About the Bylaws
The American Contract Bridge League Las Vegas Unit 373 is governed
by the bylaws below.
Bylaws of the American Contract Bridge League - Las Vegas Unit
373
ARTICLE I Name
The name of this nonprofit organization shall be The American
Contract Bridge League Las Vegas Unit 373.
ARTICLE II Purpose
- To preserve and promote the best interest of competitive contract
bridge, and modification, if any, thereof.
- To cooperate with and assist local clubs and the League in
the promotion and conduct of contract bridge tournaments.
- To prescribe rules of eligibility for participation in tournaments
under its auspices.
- To consider and pass upon reports of dishonest, unethical or
improper conduct of participants in tournaments, and to bar or
suspend persons guilty of such conduct.
- To conduct such other activities that will foster the advancement
of and interest in the play of duplicate bridge.
- It shall be the duty of Las Vegas Unit 373 to broadly promote
bridge, and in pursuance of such the Unit shall endeavor to act
in cooperation with bridge clubs within the Unit.
- Unit property shall be used solely to promote the purposes
of the Unit, as herein defined.
- Upon dissolution of the Unit – after payment of all liabilities
and debts – assets shall be transferred into the newly merged
unit or to an appropriate ACBL entity.
ARTICLE III Membership
- Any person residing within the playing area of this Unit may
become a member of the Las Vegas Unit 373 by application to the
membership chairman and payment of annual dues.
- The filing of an application shall bind the applicant to full
compliance with and adherence to these By-laws, the Unit’s charter,
and the charter and By-laws of the ACBL.
- Except as herein otherwise provided, a member shall enjoy and
possess all right of membership equally with others.
- Membership in this unit shall carry membership in the ACBL.
Honorary members may be elected by the Board of Directors. They
shall be exempt from the payment of dues and shall be Honorary
members for life.
ARTICLE IV Rights and Duties of Members
- The right of any member to vote on the business which may properly
be presented to the membership for action shall be governed and
determined as prescribed by these By-laws.
- Any member upon application to the Secretary, shall be given
the time and place of the next Board of Directors meeting and
shall have the right to put before the Board in session any matter
pertinent to Board action.
- Any member may attend any Board meeting but the right to extemporaneously
address the Board or enter into the discussion of any topic under
consideration shall be granted only at the discretion of the President.
Any member violating the provision may be asked to leave.
- Special meeting of the members may be called at any time by
the Board of Directors or by the President upon ten (10) days
written notice to all members. The notice of any special meeting
shall contain an agenda of the matters to be taken up at such
meeting.
- A quorum for the transaction of business at any annual or special
membership meeting shall consist of 30 members.
ARTICLE V Eligibility to Vote
To be eligible to vote a member must:
- Be in good standing.
- Have been a member for sixty (60) days prior to voting.
- No proxy voting shall be permitted.
- It is the responsibility of any member whose right to votes
challenged to supply proof of his right to vote.
ARTICLE VI Dues
- Payment of annual dues shall be in accordance with regulations
established by the ACBL.
- The Board of Directors shall have no power to levy any Special
Assessments.
ARTICLE VII Board of Directors
A. The composition of the board shall be as follows:
- The Las Vegas Board of Directors (hereinafter referred to as
the Board) shall consist of nine (9) members, eight (8) elected
and one (1) appointed. Each elected director shall hold office
for a term of two (2) years and shall hold office until his successor
has been duly elected. The four elected members receiving the
highest number of votes shall be elected each year to serve a
two (2) year term, subject to Section B of this article.
- At the first meeting of the calendar year, the ninth board
member shall be appointed by the board from the "under 300
points" category of members. The appointed board member shall
serve on the board for the remainder of the calendar year.
- Each club may designate one club person to serve as an advisory
member of the Unit Board, representing the club. Each advisory
member shall be notified of each board meeting, and shall receive
minutes of each regular board meeting. Advisory members may present
written advice and suggestions, or may request agenda time for
oral presentation. However advisory board members shall not be
eligible to vote on the business of the unit.
