AYA Discussion Forum

[mboyd]

After much discussion on the Grumman Gang, I've posted this as a straw poll to see how much real interest there is.

The convention dates are currently tied to the membership meeting in the AYA Constitution and would require an amendment in order to change. The dates defined in the constitution are currently "between the dates of June 15th and August 15th".

I've volunteered to help draft an amendment and push paper as needed, so this is the initial litmus test to see if there is enough interest to continue.

Please vote in this poll by the end of July if you have any interest at all in when the annual convention should be held.

Thanks,
-Mike
_________________
Michael Boyd
'76 AA5A

[Brianflys]

Thanks for setting up the poll, Mike!
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Brian Hausknecht
Tiger N28289
Fly Tigers -- Doors are for Cars!
www.Brianflys.net (blog)
www.Brianflys.com (aerial photos)

[mboyd]

You're welcome Brian. I hope it proves useful.
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Michael Boyd
'76 AA5A

[mboyd]

Hello Everyone,

A total of 56 votes were cast on the forum, with 49 in favor of changing or removing the date restriction and 7 against a change. In addition, I received 4 e-mails from folks that just could not get the poll to work for them (we'll call these provisional votes) and they were of a similar percentage with 3 in favor of a change and 1 against a change.

When including the provisional votes, a total of 60 votes were cast. While this does not sound like a lot when compared to our total membership of 1230 (as reported in the July Star), the roughly 5% is apparently a little larger participation than we had in the most recent election. In my periodic checking of the poll numbers while it was running, I noted that the trend of those in favor to those against a change remained fairly constant from the time when the first 10 votes were cast with 80% or greater being in favor of a change.

In an effort to give all AYA members a chance to vote, notice of this poll was sent to the Grumman Gang mailing list, the TeamGruman mailing list, and a copy of the notice was sent to each of the regional directors so they could forward it on to their members. I did receive responses from people on the Grumman Gang, on the TeamGrumman list and from several of the regional directors so, for a poll, I think it achieved a reasonable distribution.

So, what does all this mean. My goal here was to see if there was enough real interest to continue pursuing a change to the AYA constitution and I think there is. So, my next step is to check and see if there are any potential legal issues with removing the date restriction from our constitution and check on any other legalities related to proposing an amendment to the board. I'll then draft an amendment and provide it for review/comment here or via another appropriate means. Once we are reasonably happy with the results, I'll submit it to the secretary as outlined in our constitution.

Your role in this will be to contact your AYA representatives once we have a final draft and provide them with your thoughts on the subject. While the poll should be a good indication to the board of the thoughts of the membership, it is best for them to hear directly from you when the time comes. Once the amendment is submitted, according to the AYA constitution the board must vote on it and if 60% or more agree, then the amendment is voted on by the membership.

And what this does not mean. It is ultimately still up to the members who volunteer, make convention proposals to the board, and chair a convention to come up with proposed dates for a specific convention. All this amendment should do is loosen the restriction on the possible choices for those dates.

And now, I'm off to check into those issues mentioned above. I will let you know what I find and when drafts are available. And if anyone wants to help out with any of this, please let me know.

Cheers,
-Mike
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Michael Boyd
'76 AA5A

[mboyd]

Ok everyone...sorry about the delay but some personal matters came up. So here is a first draft of an amendment...I tried to keep it simple and just remove the dates...please comment on the forum or send me an e-mail.

==========

This is a proposal for an amendment to the AYA constitution.

The goal of this amendment is to remove the date restriction in the AYA constitution thus allowing for conventions to be scheduled at times that may be more suitable for the venue or for those members that cannot make a convention in the current restricted time window.

Currently Article VIII reads as follows:

---
Article VIII

Meetings: The membership shall meet once a year, between the dates of June 15th and August 15th on a date and place approved by a 60% vote of the Board. The date and site selection will be published in the Newsletter. The annual convention is held to hear reports from the officers, Regional Directors and committees, for installation of new officers, and for other program content deemed appropriate by the Board of Directors. The annual convention shall also constitute the social gathering of the American Yankee Association, at which time all aircraft will be judged and awards presented in predetermined categories by aircraft type.

Regional and area meetings may be held at any time and place as arranged by the Regional Director and Area Coordinator of those areas to maximize participation of the members. These meetings may serve as a forum for discussion of items to be presented to the Board of Directors and/or membership for consideration and/or approval.
---

Specifically, this amendment intends to strike the following text from the first sentence of the first paragraph of the article:
"between the dates of June 15th and August 15th"

So that the first paragraph reads:

Meetings: The membership shall meet once a year, on a date and place approved by a 60% vote of the Board. The date and site selection will be published in the Newsletter. The annual convention is held to hear reports from the officers, Regional Directors and committees, for installation of new officers, and for other program content deemed appropriate by the Board of Directors. The annual convention shall also constitute the social gathering of the American Yankee Association, at which time all aircraft will be judged and awards presented in predetermined categories by aircraft type.
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Michael Boyd
'76 AA5A

[dbkeleher]

Good job! Simple change, clear, and accomplishes the desired result of removing the date restrictions.
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Brad Keleher

[mboyd]

Ok everyone,

Here is the final draft of the mail I am sending to request the amendment (with a little personal information deleted for posting on the internet). It will be mailed today by whatever appropriate means to provide tracking.

