Ballot Information, PRO Candidate Statement, Ballot

InformationPertaining to North American Guild of Change Ringers – 2014 Term Ballot

This ballot contains the opportunityto vote on different proposals to make changes to our governing documents. All three proposals developed subsequent tothe Peal Secretary not crediting two peals to the Guild in March 2012. TheGuild Constitution states that, "A peal shall be credited to the Guildonly if: 11.1 all member of the band are Guild Members, and at least half areResident Members;." Note that thisrequirement is clearly stated in the present tense.

Over some period of time it wasrecognized that occasionally participants in peals were late in payment oftheir dues, or had joined as of the date of the peal. The Peal Secretary felt that a uniformapproach which would allow some leeway in treating such situations wasappropriate. The Peal Secretarydeveloped procedures and parameters to determine that a peal could be creditedto the Guild. The Guild's ExecutiveCommittee had concurred with what she had developed.

The procedures and parameters usedwere that if membership issues (such as lapsed dues payers, or new members)existed, the Peal Secretary notified the conductor, and required that suchissues be resolved by payment of dues within 10-days of the notification. In the two cases of the disallowed peals dueswere received subsequent to the 10-days. In both cases the checks were dated about a week after the 10-day limit. The Executive Committee supported thedecisions to not credit the peals to the Guild. It can also be noted that, in the case of members who have recentlylapsed in dues payments, the Secretary (Membership), frequently supported bythe local tower coordinators, provide multiple prompts to pay dues.

With concerns over this matter expressedby a number of the Guild members, the Executive Committee considered that,rather than continue with the procedures developed by the Peal Secretary,provisions should be included in the Guild's governing documents. The Executive Committee proposed aConstitutional amendment at the 2013 Annual General Meeting (AGM.) After discussions and changes the AGMapproved the amendment below for inclusion on this year's General ElectionBallot. Subsequent to the AGM DonMorrison advocated that details of this nature were more appropriate to theBy-Laws. Bob Aldinger (Treasurer andtherefore member of the Executive Committee) agreed that inclusion of suchdetails should be in the By-Laws rather than the Constitution. Both of them submitted proposed By-Laws changesto the Executive Committee, which approved placing both proposals on theBallot. Thus, three alternatives forchanges to our governing documents appear on the Ballot. Each of the alternatives is presented within this document withsupporting statements for each.

A Constitutional amendment requires support of 2/3 ofvotes cast for adoption. A By-Lawschange requires support of 1/2 of votes cast for adoption.

1. Amendment to the Constitution, proposed and passed at the 2013 AGM. To amend paragraph 11 of the Constitution as follows:

11.Peals

Apeal shall be credited to the Guild only if:

11.1all members of the band are Guild Members, and at least half are ResidentMembers. Any payments owed by the bandmust be postmarked or received electronically by the Secretary (Membership) nolater than 14 calendar days after the peal is rung.

11.2Complete details of the peal, including the composition, have been received bythe Peal Secretary no later than 30 days after the peal is rung.

Supporting rationale: This proposal receivedoverwhelming support at the AGM (about 65 members present.) It follows the format of the currentConstitution with the incorporation of specific time frames dealing withmembership, and with submission of peal information. It allows 14 days after the peal to resolvemembership issues and 30 days to submit details of the peal to the PealSecretary. Effectively the 14 days toresolve membership issues is similar to the previous practice. Since in almost all cases peals are organizedin advance, opportunities exist in advance to meet the membershiprequirements. In the case of a newmember (perhaps a non-resident of North America) participant this provides timeto get membership information and dues to the Secretary (Membership). With some leeway this supports theConstitutional requirement that membership exists at the time of the peal.

1. Amendment to By-Laws proposed by Bob Aldinger and endorsed by the Executive Committee

To paragraph 8.5listing duties of the Peal Secretary add sub paragraph:

8.5.1 For a Peal to be credited to theGuild, Paragraph 11 of the Constitution requires that all participants areGuild Members, and at least half are Resident Members. Any new membership data, and any duespayments owed by participants must be postmarked or received electronically bythe Secretary (Membership) no later than 30 calendar days after the peal isrung.

