An email meeting of the Eastern Regional Council was held from Sept. 20-27, with a call for a vote on Sept. 28, concerning proposed amendments to the Eastern Region Bylaws (as outlined below and with the results of the vote below it).
Pursuant to Art. XI, sec. C of the Eastern Regional Bylaws, I’m conducting an email meeting for the purpose of amending our bylaws. There are three (3) action items:
(1) As you may recall from the Summer Meeting, there is a conflict between the Eastern Region Bylaws and Policy & Procedures. In particular, the relevant portion of Article V, section 3 states: “The States of Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia shall each have two (2) Council Members and [the] balance of States shall have one (1).”
The relevant portion of section 1.1 of the P&P states: “States are entitled to one representative for every 250 members, up to a maximum of 2 representatives.” I believe there’s agreement that the “250 members” should refer to AWSA members only (as opposed to all disciplines). As none of the States have that minimum, I propose that the above-cited language of Art. V, sec. 3 of the By-Laws be removed and amended to read: “States shall be entitled to Council representation as determined by the Eastern Region Policies & Procedures Manual.”
This change will permit the most flexibility moving forward for the Council to determine State representation, and removes the necessity of involving the USA-WSWS Board of Directors if we ever need to address representation in the future. NOTE: changes to the Policy & Procedures will be an action item for the Winter Meeting.
**the below items are to correct inaccurate citations in our bylaws**
(2) Bylaws Art. XI, sec. C (regarding the holding of email meetings/voting) states: “EVP at his/her discretion may call a special meeting as outlined in the ER P&P section 2.2.3 . . . .” However, there is NO section 2.2.3 in the ER P&P. I believe the procedures referred to are those in section 2.2.2 (Mid-Winter Meeting procedures/requirements). Therefore, I propose that the Bylaws be amended to state: “EVP at his/her discretion may call a special meeting as outlined in the ER P&P section 2.2.2.” PLEASE let me know if there was ever a sec. 2.2.3 that for some reason never made it to the online version of the P&P.
(3) Bylaws Art. XIII sec.1 (amending bylaws) states in pertinent part: “These bylaws may be amended . . . by a 2/3 vote of the AWSA Eastern Regional Council at the AWSA Eastern Region Mid-Winter meeting or the Annual AWSA Eastern Region Meeting, per the standards set forth in the AWSA Bylaws Article XVI“. However, AWSA Bylaws Art. XVI concerns “Dissolution” of AWSA. The section concerning “Amendments” is Article XV. Therefore, I propose that the ER bylaws be amended to state: “These bylaws may be amended . . . by a 2/3 vote of the AWSA Eastern Regional Council at the AWSA Eastern Region Mid-Winter meeting or the Annual AWSA Eastern Region Meeting, per the standards set forth in the AWSA Bylaws Article XV.“
The first amendment passed 15-1; the second and third amendments passed 16-0
