Governance Discussion -- Amendment #2

Here's the next amendment that was submitted for the ABM agenda.


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 Amendment Summary
Restrict voting rights on the American Mensa Committee (AMC) to elected positions only.  Appointed positions will be permitted to take part in business discussion as their role dictates, may be permitted to make motions but may not be permitted to cast vote on any business.  Past Chair(s) will also be prevented from casting votes.

Limit the role of past chairs to a single individual, with a 6 month (2 meetings) term with non-voting rights. Any remaining roles as it relates to the Hearings or Nominations Committee would remain unchanged.

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Affected Bylaws
Article III, Number 2, items a, b, and c

(2) The voting membership of the American Mensa Committee shall include:

(a)  The elective officers.
(b)  The two most recent Chairmen of the Society.
(c)  Such other officers as are specifically appointed by the American Mensa Committee to their respective positions and specifically granted the right to vote. The number of such officers shall not be greater than one-third the number of officers included in Sections (2)(a) and (2)(b) above.

Article III, Number 5
(5) The appointive members of the American Mensa Committee appointed by the American Mensa Committee shall include the following: Membership Officer, Communications Officer, Director of Science and Education, Development Officer and such other officers as shall be required for the orderly administration of the business of the society.

Article III, Number 8

(8) The American Mensa Committee may also appoint individuals to non-voting membership on the Committee.

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Revised Bylaws
Article III, Number 2, item a

(2) The voting membership of the American Mensa Committee shall be restricted to the elective officers as defined in Article III, Number 3.

(a) Such other officers as are specifically appointed by the American Mensa Committee to their respective positions are specifically prohibited from casting votes on official Mensa business, but are permitted to make motions and participate in discussion as their roles permit.

Article III, Number 5
(5) The appointive members of the American Mensa Committee shall include the following: Membership Officer, Communications Officer, Director of Science and Education, Development Officer, 1 most recent Past Chairman (Limited to 2 meetings or 6 months, whichever is less) and such other officers as shall be required for the orderly administration of the business of the society.

Article III, Number 8

To be removed from bylaws, with other sections and internal references adjusted accordingly.

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Conflict Mitigation

In the even that both amendment 2 and amendment 4 pass, the revision to Article 3, Number 5 that is present in amendment 4 shall override the revision present in Amendment 2.


Pro-Position Statement on Proposed Amendment
By limiting the voting positions on the AMC to those elected by the general membership, we can maintain a bond of accountability between those who are elected to make decisions, and those who actually make the decisions.  Additionally, we take an additional step towards reaching a more streamlined, and efficient AMC by removing the bloat of unaccountable voices.

The role of past chair in organizations is typically limited to 1 individual, for transition purposes.  The current ability for past presidents to remain on the AMC up to 4 years after their elected term expires is unnecessary, costly and and contributes to the inefficiency of our organization.