1. The name of the organization shall be Guadalupe County Livestock Producers Organization (GCLPO).
2. The organization is non-profit.
The following are the purposes for which this organization has been organized:
1. To promote and market local livestock and agricultural products by contracting and negotiating with prospective buyers in order to receive the best possible price.
2. To improve the livestock genetics to meet the buyer’s demand from the meat industry.
3. To preserve the practices of the small farmer/rancher which giant corporations and new government regulations are threatening.
4. To produce and promote county-bred show calves for the county fair.
The organization encourages membership by all
Section 1. Rights and Privileges of Organization Membership. A member in good standing has the following basic rights and privileges:
1. To receive notices
2. To attend meetings
3. To present motions
4. To speak on debatable questions
5. To vote
6. To nominate
7. To be a candidate for office
8. To inspect official records of the organization
9. To insist on the enforcement of the rules of the organization
10. To resign from an office or from the organization itself
11. To be treated with fairness and equality by other members of the organization
12. To have a fair hearing before expulsion or other penalties are applied
13. To receive or have the right to inspect an up-to-date copy of the constitution, bylaws, charter, rules, and minutes of the organization
14. To participate in any function directly or indirectly associated with the Organization.
15. To receive the Organization Newsletter and to have the right to submit articles, letters to the editor and other personal opinions without prejudice or censorship, so long as any comments so made are not intentionally defamatory toward another fellow member, or jeopardize the character or integrity of the Organization.
16. To exercise any other rights or privileges given to members by the law, by the bylaws, or by the rules of the organization
17. To utilize the Organization’s web site with equal rights and privileges as all other members.
Section 2. Applying for membership:
(a) A
Section 3, Termination of Membership. A membership may be terminated in the following ways:
(a) Resignation. A member in good standing may voluntarily terminate his membership in the Organization at any time by submitting his resignation in writing to the Organization’s Membership Chair. The Membership Chair shall submit a copy of the resignation to the Organization’s Corresponding Secretary and shall keep the original for his files.
(b) In Arrears. A member who fails to pay his annual dues in a timely manner shall be considered lapsed and will be terminated. Such a member is not considered to be in good standing with the Organization.
A member who has either resigned or been terminated by lapsing may reapply for membership as a new member. A member who has been expelled may not reapply unless the members, after a thorough examination of such case agree to allow him/her to reapply. The Organization members reserve the right to refuse the right to reapply or may allow him/her to reapply with certain stipulations.
The Organization’s membership dues shall be determined by a two-thirds affirmative vote of the Organization’s members. Dues are payable whenever a producer wishes to begin receiving the Newsletter and using the services of the web site. A membership renewal notice shall be printed in the Winter Organization Newsletters. All Organization dues are to be sent directly to the Organization’s Secretary/Treasurer. A new member who has joined the Organization during the months of September, October, November or December shall be considered automatically paid up for the next year.
Section 1. Organization officers.
President.
The President, also known simply as the “Chair,” shall be the chief officer and shall open and preside over all meetings of the Organization. The President shall take the chair and call all members to order at the appointed time of the meeting(s). He shall ascertain that at least ten members, including officers, are present at the beginning of and throughout all meetings. He shall announce the business before the assembly in the correct order; state and put all questions to vote, make sure that all motions are in order; assign the floor to members by announcing their names before the assembly, (that is, by “recognizing” them); If he/she deems it necessary he/she shall enforce all rules and regulations of the assembly including the rules of debate; maintain order and decorum, respond to parliamentary inquiries, points of order, and any other motions that require action by the chair; maintain his impartiality; and declare the assembly recessed or adjourned. The President shall have at hand the Bylaws, the parliamentary authority, the rules of order, standing rules and any other documents necessary to facilitate the transaction of Organization business. The President shall, when necessary, authenticate by his signature any documents relevant to the assembly. He shall represent the assembly, declaring its will and obeying its command in all matters and regards. The President does not normally participate in debate and, if he wishes to do so, shall relinquish the chair to the Vice-President. The President has the right to vote in Organization matters, as does every other member and officer. However, he does not usually exercise the vote unless it is by secret ballot or when one more vote will alter the outcome. The President shall appoint an auditing committee at least once annually, to examine the Treasurer’s books and vouchers for veracity.
(b) Vice-President.
