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A reminder that the BCCF AGM will be held as usual between rounds at the Keres Memorial on Sunday, May 19.
If you attended last year's meeting, you will know that we need to consider some constitutional issues. Some proposed changes are given below for discussion at the meeting (with a view to proposing any motions for the 2014 AGM).
We will also need a new President as I will not be running again.
There are a number of issues with the current constitution. I present first some suggested amendments as a concrete proposal. You should refer to the constitution (available on the BCCF website) for the original text. General remarks and notes follow.
Suggested Amendments:
1) That the purposes of the society listed in paragraph (2) have the following addition: 2 (d) To promote and support provincial championships.
2) That paragraph 8(a) be replaced by:
8(a) The Board of Directors of the Federation shall consist of a minimum of six people. Positions shall be named and appointed at the Annual General Meeting to reflect the needs and activity of the Society. These shall include the Officers of the Society (as defined in paragraph 8(b) and selected other representatives deemed appropriate by the AGM. Example positions include but are not limited to: regional vice presidents, junior coordinator(s), Club Coordinator, Tournament Coordinator, and Chess Federation of Canada governors for BC. The AGM may allocate certain positions to be filled by the President.
3) That paragraph 9(g) (dealing with electing CFC governors by region) be deleted.
4) That a new sub-paragraph be added to paragraph 9 as:
The AGM shall have the authority to designate (and remove such designation) certain chess organizations as an affiliate of the BCCF and that organization(s) shall have the right to nominate a member to the board.
5) That Paragraph 12 (Duties off the Secretary) be replaced by:
It shall be the duty of the Secretary to keep a record of the proceedings of all general and Board meetings. He shall verify membership status when required of members and shall carry out the duties usual to his office, including the pro-mulgation of notices of all notices of all meetings, and such additional duties as may from time to time be assigned to him by the Board.
6) That a sub-Paragraph be added to Paragraph 17 as:
17 (4): The age of majority to vote on BCCF motions is 14 years of age. The age of majority to assume a BCCF office is 18 years of age.
Notes & issues:
1. The purposes of the society are listed under item (2) as a few generic things. In terms of what the BCCF actually does and what it spends it's money on, nothing is mentioned about having the responsibility to run and promote provincial championships where numbers and interest warrant. Personally, I would consider this a core purpose of the society. [and perhaps other events, e.g. the Keres]
2. The list of Members of the Board of Directors (Section 8a) does not correspond well to the current size or actual activity of the BCCF and is not very flexible in terms of change in how the BCCF operates. In particular, we no longer have the need or ability to have regional Vice Presidents, Tournament Coordinator, Publicity Coordinator, or Clubs Coordinator. I would suggest that the wording be something more in line with "the positions of the Board of Directors may include .....". Possibly, a minimum board size might be suggested rather than specifying particular positions.
3. The constitution does not contemplate filling some positions by appointment, (as is currently done for the WebMaster), only by election. There should be some statement that allows for the AGM to create a position, but that the responsibility for filling it belongs to the President (or perhaps the Officers).
4. Junior Coordinator: The actual case is that BC Junior Chess is not part of the BCCF either administratively or functionally and it's function is to administer many kids who are not members of the BCCF (or CFC) and do not contribute financially to the BCCF. Presently the position of Junior Coordinator is filled by Ken Jensen who is also the face of BC Junior Chess so there is no conflict per se but it could happen that someone else who is not part of BC Junior Chess is elected Junior Coordinator. I think the right approach is something like considering BC Junior Chess to be an affiliate organization, that the constitution allow the AGM to recognize affiliate organizations, and to allow the affilate organization to select themselves a representative to the BCCF Board of governors (rather than elected by the AGM). That does not preclude the AGM from electing themselves additional Junior Coordinators from people who are involved with junior chess but are not part of BC Junior Chess or to deal with junior issues that are not covered by BC Junior Chess.
5. CFC governors. Strictly speaking, this is not a BCCF constitutional issue, but a CFC one. Anyway, we have a problem in that there are too many CFC governors relative to the number of people who are interested and willing to work at the position. Often, the people we arm twist into filling the position do not contribute or vote in BCCF board of governors motions (and also are often inactive as CFC governors as well).
6. The condition that at least one CFC governor be from each region of BC is also impossible to deal with [and possibly not consistent with the CFC constitution]. Also, there is the possibility that we would have fewer governors than regions. I think this provision should be dropped.
7. Duties of the Secretary: "keep a correct record of all members". This has never been done and is not really how membership works anymore and we don't need a list of members (apart from being a lot of work). What is required is something more like, if necessary, confirm the membership of a person (e.g. that if at the AGM a person's membership is challenged, the Secretary investigate and rule on the case).
8. Quorum: [10 people]. This has sometimes been difficult to fill at the AGM. When the size of the BCCF has decreased, perhaps 10 people is too large a number. Perhaps too, we need other different provisions to guard against an "unfriendly takeover" by a group not representative of BC chess.
9. Voting by junior members: No mention is made of an age of majority for junior members either for BCCF voting purposes or for purposes of chess administration. Nor is there any provision for extremely young members to be represented by their guardian (again, either for voting at the AGM or for representation in chess disputes. There are a few issues here a) a junior may (or may not) have the capacity to represent himself in chess matters pertaining to himself but not necessarily in general governance of the BCCF, this might not be purely a function of age b) certain parents who are not themselves members may be disruptive
10. There is no distinction in the BCCF constitution between types of BCCF board members but in fact CFC governors are a different category governed by a different constitution (the CFC constitution) and in principle are elected by a separate group of people and in their role on the CFC board, have no obligations towards the BCCF. They are also elected for different time periods (BCCF is from May to May and CFC is July to July). Some clarification of this might be in order.
