Article I: Membership
Section 1: Attaining Associate membership.
- a.
- All prospective Associate members must have access to a computer
and modem, and must have access to the Internet. All applicants must be in good standing with CFA.
- b.
- Applications for Associate membership shall be made to the
Secretary. Associate membership shall be automatically granted
to those who meet the eligibility requirements in Section 1(a).
- c.
- Associate members pay no dues and may not vote. Active Associate
memberships are automatically renewed every May 1. An Associate
member who has not participated in any club-related activity
within a six-month period shall be dropped from the membership
roster on the following May 1.
Section 2: Attaining Regular Membership.
- a.
- All prospective Regular members must have been an Associate member
for at least three (3) months prior to applying for Regular status.
- b.
- All prospective Regular members must be active breeders and/or
exhibitors who register their purebred cats in CFA and/or compete
in shows held by CFA-affiliated clubs. Exhibitors who show in CFA
Household Pet classes are also eligible. Breeders and exhibitors
who are not currently active in CFA may apply upon the approval of
two members of the Board of Directors. Applicants must have shown
their interest and support for the goals of this organization, and
are expected to be an active participant in club-related activities.
All applicants must be in good standing with CFA and the club.
- c.
- Applications for Regular membership must be made to the Secretary;
the application form is
available for downloading in the club's
electronic library. The Secretary shall make the names and eligibility
information available online to current Regular members. An applicant
for Regular membership must receive favorable votes from 2/3 of
the Regular members, with a minimum of 2/3 of the eligible members
casting votes.
- d.
- Once accepted, Regular members pay dues of $15 per year, which must
be paid within one month of acceptance for membership, and by May 1
of each year thereafter. Any Regular member who fails to pay his dues
by that date shall be considered an Associate member for the following
year; at any time during that year, he may pay his dues and be
automatically restored as a Regular member provided he is in good
standing with both the club and CFA. If he does not pay his dues at
any point during that year, he will be dropped from the list of
Associate members and must reapply for Associate and Regular
membership.
- e.
- All Charter Members
are eligible for Regular Membership, provided they
pay the normal dues and are in good standing both with the club and
with CFA. A Charter Member who does not pay dues shall be considered
an Associate Member, with no expiration of membership. A Charter
Member may automatically be restored at any time to Regular status
upon payment of dues, provided he is in good standing with both the
club and CFA.
Article II: Meetings
Section 1:
Communication between members will take place via an e-mail list maintained by the secretary and in the Cats Forum of
CompuServe Information Services
Section 2:
An annual vote for officers will take place in April
Section 3:
Special electronic meetings, via IRC or a CompuServe conference room may be called at any time by the
President and shall be called at the request of three or more
Regular members.
Section 4: All meetings, shall be held as electronic conferences.
Section 5:
All meetings, shall be open to Regular and Associate members, and to non-members. The
President shall act as conference leader during meetings.
Special meetings may be limited to members, voting members,
or the Board of Directors if circumstances require it.
Section 6:
Meeting minutes for all meetings shall be made available in
the club's electronic library, within 24 hours of the
conclusion of the meeting.
Article III: Elections
The election procedures shall be as follows:
- a.
- The Officers and Directors-At-Large shall be officially nominated in March. Nominees must be
Regular members in good standing with the club and with CFA.
- b.
- At that time, the members shall also choose a Regular or Associate member
as the Election Clerk. Only members who are not running for an elected
position on the Board of Directors are eligible for this post. If
preferred by a majority of the Regular members, a person unaffiliated
with the club may assume this post for the duration of the election.
The Election Clerk shall receive and count votes only for the election
of officers and the Directors-At-Large. Election Clerk
is a temporary position, and the holder of this post is not to be
considered as an officer of the club.
- c.
- The ballot listing the candidates for each position shall be uploaded
to the electronic library immediately after the conclusion of the nominations.
- d.
- All members eligible to vote must do so within 7 days after the election ballot is sent out by the Election clerk
- e.
- Regular members may cast votes by sending a private CompuServe forum message or an
electronic mail message to the Election Clerk, stating their choices for
the elected positions. Members are asked to use one message to vote for
all the positions. Votes may be changed once cast if the new vote is
received by the Election Clerk before the close of voting; however,
members are encouraged to avoid doing so if possible.
- f.
- A maximum of two (2) Regular members may share one electronic account
for voting purposes. Each member must vote in separate messages, and
each message must clearly identify which member is casting the vote.
- g.
- The votes shall be counted by the Election Clerk when voting is
completed, who shall announce the results within 24 hours of the
conclusion of voting. In the event of a tie between two
or more candidates for an office, a second ballot shall be held,
using the same procedures.