Supporting rationale: This addition dealsspecifically with the time frame allowed to resolve membership issues, whichwas the source of friction following the disallowed peals. Wording is similar to that advocated by anumber of those present to the AGM. Iagree with Don Morrison that this guidance should be in the By-Laws,"Broadly, the constitution addresses the goals of the Guild and thefundamental principles that govern its operation; while the by-laws provideguidance by which the Guild is to function, the lower level details of how tomeet its goals and operate within its fundamental principles." Both of the other proposals requiresubmission of peal details within a certain period of time. While submission of peal details is importantin recognizing the peal, I do not consider that an otherwise valid peal shouldnot receive credit to the Guild because of any period of delay in thissubmission. In any case delays insubmission have not been an issue, and because of the desire to notify othersof the accomplishment, I think it unlikely that delays in submission of pealdetails will become an issue. Therefore,I do not support the inclusion of a time limit on submission of pealdetails. I consider that specificguidance concerning membership is needed in the By-Laws because theConstitution expects current membership for a peal to be credited to the Guild,yet some degree of leeway is needed to allow for lapses, and many considercrediting as a Guild Peal to be very important. Thirty days provides more than adequate time to resolve any membershipissues, and places responsibility to resolve such matters on the participantsin the peal. Further, more liberal timeallowances could easily lead to not dealing with the matter in a timelymanner. While the Secretary (Membership)works with more generous time frames in supporting continuity of membership,this more stringent provision pertaining to peals is appropriate as theConstitution expects current membership when crediting a peal to theGuild.

1. Amendment to the By-Laws proposed by Don Morrison.

- Section 10, Rules of Order, isrenumbered to be Section 11.

- A new section 10 is inserted asfollows

10. Peals

A band ringing a peal for the Guildshould ensure that details, including the composition used, are received by thePeal Secretary, and that any dues in arrears are paid, as soon as possibleafter the performance. If such mattershave not been resolved within four months after the performance the ExecutiveCommittee may, at its discretion, decide not to credit the peal to the Guild.

Supportingrationale:

Members are being presented with an unfortunately complex,competing set of amendments to the constitution and by-laws on this ballot. Asof the time of this writing I believe there are expected to be three suchproposals. I urge Guild members to vote for the proposed amendment to theby-laws stipulating the four month time frame, but against the proposedamendment to the constitution, and against the proposed amendment to theby-laws with the 30 day time frame. I so urge them for two reasons: (1) theproposed amendment to the constitution is ill-drafted, as such stipulationsproperly belong in the Guild's by-laws, not its constitution; and (2) heshorter timeframes stipulated are too short, are inconsistent, and do nothingto advance the goals of the Guild.

The Guild's defining documents were completelyrewritten in themid-1980s, with a great deal of careful thought and effort. Onemajor outcome was a sensible, deliberate division into a constitution andseparate by-laws. Broadly, the constitution addresses the goals of the Guildand the fundamental principles that govern its operation; while the by-lawsprovide guidance by which the Guild is to function, the lower level details ofhow to meet its goals and operate within its fundamental principles. Forexample, the constitution simply states that there will be an annual election;it is the by-laws that stipulate when it is to be held, when and for how longnominations for offices are open, and the minimum length of time members musthave to return their ballots.

Clearly things like the maximum time frames associatedwith reporting peals or paying fees properly belong in the by-laws, not in theconstitution.

The timeframes stipulated in the proposedamendment to the constitution, as well as one of the proposed amendments to theby-laws, are also too short. Yes, when reporting peals we should alwaysendeavor to be prompt. I believe we, the Guild's members, almost always are,and should feel embarrassed on those rare occasions when we fail to be. Butoccasionally mistakes happen. As the Guild exists to support and encourageNorth American ringing, it should work to minimize the damage such mistakescause. Having short time limits, which are punitive in requiring the rejectionof peals if there are mistakes, instead works to maximize the damage. In whatway do short, punitive time limits help promote ringing in North America? Theydon’t.

