MHAHA Bylaws

 

Article I.  Name

This organization shall be known as the Minnesota Half-Arabian Horse Association (MHAHA).

Article II.  Purpose

The purpose of this organization shall be:

1.        To promote the Half/Anglo-Arabian and Arabian horse as a healthy activity for all ages.

2.        To obtain the maximum enjoyment of owning and riding Half/Anglo-Arabian and Arabian horses through associated activities with other Half/Anglo Arabian and Arabian horse owners and their families.

3.        To provide and promote horse shows and other related activities to show case the Half/Anglo-Arabian and Arabian horse.

4.        To promote activities in which all members can participate and enjoy, with special emphasis on education and youth activities.

5.        To promote a better understanding of our Half/Anglo Arabian and Arabian horses, their care, training and capabilities.

6.        To promote good sportsmanship at all times.

7.        To promote safety at all times through proper behavior and training of both horses and riders.

Article III.  Structure

Section 1.  This association shall be a non-profit organization whose members have the sole right to govern and control all activities through their duly elected officials.

Section 2.  This association shall uphold democratic principles and shall conduct their business in accordance with the guidelines established by the by-laws of the International Arabian Horse Association and Region 10 of the International Arabian Horse Association.

Article IV.  Membership

Section 1.  Any person owning a Half Arabian, Anglo Arabian or Arabian horse, or any horse enthusiast is eligible for membership in this association.  Upon payment of dues for the current year, a Certificate of Membership will be issued to the applicant.

Section 2.  Membership shall be of the following types:

1.        Individual Membership – full dues; one association vote, one IAHA membership.

2.        Family Membership – full dues plus one additional IAHA dues; one association vote, two IAHA memberships.

3.        Youth Membership – youth dues; no association vote, one youth IAHA membership.

4.        Associate Membership – association dues only; one association vote, no IAHA membership.

Section 3.  Annual dues will be set by the Executive Board.  Dues shall be payable in advance for each year.  Any member who has not paid dues  30 days after their membership expires shall automatically be dropped from membership.

Section 4.  The Executive Board shall elect a Membership Clerk.  The Membership Clerk shall collect dues and be responsible for membership cards, dues, filing IAHA dues, mailing list distribution and membership recruiting.  The Membership Clerk shall serve a term of two years with no limit on the number of terms.

Section 5.  No person shall be entitled to hold any office or vote on any matter in this Association unless all dues are paid in full.  No person shall be entitled to be nominated for office unless all dues for the subsequent year are paid by November 1 of the current year.

Section 6.  Any Association member who turns in his personal check to the Treasurer and it comes back because of insufficient funds has until the next meeting to make the check good.  If not, he is subject to penalties of up to $50.00 and review by the Executive Board.

Section 7.  A member may resign by submitting a written resignation to the President.  Dues shall not be refunded to any member who has resigned.

Section 8.  A membership is not transferable and shall cease upon the death of a member and/or after delinquency in the payment of dues for a period of sixty days.

Section 9.  A member may be suspended or expelled by two-thirds vote of the Executive Board providing that ten days written notice shall have been given to the member.  If, within the ten-day period, the member requests a hearing before the Executive Board, the membership may be suspended but may not be canceled until the hearing is held.  Upon termination of membership, an expelled member shall not be entitled to a refund of dues.  A member whose membership has been terminated shall have no property right or interest in the property of the Association.

Article V.  Meetings

Section 1.  A minimum of eight meetings of this association should be held each year.  These meetings should be held in January, February, April, June, August, October, November, and December.  The date, time, and location will be established by the Executive Board.  The President can make meeting changes if necessary.  Additional meetings may be scheduled as needed.

Section 2.  The President or any three members of the Executive Board may call special meetings of this association or of the Executive Board at any time.  The Secretary shall give reasonable notice to all members of special meetings.  The notice shall include the date, time, and place of the meeting, along with the purpose of the meeting.  Actions at this meeting shall be limited to the stated purpose.

Section 3.  The Executive Board may meet prior to each meeting.  Five Executive Board members shall constitute a quorum.  General members will be welcome at all Executive Board meetings unless the Board has elected to close the meeting by a two-thirds vote.