Article IV: Voting Procedures
The club members shall follow these procedures for all issues brought to
the general membership for voting. The procedures for voting must take
into the account the electronic nature of this organization, and shall be
as follows:
- a.
- For all ballots except the elections for Officers and Directors-At-
Large, the Secretary shall an e-mail to all members, clearly stating the issue and the choices.
The title of the message shall reflect its topic.
- b.
- In order to vote, a member must send an electronic mail message to the
Secretary, clearly stating the issue on which he is voting and how he
chooses to cast his vote, within the time allowed for voting. Late
votes or votes cast by ineligible parties shall be disregarded.
- c.
- A maximum of two (2) Regular members may share one electronic account
for voting purposes. Each member must vote in separate messages, and
must clearly identify which member is casting the vote in each message.
If more than two votes per issue are received under one electronic
address, all votes from that address shall be invalidated for that
issue.
- d.
- The Secretary shall count the votes and post a new e-mail with
the results of the voting. For acceptance of new Regular members and
amendments to the Constitution or By-Laws, a 2/3 favorable vote is
required. For all other issues, a simple majority is required. The
results shall be posted within 24 hours of the end of the time allowed
for voting.
- e.
- For elections of Officers and Directors-At-Large, the Election Clerk
shall receive and tally votes cast as described in Article III.
Article V: National/Regional Ballots
Online Feline Fanciers is a national club drawing its membership from all
CFA regions. The club's official region of residence is that in which the
club Secretary resides.
Section 1:
The club may vote at the CFA Annual on all ballots, including
those for the offices of CFA President, Vice-President,
Treasurer, Secretary, and Directors-At-Large. The candidates
and proposals to be voted on at the Annual shall be presented
to the membership and voted upon prior to the Annual.
Section 2:
The club delegate to the CFA Annual meeting shall be chosen
each May by the consensus of the club Board of Directors. The
delegate will vote according to the wishes of the club
membership as determined by its vote.
Section 3:
This club will not participate in any regional ballots in
its official region of residence, including elections for
Regional Director.
Article VI: Elected Officials
Section 1:
The term of office for any elected official of this club is
one year, commencing May 1 and ending April 30. Should a
vacancy occur in any office except President, the Board of
Directors shall appoint a member to that office for the
balance of the unexpired term. The Vice-President shall fill
the office of President for the remainder of the term should
the President be unable to serve for whatever reason. All
officials of this club must be Regular members in good
standing with the club and with CFA. All elected positions
must be held by individuals and may not be combined.
Section 2:
A member may hold a given elected position for no more than
two consecutive terms. There is no limit to the number of
non-consecutive terms that a club member may serve.
Section 3:
A member holding any elected position is required to vote on
at least 2/3 of the issues presented during his time in office,
and is expected to be an active participant in club activities.
Section 4:
The Officers of this club are as follows:
- (a) President:
- The President shall be the chief executive officer, and
shall preside as conference leader for all meetings. He
shall be a member ex-officio of all committees, and
shall perform all other functions consistent with his
office.
- (b) Vice-President:
- The Vice-President shall serve as the chairperson
of major committees as appointed by the President,
and shall act in the stead of the President in all
respects whenever the President is absent or unable
to fulfill his duties.
- (c) Secretary:
- The Secretary shall be the organization's recording and
corresponding officer. He shall make available
transcripts of club meetings, as well as upload and
maintain club-related electronic files. He shall keep a
current and accurate membership list with mailing
addresses, telephone numbers, and electronic addresses.
He shall conduct any
correspondence in the club's name at the instruction of
the President. He shall be in charge of all balloting
except elections, which are presided over by the
Election Clerk.
- (d) Treasurer:
- The Treasurer shall be the chief financial officer. He
shall have custody of all club monies, shall open a bank
account in the name of the club, and shall keep account
of all receipts and expenditures. He shall upload a
yearly financial report two weeks before the April
Annual meeting.
Section 5:
Directors-At-Large: Three Directors-At-Large shall also be
elected. They shall join with the Officers
to compose the Board of Directors, and
shall serve to represent the interests of
the membership. Directors-At-Large shall
serve on committees as needed, and use
their skills to best promote the interests
of this club.
Article VII: Electronic Definitions
Section 1
Electronic Service: An Electronic Service is a computer
network to which the general public has access via a modem
connection. The members of this club shall use the Internet or Compuserve Information Services as its electronic service.
Section 2
Electronic Accounts: Electronic services create electronic
accounts for its customers. A maximum of two (2) Regular
members may share a single account for voting purposes.
There is no limit to the number of Regular or Associate
members who may share a single account for non-voting
purposes.
