is now done automatically by our servers.

Before I Vote, I Want to See the Actual Text