BAARG's Constitution and By-Laws

Constitution and By-Laws

Constitution and By-Laws of Blown Away Angora Rabbit Guild

Revised November, 2019

1: Name:

The name of this Organization shall be known as Blown Away Angora Rabbit Guild

(BAARG).

2: Mission:

To offer angora rabbit specialty shows in the Pacific Northwest Region (Oregon,

Washington, Idaho) including California and Nevada in conjunction with ARBA shows.

To strive for high standards in angora rabbit care and to encourage excellent angora

rabbit husbandry in fellow breeders. To be run by its officers and directors, for the

promotion of the angora rabbit breeds.

3: Affiliation:

This charter shall be affiliated with and support the American Rabbit Breeders

Association Inc.

4: Officers:

A. The Officers of this Club shall be the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer

(can be combined into one office) and at least 3 Directors. All members of the BOD

have to be paid up members of the ARBA. All of these Officers are elected by the BOD

by electronic voting systems. The President, or in the absence of the President the

Vice President, with the approval vote of the BOD, may appoint a person pro

tempore. The appointment shall expire at the normal term end, at which time

elections shall take place.

B. All elected Officers have to be members of ARBA.

C. The term of office for all officers and BODs shall be 2 years. The President, Treasurer,

and the even numbered (BOD 2, 4, 6, etc.) Directors shall be elected in even years.

The Vice President, Secretary and the odd numbered Directors (BOD 1, 3, 5, 7, etc.)

shall be elected in odd years. There shall be no term limitation on all offices.

D. Elections shall be held and completed in November of each year.

E. All newly elected officers shall assume office on January 1st and run through their

term of office on December 31st of their respective year. Vacancies in any office shall

be filled by appointment from the President, subject to a simple majority vote from

the BOD. All outgoing Officers shall offer help and facilitate a smooth transition of

office or risk being disciplined by the BOD for their actions.

F. Anyone willing to run for an office on the BOD shall furnish a written resume to the

Secretary prior to the deadline. Deadlines for all election procedures shall be noted

through electronic communication.

5: Discipline:

A. Any officer wishing to file a complaint of misconduct against another officer of

Blown Away Angora Rabbit Guild shall cite the ARBA or Blown Away Angora Rabbit

Guild’s C & BL and/or official ARBA show rules in their charge and submit those

charges in writing, along with proof of misconduct and documentation to the

Secretary of Blown Away Angora Rabbit Guild.

• In case of charges filed against the Secretary, charges can be filed with the

President. A processing fee of $ 20.00 is applicable. The Secretary or President

shall bring the charges to the prompt attention of the BOD. The BOD will review

and discuss the charges in private, and will vote on the issues at hand. In case of

the charges being dismissed as invalid, the processing fee will be kept by Blown

Away Angora Rabbit Guild. In case the charges are voted on and filed, the

processing fee will be refunded.

B. Valid charges include, but are not limited to:

• Any and all charges of misconduct at a ARBA sanctioned Rabbit show as

outlined in the ARBA show rules section. Charges of gross misconduct

within Blown Away Angora Rabbit Guild, misconduct directed at Blown Away

Angora Rabbit Guild itself or against a fellow officer of Blown Away Angora

Rabbit Guild. Misconduct can include but is not limited to

negative argumentative behavior, slander, stonewalling, disturbing peace inside

the club, proven sabotage of club business. Unacceptable behavior during Blown

Away Angora Rabbit Guild sanctioned specialty shows, known and proven

mistreatment of animals in ownership of an officer, having been convicted of

animal abuse/neglect by a local court, total lack of interest in Blown Away

business and failure to participate in Blown Away Angora Rabbit Guild related

business in case of the BOD members.

C. Any officer against whom charges have been filed shall be furnished with a complete

statement of the charges by the Secretary or President and shall be allowed 20 days

to file a reply with the Secretary / President. This can be done via e-mail or paper

mail, at the discretion of the BOD.

D. The charges, together with a reply, if any has been received, shall be furnished to

each member of the BOD for their consideration. This can be done via paper mail or

e-mail. The BOD may, by a simple majority vote, reprimand, suspend or expel the

member. Less than a simple majority vote (less than half plus 1) shall constitute

acquittal of the charges. Notification of the vote shall be furnished by the Secretary or

President in form of a letter mailed by email or U.S. Post Office.

E. If an Officer or Director does not fulfill his/her duties or shows a lack of interest in

Blown Away matters, he/she shall be asked to resign by the President or in the case

of the President, by the Vice President. Lack of interest includes, but is not limited to:

lack of voting on important issues or stone walling club business. If the Officer or

Director fails to resign, disciplinary actions as outlined in section B, C, D, will go into

action. No processing fee will apply. The BOD can declare an office vacant with a

simple majority vote, disciplinary actions against the officer can be taken if deemed

necessary, and the President will appoint a new Officer Director to fill the vacancy.

