Board meeting min 6/17/09 Meeting called to order by Larry Kimble at 7:02

Present: Holly Cart, Larry Kimble, Doug Powell, Troy Callanan, Vic Rompa, Mike Bachkosky
7:05 Bruce Smiley, Jeff Ports joined the meeting.
Old Business: none
New business:

Fall Hunt Test
5 fall test are approved.
CO. Sept, 5-6-7 at Haystacks Ranch
MI Sept 12 & 13th at the Fisher Family Farm
PA Sept 19 & 20
WA Sept 26 & 27th at Cripple Creek hunt club
KS Oct, 3 & 4th

The board was presented with a referendum for a change to the by- laws.
Referendum stated
APLA Board members; attached is the referendum written to make a change to the current by-laws regarding term limitations of board officers. The proposed changes to the by-laws are outlined below. Also attached are the email responses in support of the referendum. Included on that list are Wendy Foster and myself and my husband, however I didn’t need to email myself my approval. At this point this falls into the jurisdiction of the board and then to vote by the membership. I believe my job is complete here.
Respectfully,
Julie Knutson

The changes to the by-laws would be to Article VI-Officers, Section 2. That Article currently states:

“All officers shall be elected by the Members in Good Standing and must themselves be Members in Good Standing. In addition, no officer may be on Probation. The term of office shall be two calendar years, with successive re-election to the same office permitted only once. Each officer shall hold office until his or her successor shall have been duly elected and shall have qualified, until his or her death, or until he or she shall resign or shall have been removed in a manner herein provided. Election of an officer shall not of itself create contract rights.

Rules and regulations concerning nominations, election of candidates, and filling vacancies for the officer positions are described in Article VIII.”
The change to make is noted in strikeout below:
“All officers shall be elected by the Members in Good Standing and must themselves be Members in Good Standing. In addition, no officer may be on Probation. The term of office shall be two calendar years, with successive re-election to the same office permitted only once. Each officer shall hold office until his or her successor shall have been duly elected and shall have qualified, until his or her death, or until he or she shall resign or shall have been removed in a manner herein provided. Election of an officer shall not of itself create contract rights.”
Rules and regulations concerning nominations, election of candidates, and filling vacancies for the officer positions are described in Article VIII.”
Thus, the new Article VI Section 2 would read as follows:
“All officers shall be elected by the Members in Good Standing and must themselves be Members in Good Standing. In addition, no officer may be on Probation. The term of office shall be two calendar years. Each officer shall hold office until his or her successor shall have been duly elected and shall have qualified, until his or her death, or until he or she shall resign or shall have been removed in a manner herein provided. Election of an officer shall not of itself create contract rights.”
Rules and regulations concerning nominations, election of candidates, and filling vacancies for the officer positions are described in Article VIII.”
Referendum:

Referendum for extending term limits for APLA Officers Positions
The Board of the American Pointing Labrador Association is critical to the success of the organization. Having been a member from almost the very first year, I can say with complete conviction that in that time there has been a handful of individuals who have contributed immeasurably to the growth and mission of the organization. The organization has had repeated presidents, treasurers and secretaries; individuals who remained on the board as long as allowed before the by-laws required they leave. Usually they are replaced by other individuals who care and contribute equally with equivalent experience and seasoning to provide measured and consistent support to the organization.
Though I believe there are valuable young members of great potential coming up through the ranks that are learning and taking opportunities to contribute at the ground level, there is a dearth of seasoning and experience necessary to execute the officer’s duties in measured and consistent ways. Until the organization has a continued and expanding membership I would like to propose extending the numbers of terms the officers are allowed to serve, so that until the membership is substantial enough to provide a pool of strong candidates, we can utilize the experience and value currently available in members having already served as officers.
If you are in agreement with this proposal, please add your name to the list position at the bottom of this page and return it to me. Twenty signatures are required to put this proposal to a vote of the membership – a necessity for it to become part of the by-laws.

Discussion about the referendum and the board came to the following conclusions:
a) the referendum heading should be reworded to define the actual change. Extend term limits or eliminate term limits.
b) There were aspects of the submitted referendum that did not follow the current APLA by-laws and therefore the referendum should be returned to the original sponsor to have member signatures included and delivered by registered mail to the APLA officers, as per the APLA by-laws
Jeff Ports made a motion and was seconded by Bruce Smiley.

Meeting adjourned