2010 MCRC Mandatory Meeting Proposed changes to the MCRC Bylaws as approved by the Bylaws Committee, Results ~~ Page 2
#1
For: 1,076 – 93.97%
Against: 69 – 6.03%
Technical Corrections:
Definitions, #4, remove comma after “shall mean”
Article I, Section 1 – Add “s” to “objective”
Article I, Section 2 – remove comma after “when not in conflict”
Article II, Section 1, change Roman numeral I to number “1” as in March 1
Article II, Section 2, E – Add –ing ending to #4 through #9 so that they are uniform with #1, #2, and #3
Article II, Section 4, B #8, delete “ing” from “working”
Article II, Section 4, D, line 4, remove first “District”
Article III, Section 2, A, add “s” to “other” in line 3
Article III, Section 3, B, 7 – Change Executive Guidance Committee to EGC
Article III, Section 4, A – Delete comma before EGC
Article III, Section 4, B – Change “shall be, at the opening of all meetings, to invoke”
Article III, Section 4, F – Delete the last sentence. It doesn’t specify any duties and is more of a casual description of part of the job. None of the other jobs have this sort of casual “Oh yeah, and they also sometimes do this…”
Article IV, Section 1, A, 4 – Final sentence should read “The MCRC Chairman shall announce the names of such nominees at the Statutory Organizational Meeting during the report of…” as opposed to “…as the report of…”
Article VI, Section 2, 8 – Change “or” to “of” in “Have the authority to adopt special rules OR order or standing rules…”
Article VIII, Section 2, A – Delete “of” in final line “…in a reasonable number of as determined by the MCRC C&T Chairman.”
Article VIII, Section 4, B, 3 – Delete “The Resolutions Committee may” and capitalize the “i” in “initiate or recommend…”
Article XI – First line, insert “were” between “bylaws” and “originally”
REASONS OF SUPPORT:
We have placed all of the minor technical fixes into one motion so that they can be passed all at once. These changes do not change the meaning or intent of any of the sections, but they clean up the syntax and appearance of the bylaws.
#2
For: 1,057 – 93.13%
Against: 78 – 6.87%
Article III, Section 2, A.
Was: These officers shall be appointed by the MCRC Chairman at the Statutory Organizational Meeting or at the first EGC meeting following the Statutory Organizational Meeting.
Becomes: These officers may be appointed by the MCRC Chairman at the Statutory Organizational Meeting or at a subsequent EGC meeting.
REASONS OF SUPPORT:
These appointments are made at the discretion of the Chairman, and they are non-voting positions. The language being used could be interpreted to mandate the appointments (“shall”) when in fact the positions are not always filled. They are filled if and when it is deemed helpful by the Chairman. The language could also be interpreted to mean that the appointments can only be made on the two stated occasions, when it is perfectly alright for the Chairman to fill the positions as and when he needs them. The new language better reflects both the original intent and how we have actually been functioning for many years.
#3
For: 789 – 67.55%
Against: 379 – 32.45%
Article III, Section 2, C.
Was: Each appointee must be a member of the MCRC at the time of appointment.
Becomes: Each appointee must be a registered Republican at the time of appointment.
REASONS OF SUPPORT:
Some of these positions (ex: General Counsel and Parliamentarian) require special skills that are not always found in our body of PCs. Additionally, we have good Republicans who run for PC in contested PC races and lose, yet they are also still willing and able to be involved. Given that these positions are non-voting and often tough to fill, we did not want to artificially shrink the size of the talent pool and limit the number of good Republicans who are willing to volunteer their time on behalf of the cause.
#4
For: 1,052 – 91.08%
Against: 103 – 8.92%
Article III, Section 3, B., 8
Was: Employ an Executive Director and other compensated positions on a part time or full time basis commensurate with the financial ability of the MCRC and subject to the approval of the EGC. The EGC shall determine the salary scale of the employees of the MCRC,
Becomes: Have the authority to employ an Executive Director and other compensated positions on a part time or full time basis commensurate with the financial ability of the MCRC and subject to the approval of the EGC. The EGC shall determine the salary scale of the employees of the MCRC,
REASONS OF SUPPORT:
Much like #2, the original language was too strict and can be interpreted as mandating the hiring of an Executive Director, when we often do not have one. This change preserves the authority to hire whilst removing any mandate.
