COMMITTEE REPORT:
Constitution and Bylaws Cmte on COCBAP Correspondence
Paul Britt
I am enclosing comments that have been received by the Constitution & Bylaws Committee to the proposed changes to the Bylaws, pursuant to Bylaws Article XIV, Section 2 (c) which states:
”Each of the bodies and members receiving proposed amendments pursuant to Section 2, paragraph (a) above, may submit comments to the Constitution and Bylaws committee of the House of Delegates not less than thirty (30) days prior to the annual meeting of the House of Delegates at which the proposed amendment is to be considered. The Chairman of the House of Delegates shall cause all such comments to be sent with the proposed amendment to the members of the House of Delegates prior to such annual meeting.”
The following are the comments that have been received by me:
Donald Lewis, Lafayette, CA wrote:
I have a couple questions and one comment re the proposed AAPG Bylaws changes:
- Why is the last sentence of the new (Article) II -- (Section) 10 - (b) necessary? …as a clarification?
- Why is the (Article) II -- (Section) 11 change necessary? I'm not one to mistrust the EC. If it ain't broke —-.
- In (Article) II (Section) 13- (a), I disagree with expanding the list of ineligible people to include all officers of the Divisions. We already are limiting the available talent pool a lot, and adding another twelve seems unnecessary. In my opinion, a Division editor or secretary and the like do not hold positions prominent or influential enough to warrant them being removed from consideration. In fact, we need those people to keep moving into other positions.
Beyond these points, the changes seem fine.
Robbie Gries, Denver, CO wrote:
(quoting Don Lewis) ” - In II 13- (a), I disagree with expanding the list of ineligible people to include all officers of the Divisions. We already are limiting the available talent pool a lot, and adding another twelve seems unnecessary. In my opinion, a Division editor or secretary and the like do not hold positions prominent or influential enough to warrant them being removed from consideration. In fact, we need those people to keep moving into other positions.”
I agree with Don on almost everything...and especially this.
Andrew Hurst, UK wrote:
Although I sort of see the logic behind the changes, I agree with Robbie and Don.
Jeff Lund, Houston, TX wrote:
I agree with Don's comments. The suggested restrictions on nominations is “overkill” and has more negative consequences than positive.
Edward D. Dolly, Denver, CO wrote:
I hadn't read the proposed changes until Don made his comments. After reviewing the proposed changes I tend to agree with Don's remarks.
Clint Moore, Houston, TX:
In a telephone call, Mr. Moore expressed concerns that the changes to Article II Section 11 of the Bylaws had previously required a special election for the office of President-Elect should that office be vacated early, but that the proposed changes would allow for the possibility of a candidate that did not get a majority vote to be placed into office. His concern was that the office of President-Elect (and therefore President) was far too important to have it filled by a candidate that was not elected into office. He did not have similar concerns regarding the other offices, recognizing the intent to expeditiously fill a vacancy with a minimum of cost and lost time to the organization.
From the Executive Committee: MOTION:
In the spirit of AAPG Bylaws Article XIV, Section 2 (c), the AAPG Executive Committee wishes to express its support of the proposed bylaw amendment pertaining to vacancies in the offices of the Executive Committee, except for the inclusion of the office of President-Elect in the proposed new process.
We appreciate the House of Delegate's diligent efforts on this entire officer vacancy issue, but request that you further consider that we believe that the office of President-Elect is of such importance, that no person should attain that office without winning a majority of the membership votes cast in an official election. This existing language is in contrast to the proposed process that the losing candidate for President-Elect would automatically be offered the position upon such a vacancy.
We request that the House of Delegates retain the existing language and process for filling a President-Elect vacancy, as contained in the second paragraph of AAPG Bylaws Article II, Section 11, which requires a special election to fill a vacancy in the office of President-Elect.
Therefore, we further request that the words “President-Elect” not be inserted in the first paragraph of the proposed bylaw amendment, as presently proposed.
Approved at the April 9th, 2005 meeting of the AAPG Executive Committee Meeting.
The committee submits these comments in accordance with the Bylaws as stated above. These are all of the comments concerning the proposed Bylaws changes that have been received.