If you attended last year's meeting, you will know that we need to consider some constitutional issues. Some proposed changes are given below for discussion at the meeting (with a view to proposing any motions for the 2014 AGM).
We will also need a new President as I will not be running again.
There are a number of issues with the current constitution. I present first some suggested amendments as a concrete proposal. You should refer to the constitution (available on the BCCF website) for the original text. General remarks and notes follow.
Suggested Amendments:
1) That the purposes of the society listed in paragraph (2) have the following addition: 2 (d) To promote and support provincial championships.
2) That paragraph 8(a) be replaced by:
8(a) The Board of Directors of the Federation shall consist of a minimum of six people. Positions shall be named and appointed at the Annual General Meeting to reflect the needs and activity of the Society. These shall include the Officers of the Society (as defined in paragraph 8(b) and selected other representatives deemed appropriate by the AGM. Example positions include but are not limited to: regional vice presidents, junior coordinator(s), Club Coordinator, Tournament Coordinator, and Chess Federation of Canada governors for BC. The AGM may allocate certain positions to be filled by the President.
3) That paragraph 9(g) (dealing with electing CFC governors by region) be deleted.
4) That a new sub-paragraph be added to paragraph 9 as:
The AGM shall have the authority to designate (and remove such designation) certain chess organizations as an affiliate of the BCCF and that organization(s) shall have the right to nominate a member to the board.
5) That Paragraph 12 (Duties off the Secretary) be replaced by:
It shall be the duty of the Secretary to keep a record of the proceedings of all general and Board meetings. He shall verify membership status when required of members and shall carry out the duties usual to his office, including the pro-mulgation of notices of all notices of all meetings, and such additional duties as may from time to time be assigned to him by the Board.
6) That a sub-Paragraph be added to Paragraph 17 as:
17 (4): The age of majority to vote on BCCF motions is 14 years of age. The age of majority to assume a BCCF office is 18 years of age.
Notes & issues:
1. The purposes of the society are listed under item (2) as a few generic things. In terms of what the BCCF actually does and what it spends it's money on, nothing is mentioned about having the responsibility to run and promote provincial championships where numbers and interest warrant. Personally, I would consider this a core purpose of the society. [and perhaps other events, e.g. the Keres]
2. The list of Members of the Board of Directors (Section 8a) does not correspond well to the current size or actual activity of the BCCF and is not very flexible in terms of change in how the BCCF operates. In particular, we no longer have the need or ability to have regional Vice Presidents, Tournament Coordinator, Publicity Coordinator, or Clubs Coordinator. I would suggest that the wording be something more in line with "the positions of the Board of Directors may include .....". Possibly, a minimum board size might be suggested rather than specifying particular positions.
3. The constitution does not contemplate filling some positions by appointment, (as is currently done for the WebMaster), only by election. There should be some statement that allows for the AGM to create a position, but that the responsibility for filling it belongs to the President (or perhaps the Officers).
4. Junior Coordinator: The actual case is that BC Junior Chess is not part of the BCCF either administratively or functionally and it's function is to administer many kids who are not members of the BCCF (or CFC) and do not contribute financially to the BCCF. Presently the position of Junior Coordinator is filled by Ken Jensen who is also the face of BC Junior Chess so there is no conflict per se but it could happen that someone else who is not part of BC Junior Chess is elected Junior Coordinator. I think the right approach is something like considering BC Junior Chess to be an affiliate organization, that the constitution allow the AGM to recognize affiliate organizations, and to allow the affilate organization to select themselves a representative to the BCCF Board of governors (rather than elected by the AGM). That does not preclude the AGM from electing themselves additional Junior Coordinators from people who are involved with junior chess but are not part of BC Junior Chess or to deal with junior issues that are not covered by BC Junior Chess.
5. CFC governors. Strictly speaking, this is not a BCCF constitutional issue, but a CFC one. Anyway, we have a problem in that there are too many CFC governors relative to the number of people who are interested and willing to work at the position. Often, the people we arm twist into filling the position do not contribute or vote in BCCF board of governors motions (and also are often inactive as CFC governors as well).
6. The condition that at least one CFC governor be from each region of BC is also impossible to deal with [and possibly not consistent with the CFC constitution]. Also, there is the possibility that we would have fewer governors than regions. I think this provision should be dropped.
7. Duties of the Secretary: "keep a correct record of all members". This has never been done and is not really how membership works anymore and we don't need a list of members (apart from being a lot of work). What is required is something more like, if necessary, confirm the membership of a person (e.g. that if at the AGM a person's membership is challenged, the Secretary investigate and rule on the case).
8. Quorum: [10 people]. This has sometimes been difficult to fill at the AGM. When the size of the BCCF has decreased, perhaps 10 people is too large a number. Perhaps too, we need other different provisions to guard against an "unfriendly takeover" by a group not representative of BC chess.
9. Voting by junior members: No mention is made of an age of majority for junior members either for BCCF voting purposes or for purposes of chess administration. Nor is there any provision for extremely young members to be represented by their guardian (again, either for voting at the AGM or for representation in chess disputes. There are a few issues here a) a junior may (or may not) have the capacity to represent himself in chess matters pertaining to himself but not necessarily in general governance of the BCCF, this might not be purely a function of age b) certain parents who are not themselves members may be disruptive
10. There is no distinction in the BCCF constitution between types of BCCF board members but in fact CFC governors are a different category governed by a different constitution (the CFC constitution) and in principle are elected by a separate group of people and in their role on the CFC board, have no obligations towards the BCCF. They are also elected for different time periods (BCCF is from May to May and CFC is July to July). Some clarification of this might be in order.