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Information Access

Comments have been made in relation to the SNU bylaws that express concern about SNU member input and access. It has been suggested that the SNU does not keep its membership informed on issues impacting the Unit and that members don’t have an opportunity to provide input. That decisions are made by just a few people. These comments include:

“While it is expedient to make references to updates and changes to the WBCCI documents in your documents in the manner you have done so, does anyone in your Unit keep track of those updates and changes so as to conduct your Unit’s business and actions accordingly?

“ If someone were to look at your document online, thinking about becoming a member, how would they know whether they qualified or not, since they are referred to Article IV of the WBCCI Constitution?”

“ In operations, could 3 people (majority of the Executive Board-President not voting) make all the decisions for the Unit with no input from the Members? ”

“I will have to study them (the SNU bylaws) carefully to insure that they are consistent with International CBLs and do not abridge the rights guaranteed to members by them. “

There are numerous problems with these ideas. First the SNU unit officer positions were taken directly from the suggested bylaws template in WBCCI policies. The SNU board includes all the primary officer positions - the President, Secretary, and Treasurer. These positions form the executive committee. The executive committee is charged with handling all the routine matters of the Unit. Member input through a formal vote or other means is sought for all non routine matters. This pattern is also exactly the same as that used by the WBCCI International Board of Trustees. The basic functions and lines of communication are exactly the same. The only difference is in the number of board positions. The SNU has less members and therefore requires less board positions to fulfill the necessary and “fixed” functions of a governing board. The pattern of the board of both the SNU and the WBCCI IBT and the basics of how they function are accepted as standard for most organizations, clubs, and associations.

If anyone is abusing the “rights of members” it is WBCCI leadership for delving into specifics as to how the SNU functions and how it communicates with its membership. This is beyond their scope of duties as outlined in WBCCI policies. Those functions are for the actual members of the SNU to determine.

With a little research is is very clear that the SNU has always included the entire membership in any discussions and decisions regarding the Unit and that members have always been asked to provide input, suggestions, ideas, and opinions. The whole premise behind this section of the website is specifically to provide all pertinent information regarding the bylaws issues to any member, potential member, or anyone else who chooses to review the documents posted here. Documentation in this section of the website and elsewhere fully supports the open communications policies of the SNU. For example, the bylaws submission log includes a list of the dates of SNU newsletters that included some mention of the bylaws. Those newsletters can be found in the SNU history section of the website.

Another concern that seems to come up frequently from the CBL is that the SNU members might not have access to the SNU bylaws or pertinent parts of the WBCCI bylaws. Therefore they won’t know how to become a member. They won’t be able to read through these documents and know what the basic governance policies of the organizations are.

A key element of the SNU bylaws is that they are condensed to the fixed requirements and key elements as outlined in the WBCCI bylaws for such Unit documents. This makes them easy to read, easy to understand, and easy to find whatever information you are looking for. The SNU bylaws are publicly available on the SNU website. They are prominently linked to on the home page of the SNU as well as on other key pages throughout the website. This makes access to them as well as to supporting documents very easy and convenient. Any time a member or potential member chooses to review those documents , they can easily do so. Feedback and suggestions are always welcome.

The SNU website probably provides the most comprehensive access to Unit governance information of any Unit within WBCCI. In addition to the bylaws, the SNU provides a host of other information including Op Notes, membership information, rally and activity information, and SNU history. To say that SNU members do not have access to information is an absurd fallacy. There are also links on the SNU website to WBCCI and to Region 12.

Over the years, the SNU has never received any comments or concerns from potential members that they couldn’t find out how to join or what the SNU was all about. In fact, the opposite is true. The SNU has received numerous comments from people who joined because of what they found exploring the SNU website. To date, there have never been requests from members or potential members wanting to review the bylaws of either the SNU or WBCCI so they could learn about membership and about the clubs before the decided to join.

Also see: Bylaws Submission log -|- Member communications -|- Bylaws communications with members

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