The following 8 bylaw proposals are being sent forward to the General Assembly for voting upon on July 30, 2018 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
A bylaw must receive a two thirds majority approval to be adopted and goes in to effect immediately upon approval. The proposal numbers correspond with the original numbers presented to the teams. 1 was withdrawn, 2 failed to pass out of committee, which had 22 team representatives in attendance. Here are the remaining 8 for consideration. No Rules passed out of the committee.
Any NBBA member in good standing will be allowed to vote, as in one person, one vote.
Respectfully submitted by Janet Leonard, Committee Chair
Proposal #1
ARTICLE V: OFFICERS, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, POWERS, AND ELECTION/APPOINTMENT
Currently reads:
SECTION A: DUTIES
President:
The President shall conduct all special and regular meetings of the NBBA, shall serve as chair of the Board of Directors, shall establish all committees pursuant to the By-Laws, and shall sit as ex-officio member of all but the Nominating Committee, shall be responsible for all employees of the NBBA, and with the approval of the Board of Directors, shall be responsible for the selection and dismissal of said employees.
Change to:
SECTION A: DUTIES
President:
The President shall conduct all special and regular meetings of the NBBA, shall serve as chair of the Board of Directors, shall establish all committees pursuant to the By-Laws, and shall sit as ex-officio member of all but the Nominating and Ethics and Discipline Committees, shall be responsible for all employees of the NBBA, and with the approval of the Board of Directors, shall be responsible for the selection and dismissal of said employees.
proposal #3
ARTICLE VII: STANDING COMMITTEES
Addition: add the following paragraph at the end of this section.
Ethics and Discipline Committee
The president shall appoint an ethics and discipline committee to review submitted ethics violations, and make recommendations for further action to the NBBA board.
The make up of this committee will conform to the following rules:
- The committee will have a minimum of seven members, all of whom must be current NBBA members in good standing.
- No NBBA officer can serve on this committee.
- A maximum of 3 NBBA directors may serve on this committee.
- There cannot be more than one committee member from any given NBBA team.
Bylaw Proposal #4
SECTION F: FEES currently reads:</h3
Tournament entry fees shall be dispersed in the following manner:
- One-third of the entry fee to the John Ross Endowment Fund.
- One-third to the NBBA Tournament Fund to be specifically controlled by the Tournament Committee.
- One-third to the NBBA general fund.
All teams must remit the tournament entry fee (the amount for the upcoming year to be determined by the NBBA Tournament Committee and announced at the Awards Ceremony) by the 1st of July of the tournament year to the Secretary of the NBBA.
Change to:
SECTION F: FEES
Tournament entry fees shall be dispersed in the following manner, when financially feasible after the expenses of the current year’s World Series have been paid::
- One-third of the entry fee to the John Ross Endowment Fund.
- Two-thirds to the NBBA Tournament Fund to be specifically controlled by the Tournament Committee.
All teams must remit the tournament entry fee (the amount for the upcoming year to be determined by the NBBA Tournament Committee and announced at the Awards Ceremony) by the 1st of July of the tournament year to the Secretary of the NBBA.
PROPOSAL #6
Currently reads:
ARTICLE V: OFFICERS, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, POWERS, AND ELECTION/APPOINTMENT
The officers of the NBBA shall consist of a President, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Terms of the President, First Vice President, Second Vice President and Secretary shall be two (2) years commencing at the time of election. The Treasurer shall be appointed by the President with the approval of the majority of the Board of Directors and shall serve until such time he/she chooses to resign or a majority of the Board of Directors relieves the Treasurer of his/her position. The Treasurer shall serve as an ex-officio officer and shall have a vote on the Board of Directors. The officers of the NBBA shall perform the usual functions of the office as described in Robert’s Rules of Order in addition to those set forth in these By-Laws. All proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order, except where otherwise specified in these By-Laws.
Change to:
ARTICLE V: OFFICERS, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, POWERS, AND ELECTION/APPOINTMENT
The officers of the NBBA shall consist of a President, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Terms of the President, First Vice President, Second Vice President and Secretary shall be two (2) years commencing at the time of election. No candidate for an elected Executive Board position (President, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Secretary) may run without having served at least one term on the Board of Directors. The Treasurer shall be appointed by the President with the approval of the majority of the Board of Directors and shall serve until such time he/she chooses to resign or a majority of the Board of Directors relieves the Treasurer of his/her position. The Treasurer shall serve as an ex-officio officer and shall have a vote on the Board of Directors. The officers of the NBBA shall perform the usual functions of the office as described in Robert’s Rules of Order in addition to those set forth in these By-Laws. All proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order, except where otherwise specified in these By-Laws.
PROPOSAL #7
Currently reads:
ARTICLE XII: Tournament, Tournament Committee
SECTION C: TOURNAMENT COMMITTEE COMPOSITION
The Tournament Committee shall consist of the President, First Vice President, Secretary, the head umpire, one (1) optional representative of the host city, and two (2) members-at-large not from the host city. The latter three members are appointed by the Chair of the Tournament Committee.
The Treasurer shall serve as an ex-officio member.
The two members-at-large can serve as long as the chair desires, as long as the member-at-large is a dues paying member of the NBBA, and attends, in person, at least one regularly scheduled physical meeting of the Tournament committee in any consecutive two year period.