Section 4.  The Secretary should give notice by mail at least ten days prior to the time fixed for each meeting to all association members.

Section 5.  Executive Board members must maintain seventy-five percent attendance at all required meetings, or may be replaced by a two-thirds vote of the other board members.  The Executive Board may excuse a member for sufficient cause.

Article VI.  Organization

Sections 1.  An Executive Board shall manage the business and affairs of this association.  The Executive Board may delegate to any committee or officer any portion of its powers.

Section 2.  The Executive Board shall be composed of a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and a minimum of four Directors.  The Secretary will take roll call and minutes of the Board meeting.

Section 3.  President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer will be elected for a term of one year.  The term of office shall run from January 1 through December 31. Effort should be made to elect no officer for more than two consecutive terms.

Directors will serve two-year terms.  The term of office shall be for 24 months starting with January 1 following their election.  No Director should hold office for more than two consecutive terms. Each year there will be two Directors elected and the previous President will automatically become a Director to serve until replacement by a new elected Director.

Section 4.  Vacancies in any office will be filled by a majority vote of the Executive Board at the next regular meeting except President, where the Vice President shall fill out the un-expired term until the next regular election.

Section 5.  Votes shall be cast orally, by show of hands, by roll call or by secret ballot.  Voting by proxy shall not be allowed except that all elections of officers, directors, and regional delegate and amendments to by-laws may be by mail ballot.

Section 6.  All voting on vital matters, as determined by presiding officers and /or a majority of voting members of this association attending a general or special meeting, may be by secret ballot at the next meeting.  The Secretary will send out a notice of an impending secret ballot item to all voting members along with the meeting notice.

Section 7.  Robert’s Rules of Order (latest version) should govern all meeting procedures.

Article VII. Officers and Regional Delegates and Duties

Section 1.  (President) The President shall preside at all meetings.  Within the limitations imposed by the by-laws and the Executive Board, the President shall have the general power to conduct and manage the affairs and business of this Association.  The President may appoint such committees, as he feels necessary, to keep the Association active and serve the membership in the best possible manner.  The President may automatically become an ex-officio member of all committees so appointed.  The President shall automatically become Chairman of the Regional Delegates serving as a delegate for the length of his Presidential term.  When his term expires, the President shall serve as a Director on the Executive Board until replaced by a new elected Director.  The President shall serve on the Nominating Committee as outlined in Article VIII, Section 2.

Section 2.  (Vice President) The Vice President will assist the President when called upon and preside at meetings if the President is unable to attend.  The Vice President shall fill out the term of the President if the office is vacated, until the next general election of officers.  The Vice President shall automatically become Chairman of the by-laws Committee.

Section 3.  (Secretary) The Secretary shall keep minutes of all regular and Executive Board meetings and shall inform members of all actions taken by the Executive Board.  The Secretary shall take roll call of the Executive Board at each meeting.  The Secretary shall also inform members of all meetings and other Association activities and shall handle Association correspondence except membership.

Section 4.  (Treasurer) The Treasurer shall receive all membership dues and other monies collected from Association activities and disburse funds in payment of all Association obligations.  All monies shall be deposited in a bank of the Treasurer’s selection and accounts shall be kept in an orderly fashion.  The Treasurer shall make an itemized statement and report the financial condition of the treasury at each regular meeting.  The Treasurer will have the right to audit all sub financial accounts.  A Finance Committee may be appointed by the President and approved by the Executive Board.  The Treasurer will head this committee.

Section 5.  (Directors) Directors shall actively serve on one or more association standing committees.

Section 6.  (Region 10 Delegates) The Minnesota Half Arabian Horse Association shall elect one-half or its designated Region 10 Delegates annually.   The elected delegates shall serve on the Regional Board of Directors for a term of two years.  A Regional Delegate may also be an officer or director of the association.  The delegates shall attend no less than two-thirds of the Regional and membership meetings each year and attend the Regional and National Conventions.  If a delegate will not be able to attend a required meeting, it is the duty of the delegate to notify an alternate to attend.  In the event a delegate in unable to fulfill the attendance requirements, the delegate shall come before the Executive Board, which shall determine if there is need for replacement.

