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Main Meeting Agenda
- Call to Order
The meeting is scheduled for Noon, Sunday, July 2 with a Site Selection meeting starting at Noon, Monday, July 3, 2006. Any business not completed at the main meeting on July 2 may be continued to July 3.
- Committee Reports
There were no committees created or continued by Westercon 58.
- Pending Bylaw Amendments
The following amendment was passed at Westercon 58 and will become part of the Bylaws if ratified at Westercon 59. Comments, where shown, are those of the motions’ advocates except as noted and are not part of the motions themselves.
3.1. Secondary Ratification
Moved, To amend Section 4.2 of the Westercon Bylaws by striking out and inserting text as shown, for the purpose of modifying the ratification process of bylaw amendments and allowing amendments to such ratification that do not increase the scope of the bylaw amendments:
4.2 Primary and Secondary Ratification
The secretary of the business meeting at which an amendment receives primary (first year) ratification shall submit an exact copy of the amendment to the following year’s Westercon business meeting. The question of secondary (second year) ratification is debatable but not amendable and is amendable only to the extent that such amendments do not increase the scope of the original bylaw amendment.
Comments: Most ordinary societies require “advance notice” of bylaw amendments, to allow members sufficient opportunity to prepare to debate such serious proposals. Parliamentary law allows that amendments given previous notice may, in their final form, be of reduced scope compared to their advance notice, but not increased scope.
Westercon does not require advance notice; however, the requirement that proposals pass at two consecutive meetings is effectively the same thing. A controversy surrounding the “Anti-Zone” amendment has highlighted the problems caused when a bylaw amendment’s scope cannot be reduced, but only re-introduced from scratch.
This proposal brings Westercon practice back in line with that of common parliamentary law, and also parallels the practice of the World Science Fiction Society, which allows secondary ratification amendments as long as they do not increase the scope of an amendment. (WSFS uses different language, but it has the same effect.)
- New Business
4.1. Repair the Safety Valve
Moved, To amend Section 3.6 of the Westercon Bylaws by striking out and inserting text as shown, for the purpose of proving for situations where no eligible bids file before January 1st of the year of the site-selection balloting:
3.6 Provisions When No Valid Eligible Bids Are Received
If no valid bids are received by the deadline in section 3.5, If no eligible bids are received by January 1st of the year of the site-selection balloting, then all sites defined in section 3.1 shall be eligible and the other site restrictions in this article shall be suspended.
Comments: This “safety valve” provision allows bids from the zone that is otherwise excluded from bidding to file if no bids from the other zones file on or before January 1 of the year in which the site-selection election is happening. This rule existed in the two-zone rotation system that was changed in 2005 to the current “anti-zone” system; however, due to a drafting error, it was inadvertently stricken when the current wording of section 3.2 was adopted.
This year, it was noticed that the “safety valve” clause was missing from the bylaws, and inasmuch as no bids from the non-South zones had filed either by January 1 or April 15, while bids from the South zone had, a minor crisis ensued until the site selection administrator was able to make a ruling that allowed the two bids onto the ballot. This ruling was rather convoluted, however, and all parties involved would prefer to see this explicit provision restored to the bylaws.
The previous wording of Section 3.6, with its reference to Section 3.5, was intended for situations when no bids at all had filed by April 15; in which case the final restriction (a 75-mile exclusion zone around the administering site) was suspended. This 75-mile zone no longer exists, and therefore references to situations when no bids at all file by the April 15 ballot deadline no longer have any relevance, because if no bids file by January 1, all sites, including those in the administering zone, become eligible already.
Note that this only suspends site restrictions, and particularly section 3.3. All other requirements for bidding, such as a facility agreement, organizing document, etc. still apply even if the site restrictions are suspended.
Proposed by: Kevin Standlee, James Briggs, Sandra Childress, Sharon Sbarsky, Seth Breidbart, Mike Wilmoth, Christian McGuire, Darrel L. Exline.
- Announcements
- Adjournment
Site Selection Meeting Agenda
- Call to Order
The meeting is scheduled for Noon, Monday, July 3, 2006. Site Selection is a special order of business and must be dealt with first. Any business not completed at the main meeting on July 2 may be continued to this meeting.
- Site Selection Business
2.1. Administrator Report
The Site Selection Administrator will present a report on the results of the balloting.
2.2. Presentation by Westercon 61
The newly-elected 2008 Westercon will make a presentation.
- Unfinished Business
Any business not completed at the previous meeting will resume at this time.
- Announcements
- Adjournment sine die
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