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By-Laws
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A total club membership shall be computed as of December 1st of each year.
The term of office of a member club delegate shall be two years unless:
1. During his/her term of office, he/she is replaced by his sponsoring club. The Council must receive notice of such replacement signed by the president and one other officer of his/her club.2. His/her sponsoring club is suspended or expelled by the Council. In this event, a member delegate who serves as officer, board member or committee member may be allowed to continue in his/her position upon a vote of approval by the Board of Directors, i.e., The President belongs to a member club.
Member clubs may assign one alternate per delegate, their term of office and replacement being the same as for delegates. Unless a replacement, the term of office for delegates and alternates shall start on January 1st in each odd numbered year.
B. Individual Contributing Members - Open to persons interested in aiding the Council in the pursuit of its stated goals.
C. Business and Professional Members - Open to experienced horsepersons, breeders, representatives of the horse industry, professional horsepersons and others who have an interest in the Connecticut horse industry and in aiding the Council in its objectives. Business and professional members may serve on Council committees.
D. Governmental and Technical Advisors - Membership shall be comprised of representatives from each of the following governmental offices, and others as voted by the Council, for two year terms.
1. Connecticut Department of Agriculture.2. University of Connecticut, Extension Horse Specialist.
3. Other advisors as deemed necessary or appropriate by the Board.
Governmental and Technical Advisors will be welcome to speak at all meetings of the Council. They may not hold office and do not pay dues.
E. Statewide Youth Organizations interested in horses, exclusively for persons 21 years or younger, with a membership of 100 or more, may join the Council and be represented by one delegate or alternate and may be represented by an adult representative. Membership in the statewide youth organization shall in no way effect membership in the Council by individual clubs within that organization.
F. Life members - These members are acknowledged by the Board of Directors and shall be listed as a type of membership who do not pay dues and do have full voting privileges.
All of the above memberships, A - F, shall be placed upon the Council mailing list for the receipt of notice of any pertinent emergency matters and all other Council mailings as decided by the Council.
V. DUES for all classes of membership shall be determined by the Board of Directors. Dues shall be payable by January 1st for the current year. Members should be billed by December 1st. Second notice should be given by January 1st. The clubs in arrears by the March meeting shall have the voting privileges of their delegate(s) suspended until their dues are paid. The Council may order any membership in arrears dropped from the rolls and thereupon they will forfeit all rights and privileges of membership.
VI. THE FISCAL YEAR of the Council shall cover the period from January 1st to December 31st.
VII. THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, hereafter referred to as "the Board", shall be comprised of the Officers of the Council, the Chairman of the Board and six Directors elected by the Council. The Board shall transact such emergency business as may need attention between regular meetings of the Council. The Board will oversee all expenditures of the Council in excess of $200.
VIII. COUNCIL OPERATIONS - Council decisions and activities may be the responsibility of the voting body of a Council meeting or the Board of Directors unless otherwise covered by the Bylaws contained herein.
IX. VOTING PRIVILEGES shall be defined by the bylaws and are a prerogative of the Board of Directors. Voting members shall be delegates, individual, business and professional members, members of the Board and lifetime members. With the exception of Advisors who are not Council delegates, and who may not vote, all categories of membership may vote at Council meetings.
X. THE OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS of the Council must be elected from the five categories of membership as defined in ARTICLE III, Sections A, B, C, E, and F. Their term of office shall run for two years starting on June 1st in each odd numbered year.
During April of odd numbered years, the President shall appoint a Nominating Committee of at least three members which shall nominate candidates for office. Council members shall be notified of the candidate's names at least two weeks prior to the June meeting at which the following officers shall be elected.
A. The President shall preside at meetings of the Council. He/she shall appoint all Committee chairs and perform all other duties usually assigned to this office.If the outgoing President has held office for at least one year, he/she shall become Chairman of the Board and shall hold this office until succeeded by the next outgoing President. He/she may attend all Council, Board and Committee meetings. His/her major job as Chairman of the Board shall be to provide continuity of leadership. Any Chairman of the Board who is unseated from his position by any process regulated within these Bylaws may automatically become a member of the Board of Directors if he/she chooses until the next annual election.
