In 2001 the board formed a Membership Committee to propose policies related to the classification of members. Its recommendations were presented in August, 2001 and adopted by the board and membership in October, 2001.
As new rules are developed for determining voting members, the criteria for quorum may need adjusting.
General Meetings are the meetings at which Voting Members make decisions. They have traditionally been scheduled on the first Tuesday of the month from 19:00 to about 19:20.
The following policies are active.
30% [A1,R1] of Voting Members in good standing shall constitute a quorum at any meeting. [A1]
If within 20 minutes from the time appointed for a meeting a quorum is not present, the meeting [A1] may be [A1,R2] adjourned to the same day of the next week, at the same time and place, and if at the adjourned meeting a quorum is not present within 20 minutes the Members present shall constitute a quorum. [A1]
The following alternative policies have been proposed. They are not active.
Quorum shall be 50% of Voting Members in good standing. [A2,R1]
Meetings without quorum must be rescheduled for the next week. No choice. [R2,A2]
[A1] current Special Resolution 2001-10-02 Motion X:
Moved that clause 15 of the Bylaws be struck and replaced with the following clauses:
15.1/ 30% of Voting Members in good standing shall constitute a quorum at any meeting.
15.2/ If within 20 minutes from the time appointed for a meeting a quorum is not present, the meeting may be adjourned to the same day of the next week, at the same time and place, and if at the adjourned meeting a quorum is not present within 20 minutes the Members present shall constitute a quorum.
[A2] past Bylaw clause 15:
[R1] Quorum should be set to a percent that will normally be achieved. 30% was chosen based on estimates made in 2001-08. 29 members were estimated to qualify as Voting Members based on the requirements listed in the proposed policy. Typically we can expect 10 Voting Members to be in attendance. 30% of 29 is 9.
[R2] When quorum cannot be regularly achieved, it may be necessary to invoke this clause. In other circumstances it may be appropriate to simply postpone any business to the next regularly scheduled meeting. By saying "may be" there is a choice. The original Bylaws did not give a choice.