Change to:
Article XII:
SECTION C: TOURNAMENT COMMITTEE COMPOSITION
The Tournament Committee shall consist of the First Vice President (Chair), President, Secretary, Treasurer, Head Umpire & 3 members-at-large. The latter three members are appointed by the Chair of the Tournament Committee.
The 3 members-at-large</mark class=”red-highlighter”> can serve as long as the chair desires, as long as the members-at-large are dues paying members of the NBBA, and attend, in person, at least one regularly scheduled physical meeting of the tournament committee in any consecutive two year period.
PROPOSAL #9
Currently reads:
ARTICLE V:
SECTION B: BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Board of Directors shall consist of:
The current officers of the NBBA
The immediate past President of the NBBA
The Head Umpire
ten (10) Members-at-Large.
The terms of 9 of these Members-at-Large shall be for three (3) year terms. The remaining Member-at-Large position shall be reserved for a 1 year term for a Regional Vice President of the Telephone Pioneers of America and shall be appointed by the Executive Director of the Telephone Pioneers.
Officers of the NBBA may serve as many consecutive terms as they are nominated for and elected to; however, no Director may serve more than two (2) full consecutive terms. (Filling in for an unexpired term does not count.) No member of the Board of Directors shall receive compensation from the NBBA as an officer or Director. Officers and Directors may be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred in the exercise of their duties, at the discretion of the Board of Directors. No employee of the NBBA shall be eligible for election to any office of the NBBA. A vacancy in any office will be filled by the Board of Directors for the intervening time until the next annual meeting; the vacancy shall then be filled by election for the unexpired term of the office. The Board and all policy making committees must be made up of at least a simple majority of legally blind athletes.
Changed to:
ARTICLE V:
SECTION B: BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The 16 member Board of Directors shall consist of:
The current executive officers of the NBBA (President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President, Secretary) (via 2 year terms, unlimited)
The Treasurer (by appointment)
The immediate past President of the NBBA
The Head Umpire (by appointment)
Nine (9) Members-at-Large
The terms of the 9 Members-at-Large shall be for three (3) year terms.
Officers of the NBBA may serve as many consecutive terms as they are nominated for and elected to; however, no Director may serve more than two (2) full consecutive terms. (Filling in for an unexpired term does not count.) No member of the Board of Directors shall receive compensation from the NBBA as an officer or Director. Officers and Directors may be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred in the exercise of their duties, at the discretion of the Board of Directors. No employee of the NBBA shall be eligible for election to any office of the NBBA. A vacancy in any office will be filled by the Board of Directors for the intervening time until the next annual meeting; the vacancy shall then be filled by election for the unexpired term of the office. The Board and all policy making committees must be made up of at least a simple majority of blind or visually impaired athletes.
Proposal #10
Currently reads:
ARTICLE V: OFFICERS, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, POWERS, AND
ELECTION/APPOINTMENT
The officers of the NBBA shall consist of a President, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Terms of the President, First Vice President, Second Vice President and Secretary shall be two (2) years commencing at the time of election. The Treasurer shall be appointed by the President with the approval of the majority of the Board of Directors and shall serve until such time he/she chooses to resign or a majority of the Board of Directors relieves the Treasurer of his/her position. The Treasurer shall serve as an ex-officio officer and shall have a vote on the Board of Directors. The officers of the NBBA shall perform the usual functions of the office as described in Robert’s Rules of Order in addition to those set forth in these By-Laws. All proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order, except where otherwise specified in these By-Laws.
Change to:
ARTICLE V: OFFICERS, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, POWERS, AND
ELECTION/APPOINTMENT
The officers of the NBBA shall consist of a President, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Terms of the President, First Vice President, Second Vice President and Secretary shall be two (2) years commencing at the time of election. The Treasurer shall be appointed by the President with the approval of the majority of the Board of Directors and shall serve until such time he/she chooses to resign or a majority of the Board of Directors relieves the Treasurer of his/her position. The Treasurer shall serve as an ex-officio officer and shall have a vote on the Board of Directors. Anyone with a code of ethics or major bylaw infraction within 1 year is ineligible to run for 3 years if holding a current board of director position, or seeking election to the board. Any previous incident prior to the enactment of this bylaw will not be considered.
The officers of the NBBA shall perform the usual functions of the office as described in Robert’s Rules of Order in addition to those set forth in these By-Laws. All proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order, except where otherwise specified in these By-Laws.
SECTION C: ELECTIONS
The Officers and Members-at-Large of the Board of Directors shall be elected at the annual meeting of the membership of the NBBA. Officers shall be elected by a majority vote of the membership. Members-at-Large of the Board of Directors shall have one (1) ballot for the full term positions and one (1) ballot, if necessary, for the unexpired term positions. One (1) vote shall be taken, for each member in good standing, for the number of Members-at-Large equal to the number of positions open. The top vote-getters in each category shall be elected to serve in those positions. Anyone with a code of ethics or major bylaw infraction within 1 year is ineligible to run for 3 years if holding a current board of director position, or seeking election to the board. Any previous incident prior to the enactment of this bylaw will not be considered.
Terms for Members-at-Large of the Board of Directors shall commence upon the culmination of elections.
Proposal #11
Addition to: Article VII: Standing Committees
Vision Committee:
The President shall appoint a Vision committee in order to establish a roster of all members in good standing who meet the criteria of the vision policy prior to any NBBA sanctioned event. At least half of the Vision Committee shall consist of members in good standing who are qualified to interpret vision reports from medical personnel.