by Jim Costa
Draft 9-12-24
In my early twenties I was tricked into becoming a Scout Master. I read the hand book and knew that the 15 year old boy leaders were to complete an annual plan for their troop. The first planning day I left them for two hours with the big blank calender and soft drinks. When I returned it was half filled out and I was told of the “best farting contest ever!”
The same thing happened the second year. The third year I cheated! I filled out the plan 75% complete. However, being the stupid person I am, I made a lot of mistakes, such as swimming in December, Winter camping in June and grilling Brussel Sprouts on Saturday night. This time I returned to see a 100 percent great Annual Plan.
What I learned is that for most people it is a whole lot easier to copy and alter than to create from scratch as it is now not so overwhelming. That is what the State Officers will be doing with each County. We will submit our bets draft and each County must adjust or ratify as is. You are free to choose.
Other than the Preamble section, the Association By Laws are standard verbiage cut and pasted.
Because of your 6 month life, most of the By-Laws don’t really impact you.
We only removed Financial Responsibly of the members, removed payment of dues, cut the life to 6 months only, and custom wrote Members required qualifications.
On a personal note, many organizations skip some By Law requirements in the normal world, such as a three day formal notice by mail prior to a meeting. Its all done by email as a habit.
The real purpose of By Laws is when business partners or Board members get into strained Relationships. Then the Organization has to operate by the letter of their own law.
Therefore, you might not want to spend a lot of time arguing over sections that don’t pertain to you, like annual reviews.
Note 1: The yellow background 3 items need to reflect your county.
Note 2: The address on page 1 is mine. It will be used for registered mail to return the signed receipt of other documents to my address.
Those documents will be sent to your County Corporate government.
I don’t care if anyone sees my address.
Note 3: All officer positions need not be filled.
Note 4: After you approve your By Laws the newly elected Secretary will sign a copy as accepted and save in her file.
No one outside of your Assembly will ever see your By Laws.