B. Election of Board Members shall be as follows:
- The President of the outgoing board shall select a date for
a general membership meeting to be held in November of each year
and shall advise the Secretary to mail notices to all members
in good standing, giving the time, date and place of said meeting,
and the purpose for nomination of the following year’s Board Members.
Notices are to be mailed in at least two weeks (14 days) in advance
of meeting.
- The President prior to the general membership nomination meeting
shall poll the current Board Members for nominations for the ensuing
year’s Board. All nominations okayed by Board vote will be submitted
at the general membership nomination meeting by the Secretary.
- At the nomination meeting, after the reading of the Board’s
nominations, the President will call for further nominations from
the floor. After the nominations for the Board have been closed,
the president shall call for the nomination of three (3) members
to serve with two (2) Board members, who are not running for re-election,
on a Vote-counting Committee at the second general membership
meeting.
- No member having a financial interest in any Bridge Club shall
be eligible for nomination and/or election to the Board of Directors
of the Las Vegas Unit; nor can such member be appointed to the
Board of Directors of the Las Vegas Unit – except in an honorary
and non-voting capacity. Provided, that nothing in this paragraph
shall prohibit the nomination of election and/or appointment to
the Board of Directors of the Las Vegas Unit of any director or
as a substitute part-time director for a fixed compensation; said
fixed compensation not being dependent on the number of tables
in play.
- The President of the outgoing Board shall set the date for a
second general membership meeting to be held as soon as possible
after the nominating meeting. The Secretary shall forthwith prepare
a ballot which shall be mailed to all eligible members of the
Las Vegas Unit. This ballot shall contain the names of the nominees
listed alphabetically according to their last names and shall
state the time and place for voting, which time and place shall
be at the second general membership meeting referred to above.
All completed ballots shall be returned to the Secretary, and
one other Director appointed by the Board to assist the Secretary,
at the general membership meeting. The Secretary and the appointed
Board member will deposit each ballot in a sealed voting receptacle
and record the name of each member voting so that no member may
vote more than once. After the voting is completed, the Vote-counting
Committee will count the ballots and advise the membership of
the results. Any member may examine and tally the ballots. Any
member has the right to be present at the ballot counting.
a. Any member who is unable to attend the second general membership
meeting may advise the Secretary, orally or in writing, that he
(she) cannot vote in person. At the time the Secretary is so advised
the member may submit a completed ballot to the Secretary. If
secrecy is desired the completed ballot may be enclosed in a sealed
envelope with the member’s name written on the outside of the
envelope. The Secretary shall retain this envelope, unopened,
until the second general membership meeting. At that time the
Secretary and the designated assistant will open the envelope,
deposit the completed ballot in the sealed voting receptacle,
and record the fact that the member has voted. If the absentee
voter does not require secrecy he (she) may merely submit a completed,
signed ballot to the Secretary who will deposit the ballot in
the voting receptacle at the second general membership meeting
and to record the fact that the member has voted.
b. The letter to each qualified member informing them of the second
membership meeting shall advise them of the provisions for absentee
voting as outlined in B-5-a above. No return envelopes shall be
automatically sent to members for the purpose of absentee voting
but such return envelopes will be provided for those members who
request them.
- As soon as possible after January 1, the President shall call
a meeting of the Board (the Board shall consist of the four (4)
newly elected members, plus the four (4) carry over members).
The President shall act as temporary chairman of said meeting
for the purpose of conducting an election for the President of
the New Board. The outgoing President will then turn over the
Chairmanship of this meeting to the newly elected President. The
latter will preside while the Board elects a Vice-President, Secretary
and Treasurer. (Nothing in these By-laws shall be construed to
prevent an officer from succeeding himself or herself.)
- The newly elected Board and Officers take over on January 1
and serve for one calendar year unless reelected.
