By-Law Changes for 2012

As it was directed by the President at our 2011 Convention, the By-Laws Committee has met for the past seven months and has carefully reviewed the current FASNY By-Laws.

This review was done by the FASNY By-Law Committee, with the assistance of Edward A. Cooke, who serves as the FASNY legal counsel, as well as Anita L. Pelletier, an attorney with the law firm of Nixon-Peabody, LLC.

Ms. Pelletier has lectured on nonprofit and tax-exempt issues before organizations, including the National Association of College and University Business Officers and the Erie County Bar Association. She has also given presentations at continuing legal education seminars.

With the guidance of the attorneys and with the constant review and input of the full board, we have prepared what we believe to be well thought out and meaningful changes to the FASNY By-Laws. The preparation is nearly complete. A draft document was circulated among the Board of Directors, final comments were received and discussed – resulting in an agreed upon series of amendments.

It is the full intention of the Board of Directors to set forth the proposed amendments and the rationale behind every change in a completely open and transparent process.

It is important for you, the members of FASNY, to know that the current version of the By-Laws, the proposed changes to the by-laws, and the revised version will be readily available online at least two months before the Convention.

We ask your understanding in this matter. It is vitally important to everyone that we get this right! The proposed changes are being re-read and then re-read again. As soon as everyone is satisfied that every “t” has been crossed, and every “i” has been dotted the proposed amendments will be posted. They will also be available upon request to Chairman Cayey, Secretary Whelan or the FASNY office in either electronic or in printed form.

In addition to this article, there will be an additional article appearing in the July/August magazine, as well as notes and comments on the web. If you have any questions or concerns the committee will do its very best to address them.

The amendments will fall into one or more of three general types.

The first type of change is Compliance. There are some sections of our current By-Laws that do not fully conform to New York State Not for Profit Law [N-PCL]. We will provide you with the applicable N-PCL section as well as an explanation of the correction. An example would be a change in the Powers of the Inspectors of Election so as to comply with N-PLC Section 610[b].

The second type of change is Clarification. Our attorneys noted that some sections that may have seemed clear, really were not. An example would be voting rights for Regular members. One of the proposed amendments will clearly state that Associate members can not vote and another will say the same for Sustaining members. The clarification is that only Regular members may vote, which is what we have been doing!

The third change is an Addition or a Deletion not currently included. An example would be a clear line of succession, as well as setting forth the right of the membership to fill certain elected officer positions for an unexpired term.

Please look for the By-Law amendments online. We expect to have them posted by mid-May or early June at the latest. Then ASK QUESTIONS if you have any!

These amendments will be presented on the opening day of the 2012 Convention and will be voted on the last day.

There will be more on this in the next issue of The Volunteer Firefighter.