#5
For: 1,073 – 93.39%
Against: 76 – 6.61%
Article IV, Section 1, B, 1
Was: Nominations for all elective officers; shall be made by a nomination committee composed of the recently elected District Chairmen or their designated representative selective officers elected from their recently elected District officers.
Becomes: “Nominations for all elective officers shall be made by a nomination committee composed of the recently elected District Chairmen or their designated representatives.”
REASONS OF SUPPORT:
The original language makes no sense. It seems as though a sentence fragment was left on, or was cut and pasted in the wrong location. We believe that the change preserves both original intent and reflects how we have actually been handling this committee for a very long time.
#6
For: 1,058 – 92.40%
Against: 87 – 7.60%
Article V, Section 2, C
Was: The Secretary or designee shall deposit in the mail at least ten (10) days prior to the meeting notice of the meeting, addressed to each member. Copies of proposed Bylaws changes, of new resolutions, if any, and a proxy form must also be included.
Becomes: The Secretary or designee shall deposit in the mail at least ten (10) days prior to the meeting notice of the meeting, addressed to each member. Copies of proposed Bylaws changes and the reasons of support, new resolutions, if any, and a proxy form, must also be included.”
We are also proposing that we delete the following paragraph, D:
A Proxy form shall accompany the notice of such meeting.
REASONS OF SUPPORT:
Two minor fixes. We have, in Section 1, the rules for our Statutory Meetings and then, in Section 2, the rules for the Mandatory Meeting. This change makes the rules for each identical, by adding the requirement that “the reasons for support” be included in the notices for the Mandatory Meeting as well. We also delete the duplicative paragraph D, since the Proxy form requirement is already in paragraph C.
#7
For: 1,019 – 87.24%
Against: 149 - 12.76%
Article I – Objective
Was: The objective and purpose of the MCRC shall be to support the objective and policies of the County, State and National Republican Committees; work for the election of Republican Party candidates; promote political education to all Republican Party workers and promote loyalty to the Republican Party.
Becomes: The objective of the MCRC is to uphold the principles and policies as set forth in the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Republican Party Platform. We will promote the political education of all Republican Party workers and loyalty to the Republican Party platform. We will also support the election of our party candidates who uphold the principles and policies as set forth in the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Republican Party Platform.
REASONS OF SUPPORT:
We are responding to a chorus of voices asking that we beef up the Objectives of the MCRC, that we expand, and make clearer, the definition of our Party’s values, and that we add language that reminds our elected officials that they too share responsibility for defending those values, and that merely showing up with an “R” next to their name was no longer sufficient to command automatic loyalty from the grassroots of the Party.
The Bylaws Committee, and then the EGC, both worked very hard to massage all of the ideas and inputs we received into a paragraph that would honor all of these requests, without creating a Gordian knot that would entangle PCs and/or elected officials who were acting and performing in good faith.
#8
For: 961 81.58%
Against: 217 18.42%
Article II, Section 2, D
NOTE: The changes are made within the last two sentences, so to be as clear as possible, we are not reprinting the entire (and very large) paragraph, but just the last two sentences.
Was: If both the Precinct Captain and the District Chairman fail to appoint PCs to fill vacancies, the MCRC Chairman shall give thirty (30) days written notice to the District Chairman of his intention to make a recommendation for appointment of a specific person. Should the District Chairman not offer a name for the proposed appointment by the next EGC meeting, the MCRC Chairman may make the recommendation of appointment.
Becomes: If both the Precinct Captain and the District Chairman fail to appoint PCs to fill vacancies, the MCRC Chairman shall give fifteen (15) days written notice to the District Chairman of his intention to make a recommendation for appointment of a specific person. Should the District Chairman not offer a name for the proposed appointment within the next fifteen (15) days, the MCRC Chairman may make the recommendation of appointment.
