Rule changes again...

[McBunz]

Ok... so a large number of us are not happy with the rule change in measuring.

How many of you have written your director.. Nothing will ever change unless you

take the time to do so.. Changes to the Standard of Perfection is the Bible of the

miniature horse breed.. and I feel any changes to this standard is the business of

all members.. this is what I wrote my director.

"As you probably already know there is an uproar about

the change made in measuring at the national meeting.

I would like to propose a change that in the future all changes made to The Standard of Perfection be voted

on by all members via a ballot sent out with the renewal of memberships. Individual votes would then be sent to our area directors.. This way they could be

counted by each director and ready to tally at the

general meeting...

I am not talking day to day running of the AMHA...

just changes to the Standard of Perfection.. "

 

[McBunz]

Nobody can tell me that adding up 13 numbers is too much work to be done before the National meeting starts..

 

[Mona]

Nobody can tell me that adding up 13 numbers is too much work to be done before the National meeting starts..

Sorry, but you lost me with this comment?? I do not follow?

And yes, I sure did write to my director...I just hope it got to them. I will have to find out on Monday who my Director even is since the one I contacted (as listed on the AMHA site and in the World) is outdated. The one I sent it to said she will pass it along, but I would like to know who it is going to and I would like to send it myself again, to ensure they get it. Or maybe someone reading this knows who the director for Ontario is now and can let me know? Thanks.

 

[McBunz]

Okay I will try to clear this up... A ballot is sent out with renewal... each person fills it in and sends it to

their director.. He counts up the for and against totals and presents this to be added together with the counts of all other directors.. The motion is presented at the meeting and the vote tally is read .... so many for and so many against the motion.. Done..

Well yes I was wrong... add up 26 numbers .. for and against for each director..and few more for other countries. If you have more than one director in your area one can be chosen to mail your ballots to.

Any way you look at it there would be no more than half an hours work at the National meeting to see

if a motion was passed or not..

 

[Tango]

(I posted this on another thread, maybe it would be better here.)

Maybe it's time for a major change in how and when things are voted on and become rules/bylaws.

Instead of voting and passing proposed changes at the National Meeting every year, why not bring to the National Meeting the items to be discussed and then decide which of those items should be placed on a write-in ballot included with the end-of-year annual membership renewal so that EVERY MEMBER, when sending in their renewal check, can also vote and mail in their ballots at the same time. Then, at the next Annual Meeting, the results of the balloting are presented, and at that time the items that were voted on can then by passed or not depending on the GENERAL MEMBERSHIP ballot counts.

Then it starts over again - bringing items to the National Meeting, decide what to put on the end of the year ballot - renewals and ballots are sent in at the end of year, results presented at the Annual Meeting......

That should be the cycle of the whole process. That way, every member has the opportunity to vote.

If you think the cost of mailing would be expensive, then perhaps a balloting fee could be charged and paid by those that send in their ballots along with their membership renewal.

Nikki Faubus

 

[Songcatcher]

(I posted this on another thread, maybe it would be better here.)

Maybe it's time for a major change in how and when things are voted on and become rules/bylaws.

Instead of voting and passing proposed changes at the National Meeting every year, why not bring to the National Meeting the items to be discussed and then decide which of those items should be placed on a write-in ballot included with the end-of-year annual membership renewal so that EVERY MEMBER, when sending in their renewal check, can also vote and mail in their ballots at the same time. Then, at the next Annual Meeting, the results of the balloting are presented, and at that time the items that were voted on can then by passed or not depending on the GENERAL MEMBERSHIP ballot counts.

Then it starts over again - bringing items to the National Meeting, decide what to put on the end of the year ballot - renewals and ballots are sent in at the end of year, results presented at the Annual Meeting......

That should be the cycle of the whole process. That way, every member has the opportunity to vote.

If you think the cost of mailing would be expensive, then perhaps a balloting fee could be charged and paid by those that send in their ballots along with their membership renewal.

