Scottish Terrier Club of New England, Inc.
Constitution
Article I
Section 1, The Name of the Club shall be the Scottish Terrier Club of New England, Inc.
Section 2, The objects of the Club shall be to promote, encourage, and improve the breeding of Scottish Terriers; to encourage and to hold events such as matches, Earth-dog Trials, Agility Trials, Obedience Trials, Specialty Shows and Tracking events under the rules of the American Kennel Club. Scottish Terrier Rescue and health concerns are to be among the Club's objectives. Frequent educational meetings concerning health and well-being of the Scottish Terrier should be provided for the membership.
Section 3, The officers of the Club shall be a President, not more than two Vice Presidents, Recording Secretary, a Corresponding Secretary, and a Treasurer, elected annually. The immediate past President shall also be considered an officer of the Club.
Section 4, The business of the Club shall be conducted by a Board of Directors, consisting of seven elected Directors plus the officers’ names above. The officers shall be elected for one year while the Board shall be elected on a one-year, two-year and three-year term voted June 2nd, 1990 until they are elected for three year terms.
Section 5, The annual election shall take place at the annual meeting of the Club in November. Election shall be by a majority vote of those members present. Only members in good standing may hold office or vote. The term of office shall be for one year until the following annual election.
Section 6, No member of this Club shall receive compensation from the Club for any service by them in conjunction with their Club duties except for reimbursement of expenses incurred on behalf of the Club.
Article II
Section 1, Not more than one person from a family, household, or more than one person associated with any one Kennel, dog supply sales organization, dog supply manufacturing company, dog service organization or animal hospital, shall be eligible to hold elective office in the capacity of an officer of the Club at any one time.
Section 2, No person shall hold more than one elective office at a time in the Club.
Article III
Section 1, Every candidate for membership in this club shall be endorsed by at least one member and seconded by another member and the candidate must be in good standing with the American Kennel Club.
Section 2, The name and address of each candidate for membership shall be sent to the Club's Corresponding Secretary, or the treasurer, Annual dues for the then current year are payable when the application is submitted. If the dues payment does not accompany the application, then the Corresponding Secretary shall include a dues notice with notification that the membership application has been approved. Final approval of the membership shall be pending receipt of the dues payment.
Section 3, Candidates for membership shall be voted on at the Board meeting immediately following receipt of their application. Balloting will be by open or secret vote at the Board's discretion.
Section 4, Candidates for membership shall be voted upon by the Board of Directors present and voting. Three negative votes shall exclude the candidate from membership; however, application may be resubmitted after a period of six months.
Article IV
Section 1, The Board of Directors shall have the authority to set both membership dues and the subscription price for Scottie Tails. The current rates are $35 for Family Memberships, $30 for Individual Memberships and $17 for Scottie Tails only
Section 2, Annual dues notice shall be between September 1st. and October 1st. with a due date of November 1st.
Section 3, All members whose dues remain unpaid after January 31st. shall not be entitled to vote and membership will be terminated unless waived by the Board of Directors.
Section 4, All resignations of members must be in writing and sent to the Treasurer or corresponding Secretary of the Club. Any member who resigns while indebted to the Club is not in good standing and may not rejoin the Club until all debts have been paid. Extenuating circumstances will be considered by the Board of Directors.
Article V
Section 1, The interest of each and every member in the property or assets of the Club ceases with termination of his/her membership.
Section 2, The Club may be dissolved at any time with the written consent of not less than two-thirds of the members at that time.
Section 3, After payment of all just debts and liabilities of the Club, its remaining property and assets shall be contributed to a canine charity mutually agreed upon by the Board of Directors.
Article VI
Section 1, At all meetings of the board of Directors, seven members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Members present shall vote personally. The Board of Directors may conduct its business in person, by mail, or telephone conference call through the Recording Secretary provided it does not conflict with any other provision of these bylaws. Items voted upon by telephone conference call must be confirmed in writing to the Recording Secretary by each Director, voting during a telephone conference call, within seven days. A procedure must be in place to verify the identity of the individuals participating to ensure that they are the eligible board members. A mechanism must be in place to verify that the eligible board members are "listening". All board members must agree to participate in this manner.
Section 2, The Board of Directors shall hold at least six meetings each year at the call of the President or upon a written request of three members of the Board of Directors. One meeting of the Board of Directors per calendar quarter must be held in person with the necessary quorum to conduct the business of the Club.