REASONS OF SUPPORT:
Under the current rules, it can take more than two months to get a PC application for a new PC approved. This is much too long, especially as a new recruit is likely to lose interest if he/she is not involved as quickly as possible. Under the revisions, the process is reduced to no longer than one month.
#9
For: 988 – 85.84%
Against: 163 – 14.16%
Article III, Section 3, F, 2
Was: Disburse funds only upon order of the MCRC Chairman, or in his absence, the Vice-Chairman acting in his stead. (All checks shall be signed by the treasurer or his appointed representative and countersigned by the MCRC Chairman or his appointed representative, who shall not be the treasurer’s representative. The authorized representative of the chairman and the treasurer shall be a member of the MCRC),
Becomes: Disburse funds only upon order of the MCRC Chairman, or in his absence, the Vice-Chairman acting in his stead. (All checks shall be signed by the treasurer or his appointed representative and countersigned or electronically authorized by the MCRC Chairman or his appointed representative, who shall not be the treasurer’s representative. The authorized representative of the chairman and the treasurer shall be a member of the MCRC),
REASONS OF SUPPORT:
The only change is that we change “countersigned” to “countersigned or electronically authorized”. It has gotten to be cumbersome, and unnecessary, to countersign checks when the technology exists to allow the Chairman to electronically authorize the checks.
#10
For: 1,056 – 90.80%
Against: 107 – 9.20%
Article II, Section 4
Insert a new paragraph, E. Organizational Meetings
If an Organizational Meeting of a District fails to complete its required objectives, the District Chairman shall issue a call for a new Organizational Meeting within five (5) days. Should the Chairman fail to issue this new call, then the County Chairman shall issue a call for a new Organizational Meeting within five (5) days. Should the County Chairman fail to issue this call, then any ten percent (10%) of the PCs residing within the District shall have the authority to call a new Organizational Meeting by issuing a legal call complete with agenda and proxy form, and giving a minimum of ten days notice of the same to each PC within the District, as provided for by law or bylaw. At the new Organizational Meeting, the PCs shall complete any of the required objectives that were not completed at the initial Organizational Meeting.
REASONS OF SUPPORT:
Last year a unique situation transpired wherein an Organizational Meeting was aborted before it conducted any of its business. It was an acrimonious situation and no further meeting was ever called. The end result was that the outgoing LD Chairman was able to appoint the State Committeemen from the LD (rather than have them elected by the PCs) and the district offices were later declared vacant because the terms expired. At that point the County Party had to call a special election for a new Chairman, then that new Chairman had to conduct elections for the remaining offices at a later meeting. This had the effect of delaying the proper organization of the LD for an extra couple of months. This rule has been crafted to deal with this kind of situation in the future.
#11
For: 1,035 – 89.36%
Against: 122 – 10.54%
Article II, Section 4, B
Insert a new paragraph, 10.
Maintain and provide to any PC in the district upon their request, and for district business only, a contact list of the PCs in the district, including any known mailing addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses (should the PC permit the release of their email address).
REASONS OF SUPPORT:
In some districts, PC directories are freely distributed, while in others they are available upon request. However, there are also some districts where the officers or sometimes just one or two officers are the holders of this information, and they do not share it with the PCs in the district. This can create situations that are inequitable, as PCs who want to bring items to the attention of the other PCs do not have a list of the PCs or any contact information for them. If there is something improper going on in a district, if there is an event taking place, or if there is something that a PC wants to pass along to his/her fellow PCs, it is possible that an officer might end up blocking the other PCs from getting these messages by simply refusing to provide the contact information. Similarly, a PC might decide to run for Chairman of an LD, but end up in a race against a Chairman who does not share the list of, or contact information for, the PCs in the district. The playing field can become very tilted very quickly. This addition does its best to guarantee equal access for all PCs.
SUBMITTED, DECEMBER 4th, 2010
Constantin Querard, Chairman
2010 MCRC Bylaws Committee
View this file in PDF format:
2010 MCRC Mandatory Meeting Bylaws ~ Results.