The Chairman of the Board may be displaced by a three-quarter's vote of the entire Board of Directors. A replacement will be voted into the chairmanship by the Board of Directors.
B. The Vice Presidents:
1. The First Vice President2. The Second Vice President
3. The Third Vice President
The Vice Presidents shall, in the absence of the President, perform all the duties of the President. They shall be assigned duties by the President, including the supervision and coordination of committees, and shall be responsible to the Council for the functioning of the various Committees.
C. The Secretary(ies) - The Council may have one or more Secretaries as deemed necessary who shall be elected by the Board of Directors to perform all duties usually assigned to this office. The title(s) and duties shall be determined by the President.
D. The Treasurer shall receive and keep records of all monies, debts, obligations, etc. of the Council and shall have the authority to sign checks and make disbursements upon the approval of the Board of Directors, President, or two other officers for the purpose of meeting the financial obligations of the Council. He/she shall enter a complete financial report as requested by the President at each meeting.
XI. CLUB RESIGNATIONS AND REPLACEMENT OF DELEGATE OFFICERS - If an officer's member club resigns from the Council or replaces him as its delegate, he shall remain in office for the remainder of his term with full voting privileges, conditional to the approval of the Board.
XII. VACANCIES - When a vacancy occurs in any elected office, the President shall appoint a Nominating Committee which shall nominate for that office. Council members shall be notified of vacancies and of a candidate's name at least two weeks prior to the next Council meeting, at which a vote of the membership will be held regarding the candidate. Elective vacancies must be filled by members with voting privileges. Such appointment shall continue until the regular biennial election.
XIII. COMMITTEES - The President shall appoint annually, or as deemed necessary, the following committees and their chairmen and such other committees as may be deemed necessary. In addition to the Chairman of each committee, he/she may appoint a Vice Chairman who shall be responsible to the Council for the functioning of the Committee. The Chairman shall be responsible to the Council with the Vice Chairman acting in the Chairman's absence.
Council Committees will be:
a. Trails
b. Legislative
c. Zoning
d. Road Safe
e. Publicity and Marketing
f. Membership
g. Education
h. Animal Welfare
XIV. MEETINGS - The Council shall meet a minimum of three times each year. The meetings of the Council and/or the Board shall total a minimum of nine each year. The President shall call and designate an Annual Council Meeting each year.
Attendance of delegates at Council and committee meetings shall be reported with regular Council mailings, such as the Council newsletter, or published in equine periodicals as designated by the Board.
Notice of all regular meetings of the Council shall be mailed, or published in equine periodicals as designated by the Board. Special meetings of the Council may be called by the President or by ten members in good standing by means of a written request to the Secretary, to be announced at least two weeks in advance.
All Council meetings shall be conducted by Robert's Rules of Order unless specified otherwise in these Articles.
XV. A QUORUM at a meeting of the Council shall consist of twelve (12) voting members voting in person. A quorum at a meeting of the Board shall consist of five members of the Board, voting in person.
XVI. HEARINGS - The Council may censure, suspend or expel any member or officer or request any member club to replace its delegate(s) for conduct prejudicial to the best interests of the Council providing that:
A. A statement of charges shall have been sent by registered mail to the member or officer under charges not less than two weeks prior to the meeting where the final action shall take place. If a member is a delegate, his club president must be notified.B. The member shall have the right to answer the charges at the meeting advised in such notice, to bring witness and to be represented by counsel, as shall the Board of Directors.
C. The hearing shall be before the Board.
D. A decision is reached by a majority of the Board, whose decision shall be final.
E. Charges must be made in writing. A registered letter to be sent by the Board of Directors shall include the charges as written, and the hearing date.
XVII. DISSOLUTION - In the event of the Council's dissolution, all of its remaining assets and property shall be paid over to a Connecticut education, charitable or non-profit organization whose purposes or aims are as nearly identical to those of the Council as is reasonably possible.
XVIII. AMENDMENTS - Any of these Articles may be amended or repealed by voting members present and in person, providing that the proposed amendment or repeal is published or indicated in a meeting notice. However, the provisions in Article XVII of these Bylaws shall not be amended or repealed.