Palm-Mensa

Palm Beach County Mensa Bylaws
[Group #334]

ARTICLE I. NAME AND PURPOSE:

1. The name of this organization shall be Palm Beach County Mensa (hereafter PBCM). It is a local group of American Mensa, Ltd. (hereafter AML), and is subject to the Constitution of Mensa, the Bylaws of AML, and the resolutions adopted by the American Mensa Committee (hereafter AMC).

ARTICLE II. MEMBERSHIP:

1. Membership in PBCM shall be open to all members of AML in good standing in the geographic areas assigned to PBCM by the AMC, or as otherwise assigned by AML. Mensa members in good standing who are not also members of PBCM are welcome to participate in the social activities of PBCM at the discretion of the host or hostess. The National Ombudsman, his surrogate, and members of the AMC shall be permitted to participate in the business affairs of PBCM in the discharge of their official duties.

ARTICLE III. OFFICERS AND MEETINGS:

1. The elected officers of PBCM shall be a Local Secretary, a Program Director, an Editor, and a Treasurer. The Local Secretary shall serve as chief executive officer. These officers may appoint by majority vote such other officers as shall be desired. All elected and appointed officers must be current members in good standing of AML and PBCM.

2. The Local Secretary shall administer the business of PBCM; the Program Director shall arrange programs for meetings; the Editor shall be in charge of the newsletter and other publications; the Treasurer shall handle the financial matters of PBCM. The term of office of elected and appointed officers of PBCM shall be for two years, from May 1 to April 30 of the second year following. Vacancies in the positions of elected and appointed officers, including the Local Secretary, shall be filled for the remainder of the term of office by unanimous vote of the remaining elected officers, or, failing unanimity, by majority vote at a special business meeting of PBCM to be called within 60 days of the occurrence of the vacancy. The Program Director shall serve as Acting Local Secretary until a vacancy in that position has been filled.

3. PBCM shall be governed by its elected and appointed officers. These shall constitute the Executive Board (hereafter EB). The elected officers and such appointed positions designated by the elected officers shall have voting rights on the EB. No more than one-half of the voting positions on the EB may be appointed positions, although there may be as many non-voting appointed positions as desired. The members of the EB and their status (elected or appointed, voting or non-voting) shall be published in the newsletter.

4. Elected officers may be removed from office by a recall election upon written petition by 10% of the members in good standing of PBCM as of the most recent count published in the newsletter. A recall election shall be held in the same manner as regular elections. An elected officer shall be removed from office by 2/3 of the valid votes cast. Appointed officers may be removed from office by majority vote of the EB.

5. Business meetings of PBCM shall be held at least quarterly following an announcement in the previous month's newsletter. Special business meetings of the EB or of PBCM may be called by the Local Secretary, by the EB, or by written petition of 10% of the members in good standing of PBCM as of the most recent count published in the newsletter. The agenda for such special business meetings may include only that business for which the meeting is called.

6. All elected and appointed officers shall turn over all files, office equipment and materials pertaining to their offices to either their successor(s), to the current Local Secretary, or to another member of the governing body no later than four weeks after leaving office.

ARTICLE IV. ELECTIONS:

1. By majority vote the EB shall choose an Election Committee (hereafter EC) of two to four members who must be members in good standing but not members of the EB, who shall serve for the forthcoming election only, and who may not be candidates for election. The EC shall be responsible for receiving and tallying the ballots and certifying the results.

2. The February issue of the newsletter shall announce the forthcoming election for officers to serve for two years and shall announce the name and address of the members of the EC. It shall announce that nominations must be received by the EC by March 1 and must be signed by the person making the nomination who must be a member of PBCM in good standing to be valid. Persons may not be nominated unless they have agreed to serve.

3. The EC shall announce the names of persons nominated in the April issue of the newsletter. Ballots shall be printed in the newsletter or in a separate mailing and sent to all local members indicating that only members in good standing may vote, that the envelope containing the ballot must be signed to be valid, and that ballots must be in the hands of the EC by April 20. For offices for which there is only one valid nomination, the EC shall declare the nominee elected.

4. The EC may decide to permit candidates to provide the newsletter with a set amount of campaign material. If so, each candidate who chooses to avail himself of this right shall have an equal word limit. The newsletter shall remain completely impartial.

5. The EC shall inform the candidates of the time and place of the ballot count and invite them to be present in person or by proxy for verification. The ballots shall be counted no later than April 30. A plurality of valid votes cast for each office shall constitute election. If a person is elected to more than one office, his vote for the lower office in terms of succession shall be invalidated and the next highest candidate shall be deemed elected to that office. Order of succession for purposes of elections shall be: Local Secretary, Program Director, Editor, Treasurer.

6. Challenges to the election must be submitted in writing to the existing EB by June 1 following the election. Any actions taken by the EB in the meantime will not be affected by the outcome of any such challenge.

ARTICLE V. PUBLICATION OF FINANCIAL REPORT:

1. The Treasurer shall be responsible for the financial matters of PBCM, including the finances of its newsletter, and shall submit to the Executive Committee a semi-annual financial report which shall also be published in the newsletter. The Financial report shall contain schedules of income, expenses and balances for all funds under the control of PBCM, including RG, scholarship and other special funds. The Treasurer's Report shall also include a listing of all equipment owned by PBCM. The Treasurer may assist the Editor in the preparation and submission of any postal forms that might be required.

ARTICLE VI. AMENDMENTS TO THE BYLAWS:

1. Amendments to these bylaws may be proposed either by unanimous vote of the EB or by a signed petition of 10% of the members in good standing of PBCM as of the most recent count, published in the newsletter. Proposed amendments shall be submitted to, and approved by, the AMC before balloting by the PBCM membership.

2. Following AMC approval, proposed amendments shall be printed in the newsletter with a justification of up to 100 words by its proponents and an opposition statement of equal length if such opposition exists.

3. Ballots shall be printed in the newsletter or in a separate mailing and sent to all local members. The deadline for returning the ballots shall be at least 90 days after the date of the publication of the proposed amendments.

4. The amendments shall be adopted or defeated by majority vote of those voting, ballots to be mailed to and counted by the Local Secretary, in the presence of members, if they so desire.

5. PBCM bylaws or amendments to its bylaws are only effective after approved by both the AMC and the PBCM membership.

ARTICLE VII. MENSA NAME AND LOGO:

1. AML has granted a royalty free, non-exclusive license to PBCM for the use of the mark "Mensa" and a logo, consisting of a globe over a stylized "M" within a border, in connection with the services and purposes of PBCM. AML retains full ownership of the mark and logo and all statutory and common law rights in the mark and logo.