The Night the Lights
Went Out in Midland!
The Southwest
Section was in full swing with its annual meeting run by WTGS in
late February 2000 in Midland. A well-attended ice breaker Sunday
night 27 February was followed by the typically too early HOD breakfast
the next morning.
Chairman
Hogg did a good job conducting the meeting and put in a full day
attending oral sessions, reviewing posters and participating in
numerous conversations regarding business of the House. With no
time to rest the evening's entertainment beckoned. Half way to Odessa
the Confederate Air Force Headquarters was the destination. It was
truly a step back in time to WWII with aircraft of that vintage
in a large hanger of about the same age. In the middle of the USO
show Mr. Hogg disappeared. Three minutes later the lights went out!
It wasn't
just the lights. Candidate Cunningham's band was without power and
all kinds of critical bar appliances wouldn't work.
Resorting
to WWII improvisation, the hanger doors were opened and cars pulled
up with headlights on to provide illumination. About 10 minutes
passed looking for the security guard in the dark. Finally the master
switch was found and in a few more minutes the lamps got hot enough
to provide illumination.
Apparently
an over fatigued Executive Committee member had flipped the wrong
switch coming out of the latrine.
Now you
know why we call him Gremlin John.
Patrick
J. F. Gratton
Constitution
& Bylaws Committee  TOP
New Orleans, April 16,
2000
I
am pleased to report that the House of Delegates passed two of the
three proposed Bylaw Amendments, and all 5 new resolutions at its
HOD Annual Meeting in New Orleans, along with another new resolution
pertaining to the Bylaws that passed under new business. Both the
"Elected Editor Amendment" and the "Grievance Procedures Amendment"
were passed by more than the necessary 2/3-supermajority vote. All
6 will now be translated into Bylaws amendments by next year's Constitution
& Bylaws Committee, with submission of final language to the
HOD at next year's meeting in Denver. The one unsuccessful amendment,
the "Nominations Process Amendment" had majority support in the
HOD of 108-95, but a 2/3-supermajority vote is required for passage
of any Bylaws Amendment, and it failed to get the votes necessary
for passage.
Next year
in Denver, all 5 C&BC Resolutions passed in New Orleans will
come forward in their final Bylaws language form for your approval.
They are:
1. Resolution
for "Equivalency in Time Period between the EC & HOD in Amending
the Bylaws" to be known as the "Bylaws Amending Time Period Equivalency
Amendment".
2. Resolution
for the "Elimination of the Affirmation of Legality Requirement"
to be known as the "Legality Requirement Elimination Amendment".
3. Resolution
for the "Release of All AAPG Election Results to Individual Candidates
and Specific Only To Their Individual Races", to be known as the
"Election Results Release Amendment". This was amended on the floor
to add the words: "it is only fair that both the winner and loser,
that if they both desire, should be given the specific numeric results".
4. Resolution
for the "Elimination of the word "suitable" in Article V, Section
5", to be known as the "Eliminate 'Suitable' Amendment".
5. Resolution
for "International Region Delegate Election Clarification", to be
known as said Amendment.
In addition,
the HOD passed a resolution near the end of the annual meeting under
"New Business".
6. Specifically,
the resolution stated: "... that the Constitution and Bylaws Committee
investigate the usefulness of requiring a greater than simple majority
by the Executive Committee in order to change the order of names
or reject any name by the Advisory Council, for potential officer
candidates".
This resolution
will now move forward to next year's C&BC for consideration
and translation into formal Bylaws language.
On a final
note, some fellow HOD members felt that my reading of the C&BC
Report was too lengthy, and the section on the "Nomination Process
Amendment" was "inflammatory". The exact report read was mailed
to all members of the HOD over 30 days prior to the meeting, and
we received no comment regarding any problem with the wording. Remember,
also that the HOD Rules & Procedures specifically require that
the C&BC "be prepared to explain the purpose, function, and
significance of such amendments" - the C&BC is expected to make
the case for change.
New
Business - from the Executive Committee
On
Monday April 17, following our annual HOD meeting, the Executive
Committee gave validation ("approval without support for or against")
to what the C&BC regards as a potentially dangerous Constitutional
Amendment. Two years ago, as part 3 of the ad hoc Committee on Constitution
& Bylaws Amendment Process (COCBAP, created to address the old
"legality" issue) approved a statement, as part of their internal
comittee compromise, as follows:
"The EC
should pass a resolution proposing a constitutional amendment. The
proposed amendment would prevent any body (AC, EC, or HOD) from
proposing amendments which would "alter the composition, manner
of selection, the terms of office, the specific duties, responsibilities,
and other matters relevant to such bodies and officers" without
the consent of the affected body. This resolution for amendment
should be submitted to HOD, and if passed by a majority vote, it
would be submitted to entire membership (of AAPG) for (2/3rds) vote".
The HOD
will now be required to vote on it in Denver next year, and a simple
majority vote of approval would send it on to the entire membership
for a required 2/3-supermajority vote. The C&BC opposes this
legislation, and reaffirms the belief that the HOD is the sole AAPG
governmental body charged exclusively with the legislative function.
The proposed Amendment would allow the 7 member EC or the 17 member
AC to veto what a even unanimous HOD has passed. This Constitutional
Amendment is designed to forever lockdown our governing structure
as it stands today - not exactly a step ahead for member-driven
decision making. Faced with this kind of threat to the role of the
HOD, it is appropriate to remember some of Thomas Jefferson's words.
He wrote:
"Laws
and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human
mind, as that becomes more developed, more enlightened. As new discoveries
are made, new truths discovered, and manners and opinions change
with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also
to keep pace with times. We might as well as require a man to wear
still the coat which fitted him when a boy, as civilized society
to remain ever under the regimen of their ancestors".
This report
marks the conclusion of my year as C&BC Chairman. I am honored
and privileged to have had this opportunity to serve the HOD, Chairman
Hogg, and the Association. I look forward to helping create future
Bylaws changes that will continue to make our AAPG governing bodies
operate with greater fairness, and be more responsive to the needs
of our membership. I want to take this opportunity to thank my fellow
members of the C&BC, specifically George Eynon, Rich Green,
and Jeff Greenawalt, as well as HOD Chairman John Hogg, for their
participation in everything this committee prepared.
Respectfully
submitted,
Dwight
"Clint" Moore
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