Nikki Faubus

I think its a great idea. However, IF I understand correctly, this would require a change to the bylaws, which would require a 2/3 vote of those attending the convention (after going through all the proper channels to propose the change). It's probably safe to say that the 60 or so who passed the measurement change to begin with will be opposed to this. Therefore, after going through all the other work to get this presented for a vote, it would require getting approximately twice as many people to attend the convention in order to get 120 to outvote the 60 (using approximate numbers of course.)

 

[McBunz]

If you don't even try to get changes made you are right back where you started from.. Anyhow this is my

last post on the subject.. It is up to you... the members to make changes.. back to lurking..

 

[Songcatcher]

If you don't even try to get changes made you are right back where you started from.. Anyhow this is my

last post on the subject.. It is up to you... the members to make changes.. back to lurking..

Hope you didn't misunderstand me. I'm not saying someone should not try to make changes, simply pointing out that it is going to be a big task.

 

[McBunz]

If you don't even try to get changes made you are right back where you started from.. Anyhow this is my

last post on the subject.. It is up to you... the members to make changes.. back to lurking..

Hope you didn't misunderstand me. I'm not saying someone should not try to make changes, simply pointing out that it is going to be a big task.

Well I was willing to try.... asked for support... received a grand total of two replies... and like I said

before it is no skin off my butt.. If the membership will not try to stand up for themselves, nobody

can do it for them.

 

[Tango]

Hey, Songcatcher, I know you are right. Was thinking the very same thing when I was typing my "idea" and how very unlikely that anything so democratic could possibly take place with our organization.

Imagine how our COUNTRY would be if it were run the same way - imagine there was only a Presidential "Convention" that was held where only those who attended could actually vote to elect a president. What a wild and crazy world that would be.............

Nikki

 

[Buckskin gal]

Just curious...when have we been able to vote on every issue that our government enacts? Our vote for President doesn't even count here in Montana. We do get to vote for directors with AMHA and sure curious to know how many members were interested enough in that association to vote for one. Even I forgot to send my vote in but then that is my problem because I was given the opportunity ...also my problem f I don't keep in touch with my area director ro know what is going on. This same problem of voting on every issue has beern hashed over in the past with AMHR...we don't get to vote on everything with them either...if we could have, I sure wouldt have votedagainst the increrase of costs to do business with them.

Hey, Songcatcher, I know you are right. Was thinking the very same thing when I was typing my "idea" and how very unlikely that anything so democratic could possibly take place with our organization.

Imagine how our COUNTRY would be if it were run the same way - imagine there was only a Presidential "Convention" that was held where only those who attended could actually vote to elect a president. What a wild and crazy world that would be.............

Nikki

 

[Tango]

You may not think your vote for President counts but at least you have a polling place in your locale to go to and can cast your ballot if you choose, whether it be for President, Governor, etc. or major issues. You even have the opportunity to vote by absentee ballot.

Anytime an organization proposes a MAJOR rule change, one that is fundamental to the founding of the organization, then yes, I believe the General Membership should have a REASONABLE and CONVENIENT opportunity to vote on said issue.

Nikki

 

[Minimor]

Heck, I can even vote for President, even though I am living in Canada, I am still a US citizen & have voting rights...does my vote count for anything? I don't know, but at least I can vote, they don't tell me sorry, if you're not present at a specific gathering in DC you can't vote.

Locally, our city council holds public votes on major issues; the latest one is coming up shortly, and city residents will make the decision on if a casino will or will not be allowed to open in our city. Council wants the casino, but if a majority of residents vote no, the idea will be scrapped. If this sort of thing works for a city I think it could work for a horse association too. (It's been done in other organizations.)

Frankly, I still don't see what is wrong with proxy voting, for both registries. For those worried about costs associated with mail in ballots, proxy voting would be a much cheaper option. The only thing then is, each individual must be able to give their proxy to someone they trust to vote the right way on their behalf.