Section 3, The Board of Directors, at least four weeks prior to the annual meeting of the Club, shall fix and announce to the members, the date, time, and place of such annual meeting in November.
Section 4, At each regular June meeting, the nominating committee of five (5) members in good standing shall be elected by a majority vote of the members present.
Section 5, No person currently serving as an officer or Director of the Club will be eligible to serve on the nominating committee, and no member of the nominating committee shall be eligible to be nominated as an officer or a Director.
Section 6, The nominating committee shall report its nominations in writing to the Corresponding Secretary of the Club at least six weeks prior to the annual meeting, and the corresponding Secretary shall at once notify in writing each member of the Club of the candidates for office so nominated.
Section 7, Any member may be nominated for any office if his name and the office he seeks is filed in writing with the Corresponding Secretary, carrying the endorsement for such nomination of at least ten other members of the Club, not less than one week prior to the annual meeting.
Section 8, The Board of Directors shall appoint the Show Secretary and Show Chairman for the annual Specialty. The Chairman shall then appoint additional members as needed to support the Specialty show committee. This committee shall be in charge of matters pertaining to the planning and conduct of the annual Specialty. The committee shall report their activities to and shall remain under the supervision of the Board of Directors whose decisions shall be final. All money handled by the committee shall be reported to the Treasurer.
Article VII
Section 1, The First Vice President shall be the match chairman and shall appoint additional members as needed. This committee shall be in charge of matters pertaining to the planning and conduct of the annual matches. The committee shall report their activities to and shall remain under the supervision of the Board of Directors whose decisions shall be final. All money handled by the committee shall be reported to the Treasurer.
Section 2, The Second Vice President shall be the program and education committee chairman and shall appoint additional members as needed. This committee shall propose a calendar of events for the Club. The calendar should include a minimum of six meetings per year for the Club membership. The proposed activities should be in accordance with the Club's objectives as stated in Article I, Section 2 and may include the spring and fall matches. The committee should be prepared to present their recommendations at the January Board meeting so that the calendar can be approved by the Board of Directors and published to the membership. This committee shall also monitor the planning and execution of the approved calendar and make such recommendations for changes as deemed necessary.
Section 3, The Board of Directors shall, from time to time, make regulations in accordance with the power herein given, or on matters not herein provided for.
Section 4, Any vacancy in the Board of Directors shall be filled by the Directors by a majority vote of those present at any meeting at which a quorum is present, and a Director so elected to fill a vacancy shall hold office until his successor, chosen at the next annual meeting of the Club, qualifies.
Article VIII
Section 1, The President, or in his absence one of the Vice Presidents, in order of their offices, shall preside at meetings of the Club, both special and regular. In the absence of the President and both Vice Presidents, the members present, by a majority vote, shalt choose a member of the Board of Directors to preside. The President, when presiding at a meeting of the Club, or anyone presiding in his/her stead, shall have no vote except on the election of officers and in the event of an equal division, when he/she shall have the deciding vote.
Section 2, The President shall have power to call special meetings of the Club, notice of which shall be sent to all members by the Corresponding Secretary at least ten days prior to the time set in the call by the President.
Section 3, The President, prior to each annual meeting, shall appoint an auditing committee of two members. This committee shall audit the records of the Treasurer, who then prepares a detailed financial statement to be made available to all members. The fiscal year shall be from November 1st to October 31st.
Article IX
Section 1, The recording Secretary shall keep complete minutes of all meetings of the Club and all meetings of the Board of Directors, and of all such matters as may be ordered by the Board of Directors.
Section 2, The Recording Secretary in conjunction with the Treasurer shall keep a roll of the members of the Club, and their addresses and shall make this available to all members at regular meetings of the Club or any other reasonable time.
Section 3, The Corresponding Secretary shall have charge of the correspondence of the Club of which a complete file be kept available to members at any reasonable time.
Section 4, The Corresponding Secretary shall have charge of the notification to all members of regular and special meetings, of notification of members upon their election to the Club, or to any office in the Club or their appointment to any office. The Corresponding Secretary shall send to newly elected members a copy of the Constitution and By-Laws of the Club.
Section 5, Both Secretaries shall be prepared to report at regular and annual meetings of the Club and at meetings of the Board of Directors on any matters within their jurisdiction.
