Article I, Name and Objects
Section 1. The name of
the Club shall be the German Wirehaired
Pointer Club of America, Inc.
Section 2. The objects
of the Club shall be:
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To do all possible
to bring the natural qualities of
the German Wirehaired Pointer to
perfection;
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To urge members and
breeders to accept the standard of
the breed as approved by the
American Kennel Club as the only
standard of excellence by which
German Wirehaired Pointers shall be
judged;
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To do all in its
power to protect and advance the
interests of the breed by
encouraging sportsmanlike
competition at dog shows, field
trials and obedience trials;
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To conduct
sanctioned and licensed specialty
shows, field trials and obedience
trials under the rules of The
American Kennel Club.
Section 3. The Club
shall not be conducted or operated for
profit and no part of any profits or
remainder or residue from dues or
donations to the Club shall inure to the
benefit of any member or individual.
Section 4. The members
of the Club shall adopt and may from
time to time revise such By-laws as may
be required to carry out these objects.
Article
II, Membership
Section 1. Eligibility
Section 2. Dues. Single
membership dues and family membership
dues shall be set by the Board of
Directors. A 2/3 affirmative vote of the
Board of Directors shall be required to
change the dues. Dues are payable on or
before the 1st day of January of each
year. No member may vote whose dues are
not paid for the current year. During
the month of November, the Treasurer
shall send to each member a statement of
dues for the ensuing year.
Section 3. Election to
Membership. Each applicant for
membership shall apply on a form as
approved by the Board of Directors and
which shall provide that the applicant
agrees to abide by these Constitution
and By-laws and the rules of the
American Kennel Club. The application
shall state the name, address and
occupation of the applicant.
Accompanying the application, the
prospective member shall submit a $5.00
initiation fee and the dues payment for
the current year. Applicants may be
elected at any meeting of the Board of
Directors or by written vote of the
Directors by mail. Affirmative votes of
2/3 of the Directors present at a
meeting of the Board or of 2/3 of the
entire Board voting by mail shall be
required to elect an applicant. An
applicant who has received a negative
vote by the Board may at the request of
the applicant be present at the next
annual meeting of the club, and the
membership may elect such applicant by a
favorable of the 75% of the members
present.
Section 4. Termination
of Membership. Membership may be
terminated:
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By resignation. Any
member in good standing may resign
from the Club upon written notice to
the secretary; but no member may
resign when in debt to the club.
Dues obligations are considered a
debt to the Club and they become
incurred on the first day of each
fiscal year.
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By Lapsing. A
membership will be considered as
lapsed and automatically terminated
if such member's dues remain unpaid
90 days after the first day of the
fiscal year; however, the Board may
grant an additional 90 days of grace
to such delinquent member in
meritorious cases. In no case may a
person be entitled to vote at any
Club meeting whose dues are unpaid
as of the date of that meeting.
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By expulsion. A
membership may be terminated by
expulsion as provided I Article VII
of these Constitution and By-laws.
Article
III, Meetings
Section 1. Club
Meetings. The annual meeting of the Club
shall be held in conjunction with the
combined National Events. Notice of the
time and place of the meeting shall be
included in the Wire-News immediately
preceding the month of August, OR be
sent to each member by first class mail
no later than 45 days prior to the
meeting. The quorum for the annual
meeting shall be 10% of the club members
in good standing. Items must be placed
on the agenda of the annual meeting that
are received by the Secretary 30 days
prior to the meeting. The annual
elections shall be conducted by mail
apart from the annual meeting in
accordance with procedures described
Article V.
Section 2. Special Cub
meetings. Special Club meetings may be
called by the President or by a majority
vote of the members of the Board who are
present at a meeting of the Board or who
vote by mail, or by the Secretary upon
receipt of a petition signed by five
members of the Club who are in good
standing. Written notice of such meeting
shall be mailed by the Secretary at
least 15 days and no more than 30 days
prior to the meeting. The notice of the
meeting shall state the time, meeting
place and purpose of the meeting and no
other Club business may be transacted.