Section 3
Electronic Message Center: Members shall conduct club-related
discussions and business via am Internet mailing list, or in the Cats Forum of CIS, in the message
section entitled "CFA Issues" and "Cat Breeders' World". This message section
is open to the general public.
Section 4
Electronic Library: The electronic files library to be used
by the members of this club for club-related business is
a Web Page maintained by the club secretary. The URL shall be made known to all members and is open
to the general public. All e-mail messages specifically related to
the business of Online Feline Fanciers must be uploaded
using the keyword "OFF" so members can easily identify club information.
Section 5
Electronic Conferences: Real-time electronic discussions
between members shall take place in a "conference room" in
the Cats Forum or in an IRC chat room. These discussions, commonly known as
COs, may be open to the general public or can be limited to
members only.
Section 6
Electronic Message Definitions: Three types of messages are
available within the message section.
- a.
- A public message is addressed to "all" or to a specific person,
and anyone may read and reply to the message. This type of message
shall be used for club-related discussions as well as any other
public electronic conversations.
- b.
- A private forum or e-mail message is posted within a message section or sent privately, but can
be read only by the sender and addressee. Private messages addressed
to the Secretary or Election Clerk may be used for voting.
- c.
- An electronic mail message is similar to a private forum message or e-mail,
except that the addressee is notified of the message as soon as he
signs on to the CompuServe Information Service or his Internet provider, and it can be
retrieved by all members of the forum or mailing list.
Section 7
Relationship between Club and Electronic Service: This club
operates independently of the electronic service on which it
meets, and is not financed or otherwise affiliated directly
with that service. The club members may vote to change the
electronic service on which it meets; this shall be
considered an amendment to the By-Laws, and must follow the
procedures for such an amendment.
Article VIII: Finances
Section 1:
An accounting year of this club shall run from May 1 to
April 30.
Section 2:
In the conduct of the affairs of this club, the Board of
Directors is authorized to spend, as required, sums of money
not to exceed one hundred dollars during any one accounting
year without prior approval of the membership.
Section 3:
In the conduct of the affairs of this club, the Secretary is
authorized to purchase required postage and clerical supplies
without prior approval. Statements of expenditures will be
promptly reimbursed without fanfare. The Secretary shall
include a financial report of all such expenditures in the
club's meeting minutes and newsletters.
Section 4:
No other club funds will be disbursed without the prior
approval of the Board of Directors.
Section 5:
In the event that this club is dissolved, any accumulated funds
will be donated to a reputable non-profit organization devoted
to feline welfare. Dissolution will be deemed to have occurred
when the membership elects to disband or the officers have not
been elected as provided in the Constitution and By-Laws.
Article IX: Ring Production
Section 1:
The club may produce individual rings in co-operation with
other CFA clubs who hold a show license. Two types of rings
may be produced.
- The club may sponsor a scored allbreed or specialty ring by
providing assistance to a club licensed to hold a CFA show. This
may include financial assistance, i.e. paying for the expenses of
a judge, and/or other forms of assistance as needed by the licensed
club.
- The club may sponsor an educational ring to be held during a cat
show licensed by another CFA club. The theme of the educational
ring shall be determined in conjunction with the other club.
Section 2:
This club may not sponsor any show rings except in cooperation
with an existing CFA club. It may not sponsor more than two (2)
rings per show, nor twelve (12) rings per year. It may not
obtain a show license to produce its own show.
Article X: Discipline
Section 1:
The Board of Directors shall have power, by a two-thirds vote,
to reprimand, suspend, or expel from membership any person who,
after a fair hearing of both accuser and accused, shall be
found guilty of violating a rule of the club, a breach of
the Online Feline Fanciers' Code of Ethics, or of a
fraudulent, dishonest act or of conduct detrimental to the
interests of the club or the cat fancy at large. Charges
against any member must be sent both by an electronic
message to the President and by a registered letter to the
Secretary, who shall in turn inform the Board of
Directors. The Board shall then schedule an electronic hearing at
which both the accuser and the accused must be present.
Section 2:
If charges are filed against a member of the Board of
Directors, the procedure shall be the same, except that the
accused Board member may not vote for or against the charges.
The accuser may send the charges to a different member of the
Board of Directors if either the President or the Secretary is
the person being accused.
Section 3:
If the Board determines that charges brought against a member
by another member are fraudulent and that the accuser had
malicious or slanderous intent, the accuser shall in turn be
subject to immediate discipline from the Board of Directors.
Section 4:
If a member is temporarily or permanently suspended by CFA,
he is automatically suspended from this club for the same
period of time.
Article XI: Amendments
These By-Laws may be amended as provided in the Constitution.
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