AGA management direction

[MichaelAngelaH@aol.com]

Erik,

You have taken on the difficult task of Chairman of the AGA at a time when 
the organization has reached a turning point (a point of positive growth, I 
hope).  For the last two weeks I have been preoccupied with my own club's 
show ( I was co-show chairman and am also the president of my local club, and 
somehow have now become involved on the formation committee of the new Mid 
America Council of Aquarium Societies) and with my boss being in the hospital 
(doing two jobs at work) so I have not had time to respond to your first 
letter. Sorry.  I know how frustrating that can be when you ask a question 
and it seems no one answers. I will try not to let it go that long again.

 I have been thinking about the by-laws, the SC/MC relationship, and the 
organizational direction of the AGA since Karen brought it up at the Falls in 
1998.  I have come up with a few ideas, but have had little time to put them 
down in writing.  

I'll give you a brief summary:  

There are several successful national clubs out there that can serve as a 
model without our having to "reinvent the wheel".  Not just fish hobby clubs 
like the ACA, the ALA or the AKA, but also several other national bodies for 
other non-profit groups (various gardening groups come to mind), not to 
mention any corporation you care to name.  They all run basically the same 
way.  I have just been through re-incorporating my own local club, and I can 
assure you it is not a fun job.  The attorney's really do earn their money.

Basically, it comes down to having a general membership elected body which 
has voting power, and a separate group of committee heads which report to the 
elected body.  The elected body should be a small, fixed number of persons 
specifically spelled out in the By Laws.  This number cannot be changed 
without a majority vote of the membership ammending the By Laws.  These are 
the people charged with minding/spending the membership's monies. This would 
be the Board of Directors.   I would suggest a group of 6 to 8; a President 
(or Chairman), a Vice-President (or VVice-Chairman),  a Treasurer, a 
Secretary, and two to four "members at large".  I would have them each serve 
a two year term.  Half of them would come up for election each year.  This 
would avoid the potential for a whole new group of leaders to come in and no 
one have any idea what is going on.  The duties of each position would be 
spelled out in the By Laws.  I would not limit the number of terms which a 
person could serve. At least two of these people, the Treasurer and I would 
suggest the President, should have the "power of the purse."   They should 
also be bonded, an inexpensive insurance against any posssible problem that 
could possibly arise. This all needs to be very specifically spelled out in 
the By Laws. 

 The President (chairman) would have the power to replace anyone who resigns 
or who cannot perform the duties of their office.  Replacing a Board member 
who doesn't want to leave, but who is causing harm to the organization, 
requires a vote of the entire Board. A replacement would then be appointed by 
the President.  Either way, this position would then be filled at the next 
election by another candidate who would serve the remainder of the term of 
the former board member.  This Board should have a specific "meeting" date, 
when the President would spell out the current business to the board, and the 
board would have a specified time (say 7 days) to respond.   They would each 
have a specified Committee chair or chairs (from the current MC) who would 
report directly to them, and they would in turn report it to the Board. 

Since this group is responsible for all of the membership's monies, the 
membership should (and possibly, legally, in a non-profit corporation must) 
have the right to vote for their representatives on the Board.  The positions 
of committee chairs can be filled as needed by appointment  of the President, 
with the advice and consent of the Board. 

I realize this response was a little lengthy, but as I have just been through 
it locally, and it looks like I'm going to be doing it here in the mid 
west/mid south, I thought I would share some of the ideas with you. Since I 
have the experience, I should also volunteer to be on the committee that 
writes the By-Laws.  These would then have to be approved by our current 
leadership (SC/MC) and then by a vote of the membership.  

 By the way, the committee chairs would be given budgets which could be spent 
without the Board having to approve every little expense, which can become 
quite tedious.   They would not have a voting position, unless they were also 
one of the members of the elected Board, but would be able to suggest ideas 
to the Board.  I would also let them in on the discussions of the Board  to 
let them give comments on the areas that pertain to their committee 
specifically, and to the membership in general.  This is also a great way for 
members of the Board to stay in contact with other members outside of their 
regular contacts.  There I go getting wordy again, sorry.  

Good nite,

Mike      
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