The proposed amendment to the constitutionitself recognizes that the proposed 14 day time limit is too short. Itinconsistently allows more time for reporting the peal itself. Ironically,reporting the peal, for which more time is allotted, is actually the task lesslikely to be overlooked by mistake as it can be done entirely electronically,without hunting down a checkbook, envelope and stamp. Also, the personsubmitting the report may not even know that money is due until so told by thePeal Secretary. With the inconsistent timeframes this can easily lead to theKafkaesque result of having to pay the money before you know it is due. Yes,submitters should endeavor to know ahead of time the state of everyone's dues,but if they fail to be quite that organized, how does penalizing the band, anddisassociating the Guild from ringing done on its behalf, benefit NorthAmerican ringing? It doesn’t.

In addition, both the 14 day and the 30 day timelimits of the two shorter proposals are inconsistent with the Guild's ownbehavior in handling dues. When dues in arrears are collected, they are appliedretroactively back at least to the beginning of the quarter in which they werepaid. Thus, if a peal is rejected because of late payment of dues with one ofthese shorter time limits, the Guild may still be applying the money to theperiod during which the peal was rung; if the Guild collects money formembership for members it should at least extend the benefits of thatmembership for the full period to which it applies those dues. Indeed, the twoincidents that have resulted in all these proposed amendments being put forwardfalls into exactly this case: the ad hoc rejection of two peals because twomembers dues were in arrears. If you look at the Guild's own official record,its Annual Report, those two ringers are listed as active, fully paid upmembers at the dates of the respective peals. If the Guild is going toretroactively apply late dues, it is clearly wrong to deny members theirbenefits for the periods for which those dues are paid.

As stated above, the Guild should be working tominimize the damage done if someone makes a mistake. The proposed amendment tothe by-laws with a four month time frame encourages members to be prompt, butseeks to minimize the damage if the inadvertently fail to be. While rejecting apeal even after four months does nothing advance North American ringing, such atime limit does seem a reasonable compromise with those who believe thereshould be some fixed period to ensure closure. It should also be noted that theproposed amendment with the four month time frame does not require therejecting of peals, it merely allows it. This provides some further flexibilityif some as yet unforeseen circumstances necessitate it, a further opportunityto minimize the damage of mistakes.

All three proposed amendments, and theunfortunate confusion of having dueling amendments presented together, areresponses to the turmoil within portions of the Guild over two peals rejectedlast year. These rejections have led to the loss of at least three Guildmembers of long standing who have contributed mightily to the growth of ringingin North America. Each had been a member of the Guild for at least a decade,and collectively they represented over seventy years of membership. I have beenin over two hundred peals rung for the Guild that contained at least one ofthem; likely they have been in well over twice that number total, peals that ifrung now could no longer be rung for the Guild. The band at one of our newesttowers, which has made enormous strides, was trained by one of these nowdisaffected ringers. This is a rift we should be working hard to heal.

Putting into place an appropriate section of theby-laws dealing with time periods for submitting peals, with appropriately longgrace periods, might work to heal this rift. But the two proposed amendmentswith short time frames will likely do exactly the opposite, and intensify therift instead of healing it.

I urge Guild members to ratify the proposedamendment to the by-laws with the four month time frame, and reject the twoproposals with shorter time frames.

CANDIDATE’SSTATEMENT

I am delighted to be able to offer myself as a candidate forPublic Relations Officer. Over the past 40 years I have had innumerableoccasions to help organizations manage Press Relations, and to appear on Radio,TV and the pages of various newspapers as a spokesperson for thoseorganizations. From my time working at a newspaper I have learned what makes apress release "Zing!", and what can cause a press release to end upin a copy editor's trash can.

My hopes for this position will be two-fold:

Toprovide a set of templates that can be used for your own PR activities, andalso to do what I can to improve the visibility (to create the visibility?) ofringing at a national level. Trinity has already made a modest start towardsthis, when we participated in a BBC/PBSseries called Getting to Now (More details closer to air-time).

I look forward to working with towers on ways that we canget the word out on our most distinctive hobby, and attract new ringers.

TonyFurnivall