Club By-Laws
By-Laws
BY-LAWS
OF THE
ROTARY CLUB OF BELLFLOWER, CALIFORNIA #1988
April 2013
ARTICLE I
ELECTION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
SECTION 1: At a regular meeting one month prior to the meeting for election of officers, the presiding officer shall ask for nomination for president-elect; vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and six (6) additional members of the board of directors. The nominations may be presented by the nominating committee or by members from the floor, by either or by both, as the club may determine. If it is determined to have a nominating committee, such committee shall be appointed as the club may determine. The nominations duly made shall be placed on a ballot in alphabetical order under each office and shall be voted for at the annual meeting. The candidates for president-elect, vice-president, secretary and treasurer receiving a majority of the votes shall be declared elected to their respective offices. The six (6) candidates for director receiving a majority of the votes shall be declared elected as additional directors. The president-elect in such balloting shall serve as a member of the board as president-elect for the year commencing on the first day of July next following his election as president-elect, and shall assume office as president on the first day of July immediately following his year of service on the board as president-elect.
SECTION 2: The officers and directors so elected, together with the immediate past president and current president, shall constitute the board of directors.
SECTION 3: A nominating committee composed of the five most recent past presidents shall be formed in October. The past president of the earliest year shall chair this committee and call the meeting for proposing nominees for positions of vice-president, secretary, treasurer, president-elect, and the six club directors.
Proposed nominees must be contacted by a member of the committee before his/her name is submitted for specified position to club members.
SECTION 4: The committee chairman or designee shall submit the slate of nominees for consideration at a regular meeting no later than one (1) week prior to the annual meeting.
At this same regular meeting, nominations from the floor shall be accepted following the committee’s slate of nominees.
SECTION 5: A vacancy in the board of directors or any office shall be filled by action of the remaining members of the board.
SECTION 6: A vacancy in the position of any officer-elect or director-elect shall be filled by action of the remaining members of the board of directors-elect.
ARTICLE II
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
SECTION 1: The governing body of this club shall be the board of directors consisting of twelve (12) members of this club, namely six (6) directors elected in accordance with Article I, Section 1, of these by-laws, the president, vice-president, president-elect, secretary, treasurer, and the immediate past president.
SECTION 2: The Club Directors shall be entitled as follows:
Executive Secretary
Director of Club Service
Director of International Service
Director of Community Service
Director of New Generations
Director of Vocational Service
ARTICLE III
DUTIES OF OFFICERS
SECTION 1: President. It shall be the duty of the president to preside at meetings of the club and board and to perform such other duties as ordinarily pertain to his office.
SECTION 2: President-Elect. It shall be the duty of the president-elect to serve as a member of the board of directors of the club and to perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the president or the board. The president-elect shall call a meeting of those officers and directors elected at the annual meeting to orient them relating to duties and necessary reports sometime within four weeks following the President-Elect Training Session (PETS).
SECTION 3: Vice-President. It shall be the duty of the vice-president to preside at meetings of the club and board in the absence of the president and to perform such other duties as ordinarily pertain to his office.
SECTION 4: Secretary. It shall be the duty of the secretary to keep the records of membership, record the attendance at meetings, send out notices of meetings of the club, board and committees, record and preserve the minutes of such meetings, make the required reports to Rotary International including the semiannual reports of membership, which shall be made to the General Secretary of Rotary International on January 1st and July 1st of each year, and including prorated reports to the general secretary on 1 October and 1 April of each active member who has been elected to membership in the club since the start of the July or January semiannual reporting period, the report of changes in membership, which shall be made to the General Secretary of Rotary International, and perform such other duties as usually pertain to the office of Secretary.
SECTION 5: Treasurer. It shall be the duty of the treasurer to have custody of all funds, accounting for same to the club annually and at any other time upon demand by the board and to perform such other duties as pertain to his office. Upon his retirement from office he shall turn over to his successor or the president all funds, books of accounts or any other club property in his possession.
SECTION 6: Immediate Past President The duties of the Immediate Past President shall be to give counsel to the president and provide continuity to the leadership of the organization.
ARTICLE IV
MEETINGS
SECTION 1: An annual meeting of this club shall be held in the month of December in each year at which time the election of the officers and directors to serve for the ensuing year shall take place.
SECTION 2: The regular weekly meetings of this club shall be held on Thursday at 12:10 p.m. Due notice of any changes in or canceling of the regular meeting shall be given to all members of the club.
All members excepting an honorary member (or member excused by the board of directors of this club, pursuant to Article IX, Section 3 of the Standard Rotary Club Constitution) in good standing in this club, on the day of the regular meeting, must be counted as present or absent, and attendance must be evidenced by the member’s being present for at least sixty (60) percent of the time devoted to the regular meeting, either at this club or at any other Rotary club.
SECTION 3: One-third of the membership shall constitute a quorum at the annual and regular meetings of this club.
SECTION 4: Regular meetings of the board shall be held no less frequently than once a month, the exact date to be determined by the incoming officers. Special meetings of the board shall be called by the president, whenever deemed necessary, or upon the request of two (2) members of the board, due notice having been given.
SECTION 5: A majority of the board members shall constitute a quorum of the board.
ARTICLE V
FEES AND DUES
SECTION 1: The admission fee shall be $ $50.00 to be paid before the applicant can qualify as a member.