- A majority of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the conduct
of business.
- The President shall call a meeting of the Board at least once
every other month
- A Board member who is absent from three successive meetings
shall be automatically dropped from the Board. The Secretary shall
send a special notice to any Board member who has missed two successive
meetings calling his attention to the above rule. The Secretary’s
statement that this has been done shall be conclusive. Upon good
cause shown, the President may reappoint said dropped member at
his discretion, and with a 2/3 majority of the Board in favor
of such reappointment.
- The President, with the Board’s approval, may appoint additional
members to fill vacancies until the next election, providing,
of course, that said members are members in good standing of the
Las Vegas Unit 373.
- In the absence of specific By-laws to the contrary, Roberts’
Rules of Order, Revised, shall govern the conduct of all Board
and general membership meetings.
- In the event the President fails to call a meeting of the Board,
any group of three (3) Board members may request the Secretary
to call such meetings, notices of which must be mailed at least
one week preceding the meeting date.
- The Board shall have the responsibility to manage all finances
to the best of their ability.
- In addition to the powers granted by others provisions of these
By-laws and by the laws of the State of Nevada: the Board shall
have the following powers and duties:
a. To acquire, hold, administer, maintain and dispose of all property
of the Unit.
b. To appropriate Unit funds for the purposes set forth in these
By-laws.
c. To hire and discharge employees and to supervise their conduct
and fix their compensation.
d. To audit all receipts and disbursements of the Unit and to
provide that not less than once a year, the Board shall seek a
Unit member who is free from selfish motive or interest to review
the receipts and disbursements of the Unit and report his findings
to the membership.
e. To provide that the treasurer of Unit 373 be bonded.
f. To conduct, manage, supervise and control all of the business
of the Unit included in but not limited to the conduct of tournaments;
selection of all dates and locations, and the making of all contracts
in connection with each tournament.
g. To censure, suspend, expel, or otherwise discipline any member.
But no such action shall be taken against any member until he
has been furnished with written charges to which he has had time
to reply, or until he has received reasonable notice. Disciplinary
action by the Unit may be appealed to the National Board of Directors.
The right of a member against whom charges are pending to play
in tournaments during such pendency shall not be affected unless
otherwise directed by the Board. Two thirds (2/3) of the Board
must be in agreement before disciplinary action may be taken against
a member.
ARTICLE VIII Impeachment
Any Board member may be removed for just cause at any meeting
of the Board provided six (6) of the Board vote, by secret ballot,
(yes) for removal. Said Board member must have been notified in
writing by registered mail, of the charges pending against him and
at least a week prior to the impeachment meeting he must have been
given an opportunity to be heard before the Board. The action by
the Board shall be conclusive and final.
ARTICLE IX Amendments to By-laws
- These By-laws may be amended at any general meeting by a two-thirds
(2/3) vote provided the amendment has been submitted in writing
to the general membership meeting at least fourteen (14) days
prior to the annual membership meeting or any special meeting
called for the purpose.
- Amendments may originate in the following manner:
- By action of the majority of the Board of Directors and
submitted to the Secretary for proper notice to the general
membership.
- By petition of 20% of the members submitted to the Secretary
for publication to the general membership having due regard
for the fourteen (14) days notice, prior to the regular or
specifically called meeting.
- In the absence of specific wording to the contrary, any amendment
adopted shall become effective upon adjournment of the meeting
at which it was adopted.
ARTICLE X Standing Committees
The president with the approval of the Board of Directors shall
appoint such Committees as may be necessary to perform the functions
of the organization and he shall define their duties. Among the
Committees appointed by him shall be the following Standing Committees,
whose membership may contain non-Board members:
TOURNAMENT
PUBLICITY
CONDUCT AND ETHICS
SUNSHINE
MEMBERSHIP
PROPERTY MANAGER
ARTICLE XI
There shall be a nonplaying Director for all Unit games.
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