The quorum for such meetings shall be
10% of all Club members.
Section 3. Board
meetings. Meeting of the Board of
Directors shall be held at such times
and places as are designated by a
majority vote of the entire Board.
Written notice of each such meeting
shall be mailed by the Secretary to each
member of the Board at least 10 days
prior to the date of the meeting. Quorum
for such a meeting shall be a majority
of the Board voting in person or by
mail.
Section 4. The Board in
lieu of a meeting may conduct its
business by mail through the Secretary.
Article
IV, Directors and Officers
Section 1. Board of
Directors. The Board shall be comprised
of the President, Vice-President,
Secretary, Treasurer and three
directors, each Director to be residents
of a different club region. All shall be
elected for two years from among the
members in good standing, as provided in
Article V of these By-laws. No one shall
serve more than one Board position at
the same time. The Board of Directors
shall be responsible for general
management of the Club's affairs.
Section 2. Duties. The
President, Vice-President, Secretary
Treasurer and three Regional Directors
shall serve in their respective
capacities both with regard to the Club
and its meetings.
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The President shall
preside at all meetings of the Club
and of the Board, and shall have the
duties and powers normally
appurtenant to the office of
President in addition to those
particularly specified in this
Constitution and By-laws.
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The Vice-President
shall have the powers and exercise
the duties of the President in case
of the President's death, absence or
incapacity.
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The Secretary shall
keep a record of all meetings of the
Club and of the Board and of all
votes taken by mail, and of all
matters of which a record shall be
ordered by the Club. He shall have
charge of the correspondence, notify
members of meetings, notify officers
and directors of their election to
office, keep a roll of the members
of the Club with their addresses and
carry out such other duties as are
prescribed in the Constitution and
By-laws.
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The Treasurer shall
collect and receive all moneys due
or belonging to the Club and receipt
therefore. He shall deposit the same
in a bank satisfactory to the Board,
in the name of the Club. His books
shall at all times be open to
inspection of the Board and he shall
report to them at every meeting the
condition of the club's finances and
every item of receipt of payment not
before reported; and at the annual
meeting he shall render an account
of all moneys received and expended
during the previous fiscal year. He
shall have charge of membership
records and shall notify all new
members of their acceptance. The
Treasurer shall be bonded in such an
amount, as the Board of Directors
shall determine.
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One director shall
represent each of three regions. The
regions shall be defined as the
eastern (Eastern Time zone), Central
(Central time zone) and Western
(Mountain and Pacific time zones).
He should encourage the formation
and growth of local clubs within his
region and act as an advocate
between the Club members within his
region and the GWPCA.
Section 3. Vacancies.
Any vacancies occurring on the Board of
Directors shall be filled by a majority
vote of all the then members of the
Board, except that a vacancy in the
office of President shall be filled
automatically by the Vice-President and
the resulting vacancy in the office of
Vice-President shall be filled by the
Board. At the next annual election, the
membership will elect a duly nominated
candidate for any remaining unexpired
term created by that vacancy.
Article
V, The Club Year, Elections
Section 1. Club Year.
The Club's fiscal year shall begin on
the 1st day of January and end on the
31st day of December. The Club's
official year shall coincide with its
fiscal year.
Section 2. Annual
Meeting. At the annual meeting or at
special meetings of the Club, voting
shall be limited to members in good
standing.
Section 3. The election
of Officers and Directors (and Delegate
to the American Kennel Club who may, but
need not be, a Director or Officer of
the Club) shall be conducted by ballot.
Ballots to be valid must be cast by mail
postmarked prior to November 15 in each
year. Ballots shall be counted by an
independent professional firm as
designated by the Board of Directors and
the results announced not later than
November 25 in each year. If any
nominee-elect is unable to serve for any
reason, such nominee-elect shall resign
and the vacancy so created shall be
filled the new Board of Directors in the
manner provided by Article IV, Section
3.
Section 4. Nominations.