The Vice-President shall assume all responsibilities of the President in the event of the death, incapacitation, resignation, expulsion or absence of the President. In these instances, he cannot decline -- he becomes the President. If the President must relinquish the chair for personal reasons or because he wishes to participate in debate, the Vice-President takes the chair until the President can return. When the Vice-President is presiding in place of the President, he is addressed as President and is assigned all the powers, duties and responsibilities of the President. If the President is going to be absent from a meeting, the Vice-President takes the chair and the President cannot designate otherwise. The Vice-President may have further authority as granted by these Bylaws and by the Board. He may also be a member of and/or preside over all committees.
(c) Treasurer/Secretary.
The duties of the Secretary/Treasurer are many and varied. At meetings, the Secretary/Treasurer sits next to the President and takes the roll of the members. In the absence of both the President and the Vice-President, the Secretary/Treasurer presides over meetings or calls the roll and then conducts an election of a chairman pro tem to preside. The Secretary/Treasurer is required to keep current, accurate copies of all organizational documents, (including the Bylaws, rules of order and standing rules); file reports noting date of presentation and disposition; issue written notices of meetings and certain motions, including motions to amend the Bylaws and send them for distribution to the membership; prepare a written agenda for the presiding officer, provide and sign copies (originals are kept by the President) of organizational documents; record and keep the meeting minutes; make the meeting minutes and all organizational documents available for the inspection of the membership during meetings and at other such reasonable times; and update the organization’s web site as necessary regarding minutes, membership, and other relevant news items. The Secretary/Treasurer keeps and provides the President with lists of all committees and their chairs. In the absence of the Secretary/Treasurer, a secretary pro tem should be elected from the available members. The Secretary/Treasurer is responsible for reading the minutes at the start of all meetings. When the minutes are approved, he/she signs the minutes, marking them as approved. If there are any changes or corrections, the Secretary/Treasurer makes the necessary adjustments, signs them, and marks them as approved with corrections. The minutes must be published in the Organization Newsletter and should be signed by both the Secretary/Treasurer and the President. The Secretary/Treasure shall check in, verify and count all proxies at the annual meeting. At the close of this meeting, he shall take possession of all ballots and proxies and file them in the official Organization records.
The Secretary/Treasurer also serves much like a banker -- holding and keeping track of Organization funds deposited with him and paying them out on the orders of the organization signed by the President or Vice President if the President is not available. He/she keeps a bank account for checking in the name of the Organization and promptly pays all bills on behalf of the Organization. The Treasurer should give periodic (at least quarterly) written reports on the financial state of the Organization. These should be published in the Organization Newsletter. Reports usually consist of the beginning balance for a given period, the sources and amounts of income during the period, the purposes or payees and amounts of the disbursements during the period, and the balance on hand. His/her books must be open to inspection by the membership and by the Board at all times during meetings and at other such times as deemed reasonable. The Secretary/Treasurer gives a report on the state of the Organization’s finances at every general meeting or Board meeting. The Treasurer should be careful to get a receipt whenever he/she makes a payment. He should insist on at least a once yearly audit of the books and receipts. All receipts should be kept in order to facilitate audits. Once the auditor or auditing committee has examined the receipts, records and bank statements and has approved them as complete and correct, the Secretary/Treasurer is relieved from the responsibility of the past.
·Election of Officers and Terms of Office.
The Organization officers shall be elected by secret ballot vote at the last meeting of the year. The following Organization officers shall be elected and shall serve a term of three years: President, Vice-President, Secretary /Treasurer. There shall be no limit on the number of consecutive terms a given officer may serve, elected and installed. Upon election of his successor, each retiring officer shall turn over all Organization property, money, records and related documents pertaining to the office to the newly elected officer either immediately or within thirty (30) days of the election. Failure to do so may result in disciplinary action or even dismissal from the Organization.
(a) Nominations. Any member in good standing is eligible to nominate officers for election. All candidates are required to submit a written notice to the Organization of their intention to run for office at least four months prior to the date of the election – Candidates will be announced on the fourth quarter newsletter and posted on the web site in a timely manner.
(b) Vote Necessary To Elect. Election of Organization officers is strictly by majority secret ballot vote and the candidate receiving the majority of the legal votes cast for a given office is elected.
Article V - Amendments of the Bylaws.
The Organization’s bylaws shall be revised by the a quorum of members present at the first annual meeting and if a majority of the members deem it necessary to amend any part of the bylaws, it will be put to a motion, if motion passes the Secretary/Treasurer will record the changes and presents them to be approved by the following meeting.