Now it's your turn. If you have any feeling on this matter, I suggest you voice your opinions directly with your AYA regional director and the rest of the board.

-Mike

---The text of the letter follows this line---
From:
Michael Boyd
XXXXX XXXXXXXXXX St.
Broomfield, CO XXXXX

To:
American Yankee Association Secretary-Treasurer
P.O. Box 1531
Cameron Park, CA XXXXX

Subject: Amendment to Article VIII of the AYA Constitution.

Date: Monday August 24, 2009.


Proposal:

This is a proposal for an amendment to the AYA constitution.

The goal of this amendment is to remove the date restriction in the AYA constitution thus allowing for conventions to be scheduled at times that may be more suitable for a given venue or for those members that cannot make a convention in the current restricted time window.

Currently Article VIII reads as follows:
---
Article VIII

Meetings: The membership shall meet once a year, between the dates of June 15th and August 15th on a date and place approved by a 60% vote of the Board. The date and site selection will be published in the Newsletter. The annual convention is held to hear reports from the officers, Regional Directors and committees, for installation of new officers, and for other program content deemed appropriate by the Board of Directors. The annual convention shall also constitute the social gathering of the American Yankee Association, at which time all aircraft will be judged and awards presented in predetermined categories by aircraft type.

Regional and area meetings may be held at any time and place as arranged by the Regional Director and Area Coordinator of those areas to maximize participation of the members. These meetings may serve as a forum for discussion of items to be presented to the Board of Directors and/or membership for consideration and/or approval.
---

Specifically, this amendment intends to strike the following text from the first sentence of the first paragraph of the article:
"between the dates of June 15th and August 15th"

So that the article reads:
---
Meetings: The membership shall meet once a year, on a date and place approved by a 60% vote of the Board. The date and site selection will be published in the Newsletter. The annual convention is held to hear reports from the officers, Regional Directors and committees, for installation of new officers, and for other program content deemed appropriate by the Board of Directors. The annual convention shall also constitute the social gathering of the American Yankee Association, at which time all aircraft will be judged and awards presented in predetermined categories by aircraft type.

Regional and area meetings may be held at any time and place as arranged by the Regional Director and Area Coordinator of those areas to maximize participation of the members. These meetings may serve as a forum for discussion of items to be presented to the Board of Directors and/or membership for consideration and/or approval.
---

Background:

This topic has come up a number of times in the short time I have been a member, so I created an impromptu poll on the AYA Forum to judge interest in the subject. Notice of the poll was distributed via the Grumman Gang mailing list, the Matronics Team-Grumman mailing list, and each regional director was asked to forward a notice to their members. The results of the poll showed that approximately 87% of those that responded (49 of the 56 total votes) were in favor of a change. While the total number of responses was somewhat low, I think the results would be well within any margin of error. In addition, the total number of responses did exceed the number of responses received for the most recent election. The results of the poll can be found online here: http://ayaforum.org/viewtopic.php?p=758

I ask the board, in accordance with the AYA constitution and bylaws, to approve this change and bring it up for a vote by the general membership.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Michael Boyd
AYA member XXXXXX
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Michael Boyd
'76 AA5A

[mboyd]

Hello Everyone,

Well it has been a while since you’ve heard from me on the subject, but that doesn’t mean things have not been happening with the amendment. The AYA board received the amendment request, debated it, and approved it to go to a vote of the membership.

In addition, a request was made to have the vote as a special election prior to the normal election process that occurs in the summer. This special election will take place in January.

So, now it is your turn to decide if you want to remove the date restriction. And to make it easy, the board has provided several voting options. If you have recently received your membership renewal notice (or soon will), you may have noticed you can vote with it. Starting in January, I’ve been told the AYA web site will allow you to cast your vote there. And, for the more traditional, you can also e-mail or call the AYA Secretary/Treasurer.

In the upcoming Star there will be more information on the voting options as well as some pros and cons of the amendment. The Star should be available in an electronic format right around Christmas and in the mail around the beginning of the year.

Voting goes thru January 31st, so you have just a little bit of time to think about it. But make sure if you have any opinion on the subject that you make your voice heard and vote.

I’d also like to take a moment to recognize the efforts of the AYA board. I was copied on much, if not all, of the discussion surrounding the amendment and found it to be very insightful and their focus seems to always be on making the AYA better. In a volunteer organization such as ours, we are extremely lucky to have these dedicated people.

Take care and happy holidays!

-Mike
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Michael Boyd
'76 AA5A

[aa1bflyboy]

I received an email today from Stew Wilson. The members have spoken. Stew advised he will send out notice to the board. The next issue of the Star will have the article below.

The membership has overwhelmingly voted to change the constitution of the association. In a vote of 273-43, members decided to remove the date restrictions found in Article VIII which had required the annual convention to be held between June 15 and August 15. This is the first amendment to our constitution in more than 25 years. Nearly one-fourth of the active membership voted.
The first practical application of this change is set to take place in 2011. The organizers of that convention, scheduled for St. Simons Island, GA are planning for a late May event. That is seven weeks earlier than our normal time and will hopefully allow for less hot and humid conditions.
Our thanks to everyone who took the time and interest to participate in the functioning of the organization.