Talk:Constitution

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Amendments to the Constitution for AGM 2020

Making notes for amendments that need to be made, but making them in advance of the next AGM. --Kate (talk) 14:52, 26 November 2019 (UTC)

Definitions

Articles of Association - needs to link to File:Nottingham Hackspace Ltd M&A.pdf

Nottinghack and The Space needs to go above The Board, in order to match up the definitions for The Board with Trustee

Member needs to refer to Section 1.1 of the Articles, not Section 2.

Annual General Meetings

Add in a new 2.3.1 and adjust all numbering afterwards accordingly.
2.3.1 All submissions must identify what exists in the current Constitution and/or Articles and what is being proposed as a change

Add in 2.7.1
2.7.1 A member can attend the AGM through a proxy vote, as specified in 1.161-1.172 of the Articles

Amend 2.8
2.8 Constitutional changes can only be carried by a 60% of more majority of AGM attendees

Monstertruckglue (talk) I understand that changes to the constitution or articles require a 75% or greater majority under UK companies law

Move 2.4, 2.5, and 2.6 down under 2.9 and rearrange numbers accordingly, so that all the EGM stuff is together

Terminations

Amend 4.3
4.3 any sum as part of their monthly dues from the member to Nottinghack is not paid in full within six weeks of it falling due - a minimum of one reminder will be sent during that time;

Elections

Amend 5.3.1
A replacement Trustee servers the remainder of the retiring Trustee's term. This does not count towards the consecutive terms counted in 1.3

Renumbering sections

The flow would be better if it went:

1. Trustees
2. Elections
3. Making Decisions
4. Board Meetings
5. Annual General Meetings
6. Terminations

This way it goes (loosely):

1. What trustees are
2. How we get them in
3. How they make decisions
4. How we communicate monthly
5. How we communicate annually
6. What we have to do in case of an ex-member

Monstertruckglue (talk) 18:01, 26 November 2019 (UTC) i'm a little confused around board meetings, Trustee meetings, and members meetings constitutionally.

Effective discussion

As we saw in 2019, the current method and timeline for submissions does not give any room for discussion, debate or clarification before the amendments are locked.

I would propose making alterations such that:

• submissions carry with them a clear definition of the purpose of the amendment, covering what currently happens, why this is perceived to be a problem, and how the amendment aims to redress that
• submissions in the main carry with them the name of the proposer, unless they have specifically requested anonymity
• submissions be put forward no later than 2 weeks before the AGM
• submissions be able to be amended up to 1 week (7 days) before the AGM by either the original proposer (with a reason for the amended submission) or by the Trustees in order to clarify its meaning or effectiveness
• in the event that a submission is amended by the Trustees, the original proposer can ask that it be voted on in the original form should the amended submission not pass

Jymbob (talk) 15:20, 26 November 2019 (UTC)

Two points here form me ('RepRap' Matt)
First 2.3 allows for "submissions for the AGM agenda", this is not just a invite for Constitutional changes but any item that a member might like to be discussed at the AGM (not all there Agenda items will result in a need for a vote)
Second the "at least" dates in 2.2, 2.3 and 2.3.2 already give the time line you have mentioned.
At least 28 days before the AGM, members are invited to submit their agenda item
At least 14 days before the AGM, all submission should be in
At leat 7 days before the AGM the agenda is published
This give the trustees at least 7 days to work thought all submissions, decided which are going in the AGM agenda and work with the submitter and who ever less they chose to help clear up the wording and prep the item for release
'RepRap' Matt 20:26, 26 November 2019 (UTC)

Also these are "at least" dates, full allowing for these dead lines to be stretched further back before the AGM as wanted. But being a former trustees i know for well how much work we had to do that it's always trick to preempt stuff before is hits urgent --'RepRap' Matt 20:28, 26 November 2019 (UTC)

Thanks Matt. The issue I was trying to address is that this year a couple of big amendments have been put forward which don't really go into enough detail for an informed decision to be made, or raise questions around whether they would actually bring about the change they're meant to. I guess what I'm trying to suggest could be described as a "clarification window". I fully appreciate how hard the Trustees work, but if this were baked in to the timetable it might lead to more engagement with the proposals. Jymbob (talk) 19:36, 27 November 2019 (UTC)

Electronic voting

Apart from agreeing with a lot of Jymbob's stuff (that certainly is a good set of suggestions we should work on for 2020 to improve submissions), a further proposal to divorce in-presence AGM from the actual voting on items, something like;

• AGM is there to do X, Y and Z (financials, what we've done, items for discussion, legal responsibilities) - really would be nice if standardised so is clear what is going on. EGM still is separate one-item agenda.
• Items for voting will be discussed and amended as necessary in the AGM and finalised there (proxy trustee if the person submitting it isn't present or is anonymous)
• Voting will be done electronically within a week of the AGM for all members (options for secret voting as appropriate)
• XXXTREME OPTION: Quorum could be removed from the AGM or set very low since voting no longer is enforced there (downside: less presence to discuss the items being voted on :( )

Some hackspaces do virtual AGMs and remote voting. Also a possible option?

Monstertruckglue (talk) 17:54, 26 November 2019 (UTC)I think the constitution could be amended to allow remote electronic voting, its a perennial suggestion, my concern is defining the implementation, should be secure, anonymous if needed, valid (only members can vote, only vote once) and probably need to define what to do in case of a technical breakdown. the actual system we use could evolve with technology.

Andrew Armstrong (talk) 15:58, 26 November 2019 (UTC)

It's really not clear what the rules are for an EGM Jymbob (talk) 19:38, 27 November 2019 (UTC)