SECTION 2: The membership dues shall be determined and set by the Board of Directors, payable quarterly on the first day of July, October, January and April with the understanding that twelve dollars ($ 12.00) of the annual dues shall be applied to each member’s subscription to THE ROTARIAN magazine.
SECTION 3: The membership dues for members excused by the Board of Directors in accordance with Article IX, Section 3 of the Club Constitution shall be set by the Board of Directors so as to exclude charges for meals (the member to pay for meals for the meeting attended) payable quarterly on the first day of July, October, January, and April. Six dollars ($6.00) of each July 1 and January 1 payment shall be applied to each member’s subscription to THE ROTARIAN magazine.
ARTICLE VI
METHOD OF VOTING
The business of this club including the election of officers and directors shall be transacted by viva voce vote.
ARTICLE VII
COMMITTEES
SECTION 1: Each Director, with the approval of the boards, shall create ad hoc committees as deemed necessary and appoint the chairman thereto.
SECTION 2: It is the duty of the individual chairman, with the approval of the responsible director, to appoint the members of his/her committee.
ARTICLE VIII
DUTIES OF STANDING COMMITTEES
The duties of all committees shall be established and reviewed by the president for his or her year. In declaring the duties of each, the president shall reference appropriate RI materials and Avenues of Service when developing plans for the year.
Each committee shall have a specific mandate, clearly defined goals, and action plans established by the beginning of each year for implementation during the course of the year. It shall be the primary responsibility of the president-elect to provide the necessary leadership to prepare a recommendation for club committees, mandates, goals, and plans for presentation to the board in advance of the commencement of the year as noted above.
ARTICLE IX
LEAVE OF ABSENCE
Upon written application to the board, setting forth good and sufficient cause leave of absence may be granted excusing a member from attending the meetings of the club for a specified length of time.
ARTICLE X
FINANCES
SECTION 1: The treasurer shall deposit all funds of the club in some bank to be named by the board. The board shall determine the appropriate authorized signatures annually.
SECTION 2: All bills shall be paid only after authorized by signature of the responsible director. A thorough audit by a qualified person shall be made once each year of all the club’s financial transactions.
SECTION 3: Officers having charge or control of funds shall give bond as may be required by the board for the safe custody of the funds of the club, cost of bond to be borne by the club.
SECTION 4: The fiscal year of this club shall extend from July 1st to June 30th, and for the collection of members’ dues shall be divided into four quarterly periods extending from July 1sat to June 30th. The payment of per capita dues and magazine subscriptions to Rotary International shall be made on July 1st and January 1st of each year on the basis of the membership of the club on those dates.
SECTION 5: At the beginning of each fiscal year the board shall prepare or cause to be prepared a budget of estimated income and estimated expenditures for the year ,which, having been agreed to by the board, shall stand as the limit of expenditures for the respective purposes unless otherwise ordered by action of the board.
ARTICLE XI
METHOD OF ELECTING MEMBERS
SECTION 1: The name of a prospective member proposed by an active member of the club shall be submitted to the board in writing, through the club secretary. A transferring or former member of another club may be proposed to active membership by the former club. The proposal shall be kept confidential except as otherwise provided in this procedure.
SECTION 2. The board shall ensure that the proposal meets all the classification and membership requirements of the standard Rotary club constitution.
SECTION 3: The board shall approve or disapprove the proposal within 30 days of its submission and shall notify the proposer, through the club secretary, of its decision.
SECTION 4: If the decision of the board is favorable, the prospective member shall be informed of the purposes of Rotary and of the privileges and responsibilities of membership, following which the prospective member shall be requested to sign the membership proposal form and to permit his or her name and proposed classification to be published to the club.
SECTION 5: If no written objection to the proposal, stating reasons, is received by the board from any member (other than honorary) of the club within seven (7) days following publication of information about the prospective member, that person, upon payment of the admission fee (if not honorary membership), as prescribed in these bylaws, shall be considered to be elected to membership.
If any such objection has been filed with the board, it shall vote on this matter at its next meeting. If approved despite the objection the proposed member, upon payment of the admission fee (if not honorary membership), as prescribed in the bylaws, shall be considered to be elected to membership.
SECTION 6: Following the election, the president shall arrange for the new member’s induction, membership card, and new member Rotary literature. In addition the president or secretary will report the new member information to RI and the president will assign a member to assist with the new member’s assimilation to the club as well as assign the new member to a club project or function.
SECTION 7: The club may elect, in accordance with the standard Rotary club constitution, honorary members proposed by the board.
ARTICLE XII
RESOLUTIONS
No resolution or motion to commit this club on any matter shall be considered by the club until it has been considered by the board. Such resolutions or motions, if offered at a club meeting, shall be referred to the board without discussion.
ARTICLE XIII
ORDER OF BUSINESS
Meeting called to order
Introduction of visitors
Correspondence, announcements, and Rotary information
Committee reports, if any
Any unfinished business.
Any new business
Address or other program features
Adjournment
ARTICLE XIV
AMENDMENTS
These by-laws may be amended at any regular meeting, a quorum being present, by a two-thirds vote or all members present provided that notice of such proposed amendment shall have been mailed to each member at least ten days before such meeting. No amendment or addition to these by-laws can be made which is not in harmony with the standard Rotary club constitution and with the Constitution and Bylaws of Rotary International.