No person may be a candidate in a Club
election who has not been nominated in
accordance with these By-laws. A
Nominating Committee shall be chosen by
the Board of Directors before June 1 in
each year. The Committee shall consist
of five members in good standing, no
more than one of which shall be a member
of the current Board of Directors. The
Board shall name a chairman for the
Committee. The Nominating Committee may
conduct its business by mail.
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The Nominating
Committee shall nominate from among
the members of the Club in good
standing who are residents of the
United States of America, one
candidate for each office and for
the Delegate to the American Kennel
Club and shall procure the
acceptance of each nominee so
chosen. A candidate for Regional
Director must reside in the region
he will represent. The Committee
shall then submit its slate of
candidates to the Secretary before
July 1,who shall have the slate
printed in the Wire-News prior to
August, or if no issue is
forthcoming, the list shall be
mailed to each member of the Club
not later than August 15 in each
year via first class mail so that
additional nominations may be made
by the members if they so desire.
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Additional
nominations may be made by written
petition addressed to the Secretary
and received at his regular address
not later than September 15 in each
year, signed by five members and
accompanied by the written
acceptance of each such additional
nominee signifying his willingness
to be a candidate.
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If no valid
additional nominations are received
by the Secretary on or before
September 15, the Nominating
Committee's slate shall be declared
elected and no balloting will be
required.
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If one or more valid
additional nominations are received
by the Secretary on or before
September 15, he shall, on or before
October 1, mail to each member in
good standing a ballot listing all
of the nominees for each position in
alphabetical order. So that the
ballot may remain secret, each shall
be marked by the voter and sealed in
a blank envelope, which in turn is
placed in a second envelope bearing
the name of the voter. The
inspectors of election shall check
the returns against the list of
members in good standing prior to
removing the blank envelopes and
shall certify the eligibility of the
voters as well as the results of the
voting.
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Nominations cannot
be made at the annual meeting or in
any manner other than as provided
above.
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No more than two
officers, with the exception of the
office of President, shall be
elected from the same region.
Regional Directors shall not be
considered officers.
Article
VI, Committees
Section 1. The Board may
each year appoint standing committees to
advance work of the Club in such matters
as dog shows, field trials, obedience
trials, trophies, annual prizes,
membership and other fields which may
well be served by committees. Such
committees shall always e subject to the
final authority of the Board. Special
committees may also be appointed by the
Board to aid it on particular projects.
Section 2. Any committee
appointment may be terminated by a
majority vote of the full membership of
the Board upon written notice to the
appointee, and the Board may appoint
successors to those persons whose
services have been terminated.
Article
VII, Discipline
Section 1. American
Kennel Club Suspension. Any member who
is suspended from the privileges of the
American Kennel Club automatically shall
be suspended from the privileges of this
Club for a like period.
Section 2. Charges. Any
member may prefer charges against a
member for alleged misconduct
prejudicial to the best interests of the
Club or of the breed. Written charges
with specifications must be filed in
duplicate with the Secretary together
with a deposit of $10.00 which shall be
forfeited if suchcharges are not
sustained. The Secretary shall promptly
send a copy of the charges to each
member of the Board or present them at a
Board meeting, and the Board shall first
consider whether the actions alleged in
the charges, if proven, might constitute
conduct prejudicial to the best
interests of the Club or the breed. If
the Board considers that the charges do
not allege conduct, which would be
prejudicial to the best interests of the
Club or the breed, it may refuse to
entertain jurisdiction. If the Board
entertains jurisdiction of the charges,
it shall fix a date of a hearing by the
Board of a committee of not less than
six weeks thereafter. The Secretary
shall promptly send one copy of the
charges to the accused member by
registered mail together with a notice
of the hearing and an assurance that the
defendant may personally appear in his
own defense and bring witnesses if he
wishes, or (a) that he respond in
writing, so long as his response is
received by the Secretary prior to the
hearing or (b) he may send a
representative to speak in his behalf.