Section 7.  (Newsletter Coordinator) The Newsletter Coordinator shall organize and manage the club newsletter. The newsletter shall have a minimum of four issues per calendar year. The coordinator is responsible for organizing all included information and ensuring that the following information is included: minutes of the previous month’s meeting, announcements of upcoming meetings, and information which is pertinent to the general membership including information required by these by-laws.

Article VIII.  Election

Section 1.  All officers must be voting members in good standing and have been an association member for at least one full year prior to election, including Directors.

Section 2.  A Nomination Committee will nominate candidates for each of the offices of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, candidates for Director, and an appropriate number of Regional Delegates based on membership.  The list of candidates will be distributed to the membership prior to the Nominating meeting.  Nominations from the floor will be accepted at that meeting.

Section 3.  Officers, Directors, and Regional Delegates shall be elected by a plurality vote.  This vote shall be taken by a secret ballot mailed, electronically or otherwise to all members following the nominating meeting.  A return addressed envelope may be included with the ballot.  The mailing may also include short statements provided by the candidates that describe their related experience, reasons for running, objectives for their term in office, or other items the candidates wish to discuss.  This ballot shall be returned by mail to the current Secretary by date specified on the ballot and remain unopened until the ballots are counted at the election meeting.  If there is a tie, a run-off vote will be taken by the membership in attendance at that meeting.  The highest number of votes for the Regional Delegate(s) will determine the delegates, with member(s) having the next highest number of votes becoming the alternate(s).

Section 4.  No Executive Board Member should serve more than two consecutive terms in the same office. Effort should be made to elect new Executive Board Members at least every two years.

Section 5.  There should be a committee appointed by the President to count all ballots.

Article IX.  Committees

Section 1.  The President and/or Executive Board may, at any time, appoint a committee to handle the affairs of any given project.  The duties shall be specified at the time of the establishment of the committee.  The Executive Board may, by majority vote, declare a committee chairmanship vacant because of non-performance of duties and appoint a successor.

Section 2.  All committees shall submit all plans and budgets to the Executive Board for approval.  The Chairman of each committee may give a report to the Executive Board monthly and to the general membership as appropriate during the year.

Section 3.  The following should be standing committees of this association:  Finance, By-Laws, Show Advisory, Promotion, Futurity, High Point

Section 4.  The President shall appoint standing committee members for a two-year term, with the exception of the Show Advisory Committees.  The Show Advisory Committee appointments are due at the August meeting.  All other standing committee appointments are due at the February meeting.

Section 5.  The Finance Committee should consist of a minimum of three members.  The Treasurer shall chair the committee.  One committee member should not be on the Executive Board.  The committee membership is for one term of two years. The Finance Committee shall review requests for funds that come before the Executive Board.  The Finance Committee shall submit and itemized budget for the subsequent year to the Executive Board by the November meeting.  Once this budget is approved, it will act as the authorization for the disbursement of funds.  Any items over $30, which exceed the budget or are not in the budget, must receive prior approval of a member of Executive Board.

Section 7.  The by-laws Committee shall review the existing by-laws to identify any amendments and to draft any amendments as directed by the Executive Board.  The committee shall review any amendments submitted to the Executive Board, determine their impact and identify other portions of the by-laws that may be impacted by the proposed change.  The Vice President shall head the committee.

Article X.  Amendments

Section 1.  All proposed amendments to the by-laws must be submitted in writing to the Executive Board.  For proposed amendments to be included with the election of officers, they should be received on or before September 1 of each year.  The by-laws Committee will review any proposed amendments and offer suggestions to the Executive Board.

Section 2.  Any proposed amendments will be shall be brought to the floor at a monthly meeting.  Discussion of proposed changes will be held at the next meeting.  Amendments may be included with the ballots for election of officers, directors, delegates, and regional delegates.

Section 3.  The Executive Board must authorize handling a proposed amendment on an extraordinary basis by a two-thirds vote.  The association members must have reasonable notice of the proposed amendment, an opportunity to review the by-laws Committee’s suggestion, and discuss the proposed amendment at a regular or special meeting.  A special mail ballot may be sent to all members in good standing at least fourteen days before the required return date.

Section 4.  The by-laws will be amended by a vote of two-thirds of the attending regular members.

Amended and Presented by:
Jeff Rutz, Vice President.
07 March 2013