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membership: You are receiving a copy of the Constitution and By-laws, because at the October, 1997 annual meeting some discrepancies were noted in the Bylaws as handed out by the board. The following motion was made by David Raper, taken directly from the minutes of the annual meeting October 17, 1997. "Whereas: The Constitution and the By-laws of the American Bouvier des Flandres Club are the instruments that establish the procedures for the governance and business of the Club and that form the bond of trust between the membership and the Board of Governors, it thus is imperative that the contents of the Constitution and By-laws not be altered in any way except as provided for in the By-laws; and Whereas: The Board of Governors has failed in its stewardship of the Constitution and By-laws both by permitting changes in their contents that have not been approved by vote of the ABdFC membership and by permitting Club affairs to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with provisions in the By-laws; Therefore I move: That a special committee be appointed by the membership, which shall be composed only from among these members who currently do not serve on the Board of Governors, to reconcile the Constitution and By- laws with the exact wording that has been approved by proper vote of the membership and to present the reconciled version of the constitution and By-laws, together with the supporting documentation, to the Board by its first meeting in 1998 to the membership as the proper and approved version." The committee consisted of Debra Gschwender, chair; and Charlene Berstler and Doug Johnson. The committee went back to 1966, when the club was formed and started with the original Constitution and By-laws. When any documentation proved that an amendment was made with the approval of the membership, the Board and the American Kennel Club, that amendment was then inserted into the By-laws. Without going into great detail, the committee found a great deal of discrepancies in what the By-laws should read and what they did read. The committee (chair - Debbie Gschwender) gave the report to the Board of Governors at their February teleconference meeting. The following is a copy of the By-laws and suggestions that were given to the Board of Governors. Suggestions: 1. A letter of thanks be sent to Marla Friedes at the American Kennel Club, from the ABdFC, for all her assistance in compiling this report and for providing our only source of documentation. 2. A personal and public thanks to Dorothy Kent, secretary for the ABdFC, for all her assistance in trying to provide documentation, without success. 3. Special thanks to my committee members, Charlene Berstler and Doug Johnson, who shared in the headaches and frustration. 4. Any further and future correspondence with the American Kennel Club be through the Secretary of the ABdFC, only. The reason the Club had no record, was because the Chair of the By-laws Committee did not copy any and all correspondence sent to the AKC, to the Secretary. This made the committee's job extremely difficult and frustrating. 5. The By-laws do need up-dating. Respectfully submitted, Debbie Gschwender Chair of the membership appointed By-laws Review Committee |
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