Section 3. Board
Hearing. Should charges be sustained,
after hearing all the evidence and
testimony presented by conplaintant and
defendant, the Board may by a majority
vote of those present suspend the
defendant from all privileges of the
Club for not more than six months from
the date of the hearing, or until the
next annual meeting if deems that
punishment insufficient. It may also
recommend to the membership that the
penalty be expulsion. In such case, the
suspension shall not restrict the
defendant's right to appear before his
fellow members at the ensuing annual
meeting, which considers the Board's
recommendation. Immediately after the
Board has reached a decision, its
finding shall be put in written form and
filed with the Secretary. The Secretary,
in turn, shall notify each of the
parties of the Board's decision and
penalty, if any.
Section 4. Expulsion.
Expulsion of a member from the Club may
be accomplished only at the annual
meeting of the Club following a Board
hearing and upon the Board's
recommendation as provided in Section 3
of this Article. The defendant shall
have the privilege of appearing in his
own behalf though no evidence shall be
taken at this meeting. The President
shall read the charges and the Board's
findings and invite the defendant, if
present, to speak in his own behalf. The
meeting shall then vote by secret
written ballot on the proposed
expulsion. A 2/3 vote of those present
at the annual meeting shall be necessary
for expulsion. If expulsion is not
voted, the Board's suspension shall
stand.
Article
VIII, Amendments
Section 1. Amendments to
the Constitution and By-laws and breed
standard may be proposed by the Board of
Directors or by written petition
addressed to the Secretary and signed by
twenty percent (20%) of the membership
in good standing. Amendments proposed by
such petition shall be promptly
considered by the Board of Directors and
must be submitted to the members with
recommendations of the Board by the
Secretary for a vote within three (3)
months of the date when the petition was
received by the Secretary.
Section 2. The
Constitution and By-laws may be amended
at any time, provided a copy of the
proposed amendment has been mailed by
the Secretary to each member accompanied
by a ballot on which he may indicate his
choice for or against the action to be
taken. The notice shall specify a date
not less than 30 days after the date of
mailing by which date the ballots must
be returned to the independent
professional firm determined by the
Board of Directors. Voting to amend any
part of the Constitution and By-laws
shall take place by mail. The favorable
vote of 2/3 of the responding members in
good standing shall be required to
effect any such amendment.
Section 3. The Breed
Standard may be amended only in
accordance with the following
procedures:
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Any proposal to
amend the Breed Standard received by
the Secretary shall be reviewed by a
Breed Standard committee appointed
by the Board of Directors.
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The Breed Standard
Committee shall report its
recommendations on such proposal(s)
to the Officers and Board of
Directors, which group shall also
review the proposals(s) and report
its recommendations to the
membership.
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A favorable vote of
2/3 of the responding members in
good standing shall be required to
effect any such amendment to the
standard of the breed. Voting shall
be conducted in accordance with the
procedures used to amend the
Constitution and By-laws (Article
VIII, Section 2).
Section 4. No amendment
to the Constitution and By-laws or Breed
Standard shall become effective until it
has been approved by the Board of
Directors of the American Kennel Club.
Article
IX, Dissolution
Section 1. The Club may
be dissolved at any time by the written
consent of not less than 2/3 of the
members. In the event of the dissolution
of the Club other than for purposes of
reorganization, whether voluntary or
involuntary, or by operation of law,
none of the property of the club nor any
proceeds thereof nor any assets of the
Club shall be distributed to any members
of the Club, but after payment of the
debts of the Club its property and
assets shall be given to a charitable
organization for the benefit of dogs,
such organization to be selected by the
Board of Directors.
Article
X, Order of Business
Section 1. At meetings
of the Club, the order of business, so
far as the character and nature of the
meeting may permit, shall be as follows:
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Roll call
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Minutes of last
meeting
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Report of Board
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Report of President
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Report of Secretary
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Report of Treasurer
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Report of Committees
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Presentation of
Awards
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Unfinished Business
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Election to
membership
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New Business
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Adjournment
Section 2. At meetings
of the Board, the order of business,
unless otherwise directed by majority
vote of those present, shall be as
follows:
Section 3. Subject to
these Constitution and By-laws, all
business of the Club shall be governed
by Robert's Rules of Order, Revised.
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