Notice is hereby given of proposed amendments to the Society for Louisiana Iris International Constitution and the Society’s Bylaws that will be proposed at the 2024 Annual Convention of the Society in Dallas, April 26-27, 2024.
Amendment to the Constitution
Resolved, the Constitution of the Society for Louisiana Iris International is hereby repealed in its entirety.
Amendment to the Bylaws
In Article IV. Officers and Board of Directors, add Section 5, to read as follows:
Section 5. An Executive Committee of the Board composed of the President, Vice-President, Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, Treasurer, and Fleur de Lis Editor, may act for the Board in approved policy areas between regular board meetings. All actions of the Executive Committee should be promptly reported to the Board by the president.
Reasons for the Amendments
Unlike most organizations of this type, the Society is governed by two fundamental documents rather than just Bylaws. The two documents are extensively redundant, but the Constitution takes precedence.
The most significant problem with the Constitution is that it can be amended only at an Annual Convention of the Society. However, annual conventions have not been held each year recently, and there is no assurance that they will occur annually in the future. The lack of a yearly convention leaves the organization without the ability to make needed changes on a timely basis.
On the other hand, the Bylaws can be amended in several ways, including at a convention and by the Board of Directors. If the Constitution is repealed, the Bylaws become the governing document but with greater flexibility than under the Constitution. It is the view of many that the Bylaws are due for significant “clean-up,” and a Constitution that is cumbersome to amend impedes this process.
The only significant provision in the Constitution that is not also in the Bylaws is the establishment of an Executive Committee. The Bylaw Amendment above inserts the language of the Constitution, creating an Executive Committee in Article IV of the Bylaws.
I intend to offer these amendments as an individual SLI member at the Annual Meeting during the Dallas convention. I have conferred with several officers of the organization and have received no negative feedback, but the amendments are my own. I want to put the organization in the position of considering a series of future Bylaw amendments, but the Constitution effectively makes Bylaw reform moot.
The current Constitution and Bylaws are available online at:
https://www.louisianairisgnois.com/SLIDocuments/SLIConstitution.pdf
https://www.louisianairisgnois.com/SLIDocuments/SLIBylaws.pdf
I will be happy to provide additional information.
Patrick O’Connor
pfoconnor@cox.net
504-343-1399