6: Meetings:

Blown Away Angora Rabbit Guild can host BOD meetings at any given time and place.

Such meetings shall take place at large rabbit shows, ARBA Convention, or conference

calls, or wherever a majority of the BOD will be in one place. Such meetings shall be

coordinated through electronic messaging. No voting shall take place unless a majority

of the BOD is present to officiate a vote valid for the BOD. No annual BOD meetings are

mandated.

7: Voting:

The Board of Directors shall vote on all issues related to running Blown Away Angora

Rabbit Guild in an efficient manner. Voting within the BOD shall be done via electronic

messaging or conference calls, copies of all votes to be kept on Blown Away Angora

Rabbit Guild Google Cloud by the Secretary and shared electronically.

Elections are to be conducted by either electronic online voting or physically mailed

paper ballots. Electronic voting is to be highly preferred in all cases from a financial and

practical standpoint. Physically mailed ballots should only be used with sound reason,

being presented to the BOD for a majority vote. Online elections must be conducted on a

highly accurate poll system.

The first general elections for odd year terms as outlined in article 4, chapter C & D shall

commence in the year 2019. The first general elections for even year terms shall

commence in the year 2018, and as outlined in article 4, chapter C & D every year

after. The BOD shall vote on C & BL amendments starting in the year of 2017.

8: Dissolution:

In the event of dissolution of Blown Away Angora Rabbit Guild, all monies and ARBA

related assets held by Blown Away Angora Rabbit Guild at that time shall be donated to

the ARBA research and development fund. Equipment brought into/donated to Blown

Away Angora Rabbit Guild by an officer shall be returned to that member at that time

if possible.

9: Amendments:

Any proposed amendment to this document must be submitted in writing to the BOD

(Secretary or President) for review and discussion among the BOD. A change can be

approved by a simple majority vote from the BOD, at which time the change is

submitted to the general membership for vote.

The proposal will be submitted to the BOD via online poll. Shall the change be elected,

the Secretary shall change the Constitution & By-laws document and furnish a new copy

to ARBA in conjunction with the yearly charter renewal in January as well as file the

document.

Blown Away By-Laws Addendum

1: Dues:

None

2. Officers:

• President: Preside over meetings, initiate meetings. Appoint/ fill vacant offices and

appoint committees as needed. The President shall be an ex-officio member of all

committees and the BOD.

• Vice – President: Perform all duties in absence of the President. Automatically

succeed to the office of President in the event of vacancy. Appoint a new Vice–

President with a simple majority vote from the BOD. The Vice President shall be a ex-

office member of the BOD.

• Secretary: Maintain a complete set of books and records for the club, including but

not limited to: voting results, ballots, disciplinary actions, membership list. Actively

work with the website committee to furnish updates, information and articles

submitted. Maintain club records in a secure manner and keep records on a cloud file

for a minimum of 5 years, including show reports. Handle all club correspondence and

advise President or BOD of any unusual matters. Mail all incoming funds to the

Treasurer on a monthly basis. The Secretary shall be an ex-office member of the BOD.

• Treasurer: Maintain a bank account in the name of the Club and from it pay

expenses which have been pre authorized by either the C & BL or by a special vote by

the BOD. Maintain a complete set of financial records and books, and keep them on a

cloud file for review for at least 5 years. Will report quarterly to the BOD; make a

financial statement to the BOD. The Treasurer shall be an ex-officio member of the

BOD. The President can appoint a person to audit the books at any given time and

place. Audits should be done at least once every 2 years.

• Directors: The Board of Directors (BOD) is to include at least 3 Directors as well as

the President, Vice- President, Secretary and Treasurer. The general supervision and

conduct of affairs shall be vested in the Board of Directors which shall have legislative

powers. The BOD as a body shall be solely responsible for making or changing policy

within the club. No individual officer or Director may make a policy change; it must be

brought before the board and approved by a simple majority vote.

3: Funds:

The Secretary shall be reimbursed monthly for all routine, expected expenses related to

fulfillment of her duties. Non routine expenses have to be approved by the BOD PRIOR

to making the purchase. All purchased items that are Blown Away related become the

property of the Club and shall be passed on to the next Secretary upon fulfillment of

term via Post office mailing. All expenses have to be proven with receipts. Such have to

be mailed to the treasurer to keep on file.

The Secretary shall forward all Club income to the Treasurer on a monthly basis. The

Treasurer shall reimburse all Officers and Directors for club related, normal expenses

that are within the realm of business, however, shall not issue payment for any expenses

that do not have a receipt, or for large payments that have not been approved by the

BOD prior to purchase. Phone bills, Internet charges and costs, cell phone charges etc.

cannot be reimbursed by the Treasurer. Each BOD member is expected to be frugal with

Blown Away owned funds.

4: Special Committees:

The BOD shall appoint people to head special committees within Blown Away Angora

Rabbit Guild to help with certain functions. The BOD shall vote on an appointment with

a simple majority vote.