Bylaw Committee Meeting, 10 October 2002

The Bylaw Committee met on Saturday, October 10, 2002, 3:10 p.m., at the office of the Local, 2725 Hollywood Boulevard.  Present: Chairman Jeff Apana, Kurt Hagen, Katrenna Johnson, Tony Toran, and Scott Whitney.

The minutes of the October 5th meeting were approved as distributed by email.

Scott Whitney suggested the following minor format changes:

  • Add “Affiliations” to the heading of Article I
  • Article VII, Section 2., (b), 2., strike, “act” and insert, “serve”
  • Article VIII, Section 2., strike, “Federation”
  • Article X, Section 2., insert, “Membership” after “Special”

The changes were adopted by unanimous consent.

Continuing with Proposed Article IX - Nominations and Elections

The wording of proposed Article IX, Section. 5. Elections, (e) (installation of officers), was adopted by unanimous consent.

Discussion of automatic election to office if there is only one nominee.

Discussion of the method of choosing the alternate delegate.

Discussion of reducing the size of the executive board.

Chairman Apana moved to insert language in the bylaws to allow automatic election if there is only one nominee for an office.  After discussion, the motion was lost.

A motion by Chairman Apana to add to proposed Article IX, “Section 6. Special Elections” was adopted by unanimous consent.  Later, Chairman Apana moved to strike, “Special Elections” and insert, “Filling Vacancies in Offices.”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Kurt Hagen moved to add to proposed Article IX, Section 6., “(a) A vacancy in any office shall be filled at a special membership meeting as follows:”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

The following was added to proposed Article IX, Section 6. (a) by unanimous consent:  “1. The Executive Board shall call a special membership meeting within 45 days of the vacancy in an office for the purpose of filling the vacancy, and any other business that may arise.”

Scott Whitney moved to add to proposed Article IX, Section 6., (a), “2. Members shall receive written notice of the special membership meeting at least 30 days in advance.  The notice shall state the time, date, location, and purpose of the special membership meeting.” The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Scott Whitney moved to add to proposed Article IX, Section 6., (a), “3. Nominations for the vacant office shall be taken at the special membership meeting from the floor, followed by a ballot vote.” The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Scott Whitney moved to add to proposed Article IX, Section 6., (a)  “4. A plurality vote shall elect the new officer.”  After discussion, the motion was lost.

Scott Whitney moved to add to proposed Article IX, Section 6., (a), “4. The newly elected officer shall be installed, and shall take office, immediately after the vote.” The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Chairman Apana moved to add to proposed Article IX, Section 6., “Vacancies occurring within 90 days of the end of a term shall be filled by the Executive Board.”; to label it as “(a)”; and to label the procedure for filling a vacancy occurring more than 90 days from the end of a term as “(b)”. The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Chairman Apana moved to amend proposed Article IX, Section 6., “(b) A vacancy in any office shall be filled at a special membership meeting as follows:” by substituting the following:  “(b) Vacancies occurring more than 90 days before the end of a term shall be filled at a special meeting as follows:”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Article X – Meetings

Scott Whitney moved to substitute for Article X, Section 4., the following, “The Executive Board shall be responsible for acting on business not covered in a regular membership meeting due to the lack of a quorum.  The Executive Board may not decide questions of officer remuneration, duties of officers, changes in the Bylaws, or any other question requiring more than a majority voice vote.”  After discussion, the motion was adopted.

A motion by Scott Whitney to strike Article X, Section 5., was adopted by unanimous consent.

Scott Whitney moved to substitute for Article X, Section 6., the following: “The order of business for regular membership meetings shall be:

(a)    Roll Call of Officers

(b)   Reading and Approval of Minutes

(c)    Reports of Officers, Boards, and Standing Committees

(d)   Report of Special Committees

(e)    Special Orders

(f)     Unfinished Business and General Orders

(g)    New Business

(h)    General Good and Welfare

(i)      Announcements”

Kurt Hagen moved to amend by striking, “Orders” in (e) and (f) and substituting “Business.”  After discussion, the motion was adopted.

Proposed Article XI – Committees

By unanimous consent, Section 1., (a) of proposed Article XI was made to read as follows: “Standing committees shall be appointed by the Executive Board and shall be:”

Chairman Apana moved to amend proposed Article XI, Section 1., by moving (b) Orchestra Committees, to a separate section.  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Proposed Article XI, Section 1., “(a) Symphonic Musicians Committee: This committee shall be composed of one member from each orchestra having a collective bargaining agreement with the Local, plus two additional at-large members. This committee shall be in charge of reviewing matters of interest to musicians playing symphonic engagements.” was adopted by unanimous consent.

Proposed Article XI, Section 1., “(c) Recording Musicians Committee: This committee shall be in charge of reviewing matters of interest to musicians playing recording engagements.” was adopted by unanimous consent.

Proposed Article XI, Section 1., “(d) Casual Musicians Committee: This committee shall be in charge of reviewing matters of interest to musicians playing casual engagements.” was adopted by unanimous consent.

Proposed Article XI, Section 1., (e) was amended to read: “Education/Recruitment Committee: This committee shall be in charge of educating musicians about the object of the Local and recruiting new members.”  It was then adopted as amended.

The name of the Public Relations/Media Committee was changed to the Public Relations Committee by unanimous consent. (proposed Article XI, Section 1., (f)) 

Proposed Article XI, Section 1., “(g) Wage Scale Committee: This committee shall be in charge of reviewing, and recommending changes to the wage scale.” was adopted by unanimous consent.

Proposed Article XI, Section 1., “(h) Bylaw Committee: This committee shall be in charge of reviewing, and recommending changes to the bylaws.” was adopted by unanimous consent.

Proposed Article XI, Section 1., (i), was amended to read, “Organizing Committee: This committee shall be in charge of organizing collective bargaining units.”  It was then adopted as amended.

Chairman Apana moved to amend proposed Article XI, by adding, “Section 2. Special committees shall be appointed by Executive Board.”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

By unanimous consent, proposed Article XI, was amended by adding, “Section 3. Orchestra Committees:  The Local shall recognize orchestra committees elected by the members of symphony orchestras under the Local’s jurisdiction.  Such committees shall serve as liaison between the orchestra players and the Local.”

The next meeting of the Bylaw Committee is Monday, October 14th, 3:00 p.m.

The meeting adjourned at  6:05 p.m.