On 29/6/98 at 8:37 PM, Celia Tomlin wrote:
I am curious about your opinions and attitudes re: the usgenweb
elections.
If you do not respond to this I will assume you don't care what happens.
1. Have you read the by-laws
Yes.
2. Have you formed an opinion about the by-laws?
Yes.
ARTICLE III. STATUS AS AN ORGANIZATION
The USGenWeb Project, as a group of volunteers participating in a
not-for-profit organization, is considered to be an "Unincorporated
Non-Profit Association."
--> I haven't heard from the Attorney General's Office yet about whether
"Unincorporated Non-Profit Association" means anything in Washington law.
There's no point in adopting by-laws that have no meaning.
ARTICLE IV. MEMBERSHIP
Section 1. The only requirement for membership in The USGenWeb Project is
a desire to assist in gathering and disseminating genealogical and
historical information for free online access by researchers.
--> This makes about 95% of the genealogists on the Net automatic
members of The USGenWeb Project and eligible to vote. It will be very
hard to get a quorum that way. To mean anything, by-laws have to specify
what people have to DO to become members, usually pay dues.
3. Have you checked out the nominations for the officers?
Yes.
4. Are you going to vote for either or both of the above?
No. I'm not going to participate in these elections because I think they
are "illegal" and as such won't accomplish anything towards clarifying or
stabilizing the status or organization of The USGenWeb Project.
If you have strong opinions about either, please express them on
wagen-l.
If you send your responses to the above questions to me personally, I will
not repeat them. If you don't care or want all to know your opinions,
respond to wagen-l.
Mostly my curiosity about your level of concern and involvement.
Last week I posted to this list about the irregular way in which the
USGenWeb archives are being run. This is a potential source of big
trouble. Nobody has responded.
Just a side note. I grew up in a (still) unincorporated community in
Chelan County. For many years, as often as was possible, there was a
ballot issue about incorporating. A man there was elected mayor many
times -- I don't remember how many, but I think it was more than a dozen
times -- and never served a day because incorporation was always turned
down. This is the way *real* elections work -- no officers without
by-laws.
Regards,
Joanna Ashmun
Chelan and Adams
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Joanna M. Ashmun <jmashmun(a)halcyon.com>
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http://www.halcyon.com/jmashmun/index.html>
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