The Organization will publish a quarterly Newsletter. The publishers are strictly volunteers from within the members. The newsletter should reflect educational, informative and inspiring information related as much as possible to livestock production and livestock marketing.
Article VI - Meetings.
·Section 1. Order of Business for Organization Meetings.
A set, regular order of business is usually followed but a reasonable amount of flexibility is allowed by these Bylaws. The usual order of business for regular Organization meetings shall be as follows:
1. Call to order
2. Roll call
3.
4. Reports of officers
5. Report of the Executive Committee
6. Reports of the Board and standing committees
7. Reports of special committees
8. Reading of Organization correspondence
9. Business arising out of correspondence
10. Unfinished business
11. New business
12. Election of officers
13. Announcement of elected officers
14. Any special announcements by officers or members
15. Adjournment
16. Any special, planned program or social event or discussions of interest to Organization members
(a) Reading of the Minutes. The Chair shall direct the Secretary to read the minutes of the previous meeting. After the minutes have been read, the Chair should ask if there are any corrections to the minutes. If there are none, the Chair declares the minutes approved as read. If there are any corrections and if there is a difference of opinion on them, the Chair conducts a vote on the corrections before the minutes are approved. The reading of the minutes may be postponed to a later time during the meeting or to a subsequent meeting during a later meeting or in a special meeting by general consent of the members present at the meeting. After adjournment, the meeting minutes must be published in the Organization web site.
Section 2. Debate.
The right to participate in discussions on any matter or item of business is one of the fundamental rights of membership. Debate is regulated by parliamentary law in order to assure that every member has an equal opportunity to be heard. A motion is a proposal that is submitted to the assembly for its consideration and disposition. Motions are divided into the following classifications:
1. Fully debatable -- those motions that may require an unlimited amount of discussion before a vote is taken.
2. Not debatable -- those motions that must be voted on immediately, such as the motion to close debate.
3. Debatable with restrictions -- motions in this category restrict debate to a brief time only and to specific points.
Fully debatable motions are: main motions, the motion to rescind, to appeal, and to amend (unless this is applied to a non-debatable motion or forbidden by these Bylaws). There are five motions that are debatable with restrictions: the motions to recess, to postpone definitely, to refer to a committee, to limit debate and to reconsider. All other motions are non-debatable. As soon as a debatable motion is presented, each member who wishes to speak on it may do so after he has obtained the floor. The rules of debate must be observed at all times and no one person or group should be allowed to monopolize the discussion. Debate should be impersonal and all discussion should be directed to the Chair rather than to other members. Discussion should be restricted to the motion at hand. When all members who may wish to speak have done so or when it appears that no further discussion is required, the Chair should ask whether there is anyone else who wishes to speak. If not, then the Chair should put the question to vote. Debate is formally and completely closed by the announcement of the vote.
Section 3. Informal Consideration.
It is allowable to have an informal discussion before the proposal of a motion. This is useful in cases where the assembly wishes to investigate a problem more carefully before actually making a motion to vote or to take some other action. The normal rules of debate usually do not apply to an informal discussion, thus allowing members to come to a clearer course of action. There is more freedom in the length of speeches and in the number of members who may actively have the floor. If no motion is pending, a motion to discuss a certain topic informally may be presented. If a motion is already being considered, the motion to consider the pending motion informally is an incidental motion. If it carries, the pending motion is considered informally while discussion occurs. When the assembly is ready to vote on the original motion, this vote automatically terminates the informal discussion and the original motion is considered and voted on under the normal rules of debate. A motion to end the informal discussion can also terminate informal discussion.
This non-profit organization may be dissolved at any time by the written consent of not less than two-thirds (2/3) of the voting membership, or by operation of the law. In the event that the Organization is dissolved, whether voluntary or involuntary, any monies remaining in the Organization’s treasury shall be used to pay any outstanding debts incurred by the Organization. All remaining funds are to be donated to the Guadalupe County Fair Board or as a scholarship to students interested in post-secondary education in agriculture.
This organization is first and foremost,
an independent and non-profit organization. The mission of the
organization is to organize the local livestock producers to address problems
concerning the livestock industry, to share ranching ideas and experiences in
raising and marketing livestock in
Approved April 10, 2007
President____________________________________________