Article X
Section 1, The treasurer shall collect and receive all monies due or belonging to the Club, shall deposit such monies, in such bank as shall be approved by the Board of Directors, in the name of the Club.
Section 2, The Treasurer's books shall at all times be open to inspection by the President of the Club or by the Board of Directors, and he/she shall report to them at every meeting the condition of the finances of the Club, and at the annual meeting of the Club shall render an accounting of all monies received and expended during the year, which account must be audited by the audit committee appointed by the President.
Section 3, The Treasurer shall be authorized to pay all bills incurred by the Club up to $50.00. All other bills shall be paid with the authorization of the President. The Treasurer will obtain and keep on file all receipts for all Club monies spent.
Article XI
Section 1, Any member in good standing may submit a proposed addition, alteration, repeal or amendment in any part of this Constitution and By-Laws in writing signed by at least five (5) members of the Club to the Corresponding Secretary. This proposal shall be read by the Corresponding Secretary at the regular Board meeting. Approval of the proposed changes for submission to the membership shall require a majority vote of the Board present. If so approved, the proposal will be read at the next regular Club meeting where a two-thirds vote of the members present and in good standing as determined by the Treasurer will be necessary to adopt the proposal.
Article XII
Section 1, Any member who is suspended from the privileges of the American Kennel Club shall be suspended automatically from the privileges of this Club for a similar period.
Section 2, Any member may bring charges against another member for alleged misconduct prejudicial to the best interest of the Club or the breed. Such charges must be in writing and submitted in duplicate to the Recording Secretary, with a deposit of $10.00 which shall be forfeited if the charges are not upheld by the Board of Directors following a hearing.
The Recording Secretary shall send a copy of the charges to each member of the Board of Directors or present them at a Board meeting, and the Board shall determine whether or not the actions alleged in the charges constitute conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the Club. If the Board of Directors ascertains jurisdiction of the charges, a date shall be set for a bearing by the Board not less than three weeks or more than six weeks thereafter. The Recording Secretary shall send immediately one copy of the charges to the accused member by registered mail with a notice of the bearing. The defendant may personally appear in his/her own defense and bring witness if he/she desires.
Section 3, The Board of Directors shall determine whether counsel may attend the hearing, but both complainant and defendant shall be treated equally in that regard. Should the charges be sustained after hearing all of the evidence and testimony presented by both complainant and defendant, the Board of Directors may by a majority vote of those present suspend the defendant from all privileges of the Club for six months from the date of the bearing. If this is deemed an insufficient penalty, expulsion may be recommended to the membership. In such case, the suspension may not restrict the defendant's right to appear before his fellow members at the ensuing Club regular meeting to consider the recommendation. After the Board of Directors has reached a decision, its findings shall be put in written form and filed with the Recording Secretary, who in turn will notify the complainant and defendant of the decision and penalty, If any.
Section 4, Expulsion of the member may be accomplished only at the annual meeting of the Club following a hearing and upon recommendation of the Board of Directors as provided in Section 3 of this Article XII. The defendant has the right to appear in his/her own behalf, though no evidence will be taken at this meeting. The President shall read the charges and the findings and
recommendation, and shall invite the defendant, if present, to speak in his/her own behalf. The members shall then vote by secret ballot on the proposed expulsion. A two-thirds vote of those present and voting at the annual meeting is required for expulsion. If expulsion is not so voted, the suspension shall stand.
By-Laws
Section 1, Upon the written request of five or more members of the Club, the President shall call a special meeting of the Club, of which meeting all members shall be notified in writing by the Corresponding Secretary at least ten (10) days prior to the date set for such special meeting.
Section 2, All special committees authorized, and not herein provided for, shall be appointed by the chair unless it is otherwise ordered in the motion creating them.
Section 3, At meetings of the Club, the order of business, so far as the character and nature of the meeting may permit, shall be as follows:
A. Identifying and recording of members present
B. Reading of both Secretaries ' reports.
C. Reading of the Treasurer's Report
D. Reports and communications
E. Elections
F. General business
G. Adjourn
Section 4, All serious complaints, charges or suggestions for vital changes in management of the Club's affairs must be made in writing to the Board of Directors and sent to the Corresponding Secretary.
Section 5, Members shall notify the Corresponding Secretary or Treasurer of any change in their address; or any change in their business relationships which affects their qualification to hold office, if they are incumbent of such office.
Section 6, Parliamentary questions shall be decided by Roberts Rules of Order.