Election Committee Procedures, Article V., Section A. says:
"All members of the Project (as defined in USGenWeb By-Laws
ARTICLE IV. MEMBERSHIP) shall be eligible to register to vote and to
vote in any election or poll in which they are a qualified voter."
<
http://usgenweb.org/usgwelections/procedures.htm>
Yet, Bylaw Article VII., Section F., says:
"All members of The USGenWeb Project, excluding Look-Up Volunteers
and Transcribers, shall be eligible to vote."
<
http://usgenweb.org/volunteers/bylaws.shtml>
IOW, the Bylaws imply that Look-up Volunteers and Transcribers are
members, but without voting rights, which would appear to contradict
the EC Procedures.
Project Volunteer and Web Site Standards/Guidelines
<
http://usgenweb.org/volunteers/guidelines.shtml> under Terms says:
"The terms "Coordinator" and "Local Coordinator" are used
throughout
the Bylaws, Standard Rules and Sustaining Rules. Within these
Guidelines "Coordinator" is used to refer to all members of The
USGenWeb Project." So yes, coordinators for the Archives and any
other Special Project are "members" and eligible to vote for the
Special Project Rep to the AB.
The Guidelines also state:
"County Web site = Applies equally to borough, parish, town/city,
township and special state projects and Special Projects web sites."
To my somewhat limited knowledge, no State or Special Project
Coordinator has ever submitted a look-up volunteer or transcriber as
a member of their project. Also AFAIK, there has never been a role
designation for such volunteers. The current list of Role Definitions
in the new EC software is:
SC State Coordinator for XXGenWeb
ASC Asst to the State Coordinator
Co-SC One of two or more individuals who share responsibility for
the State Project
CC County Coordinator. Maintains a county website for a State
Project (XXGenWeb)
ACC Asst to the County Coordinator
Co-CC One of two or more individuals who share responsibility for a
County website
TC Town Coordinator. Maintains a website devoted to a particular
city or town for XXGenWeb
LC Local Coordinator. Maintains a website devoted to a
sub-project of XXGenWeb other than a county or town site, e.g.
ethnic, migration, historical, military, etc.
SFM State File Manager for the State Archives Project (SPAR SA)
FM County File Manager for the State Archives Project (SPAR SA)
PC National Project Coordinator for any recognized Special Project
LPC Local Project Coordinator. Maintains a website for a
recognized Special Project other than the State Archives Project.
Projects may be organized by state, county, another geographic or
historical region, a particular time period; or whatever
organizational heirarchy is used by the special project.
The Bylaws also state under Section II. Purpose, that: "This purpose
shall be accomplished by presenting websites" so it seems logical
that "membership" was intended to be associated with that purpose,
i.e maintenance of a web site.
Personally, I maintain a county web site where I list an ACC who
contributes nothing to the maintenance of the web site. BUT -- and
this is a huge BUT -- she is local and a member of the local
genealogical societies. I can refer questions to her. She will do
look-ups. She also supplies new content on request, which reminds me
I haven't had time to prod her lately <g>
Review of the definition of what is required to be a "member" of USGW
is certainly in order.
Pat Asher
At 01:37 PM 6/30/2016, geanie via wrote:
I agree with Pat re donations.
Also, I find the membership rule interesting. I personally have not
taken the time to study it. It seems to me the Election Committee
procedures have determined the definition of a member but I may be
wrong. Also, I am curious. Can a person work on Special Projects,
i.e. USGW Archives, without being a county coordinator? And if so,
can that person vote on Special Projects Coordinator?
Sincerely,
Mike Peterson
---- Pat Asher via <usgenweb-discuss(a)rootsweb.com> wrote:
=============
I agree that the Bylaws are extremely vague as to how one becomes a
member, and the responsibilities of membership, e.g. maintaining a
web site. However, I am not sure adding a "supporting" membership
category is the answer to the question of funding. "Members" are
entitled to privileges and benefits as well having responsibilities.
It would be hard to argue that donating money is a privilege or benefit <g>
OTOH, anyone (member or not) can give a gift to the USGW. Subject to
whatever current restrictions by the IRS, in the U.S., generally
neither the gifter or the giftee owe taxes on the gift. The
difference from a charitable donation is that gifts are not tax
deductible by the donor.
To my mind, the major stumbling block in the Bylaws is IX.B.
prohibiting solicitation of funds for personal gain as such is
defined. However, as I interpret it, the restrictions appear to me to
apply to hosting, obtaining content, and services (such as look-ups)
related to our web sites. I believe we could ask for gifts under the
current by-laws for other types of expenses such as convention fees,
booths, and supplies; trademark registration and renewal fees;
software development and maintenance, etc.
Pat Asher
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