The Long Island Woodworkers By-Laws

As revised on November 7, 2007

Article One: Purpose
The Long Island Woodworkers (LIW) advances the arts and crafts of fine woodworking through education, programs, and activities focused on sharing the knowledge, skill, and experience of woodworkers and the utilization of such knowledge, skill, and experience to provide educational and community services.

Article Two: Membership
Membership shall be available to any person with an interest in woodworking. A prospective member shall complete an application form furnished by the Membership Chairperson. Upon payment of the prescribed dues, he or she shall become a member, receive a membership card, and be placed on the membership roster and mailing list of the LIW. Members in good standing may vote, hold office, serve on committees, and participate in exhibits and other LIW activities.

Persons under the age of 18 years who are not a member of the LIW must be accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times during a LIW monthly meeting or workshop. To become a member, the minor and his/her parent or guardian must meet with the Membership Chairman at a monthly meeting in order to sign a membership consent form. The parent or guardian will be advised that their child’s participation in some activities of the LIW may be restricted due to safety concerns, as determined by the Executive Board of Directors. Once membership has been granted to a person under 18 years of age, the parent or guardian must assume total responsibility for monitoring their child during the meeting, and provide a means of transportation at the end of all LIW meetings.

To meet the necessary and proper expenses of the LIW, an annual membership fee shall be collected from each member with the amount of the fee to be set by the Board of Directors. The membership fee covers the LIW year, which runs from January to December. For new members, applications received after September 30th will apply for the remainder of the year and apply to the following full year.

Article Three: Board of Directors
The LIW shall elect through the general membership vote a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, two Trustees, Membership Chairperson. These collective positions shall be called the Executive Board of Directors. The Chairpersons of the following standing committees shall be nominated by the Executive Board and ratified by the general membership with a vote at a general meeting: Show Chair, Newsletter Chair, and Website Chair. These collective positions shall have the right to vote at a Board meeting. The Past President may remain a voting Board member ex-official for one year.

The Board of Directors shall have the right to establish committees deemed necessary for the running of the LIW. The Board of Directors shall also determine which of the committees shall be represented by a member or a full officer of the Board. If an officer of the Board holds more than one voting position, that person’s vote will only count for one.

A quorum of two-thirds members of the Board must be present at a Board of Directors meeting when matters of LIW policy, welfare, and finance are to be voted upon.

Should a vote be necessary at any meeting of the Board of Directors attended by an even number of Directors and if, and only if, a tie-vote should result, the President, or in his absence the Vice-President, shall be required to cast a second vote as a tie-breaker. T

he Board of Directors shall meet at least twice yearly or as the President deems necessary in order to conduct LIW business.

Article Four: Office Vacancy
If there is a death, resignation from office, or resignation from the LIW of any of its officers or Board members, the remaining Board shall, with at least a quorum present, and as soon as is practical, name a successor to carry out the unexpired term of office. If no successor is to be named, a reason shall be explained to the membership, preferably via the newsletter.

Article Five: LIW Meetings
LIW meetings shall be held once each month of the year at times and locations set by the Board of Directors. The Board may amend the schedule for extraordinary reasons.

Article Six: Committees
Committees shall administer routine activities of the LIW. The following standing committees shall be maintained in relation to their respective duties:

Program Committee
The Program Committee’s responsibilities include but are not necessarily restricted to the following: to schedule specific programs and workshops to meet the needs of the members. The Program Committee will also be responsible for keeping safe and maintaining LIW audio-visual equipment, and monthly meeting raffles and refreshment arrangements. A yearly budget will be set by the Board of Directors based on the request of the Program Committee Chairperson, and will be reviewed annually. The Board of Directors will establish the maximum amount that can be spent for any one LIW meeting or special event. The Vice-President is the Program Committee Chairperson.

Show Committee
The Show Committee will schedule and operate an annual showcase of member’s works, and will operate with a budget generated by the proceeds of previous shows. If the show is discontinued, the monies in the show budget will be remanded to the LIW treasury. The Board of Directors will review the show budget annually. If the position of Show Chair is vacated after the dates of the last show, the Show Committee will nominate a Show Chairperson and present it to the Board of Directors. The Board will vote for approval of the nominee and ratify the vote with the general membership at the next monthly meeting.

Newsletter Committee
The Newsletter Committee’s duties will include but not be limited to preparing and distributing a monthly newsletter to all members in good standing, and maintaining an annual budget authorized by the Board of Directors.

Website Committee
The Website Committee shall maintain and update the website URL www.liwoodworkers.org with current and pertinent LIW information. This will include establishing member access as determined by the current roster. The budget of the Website Committee will be reviewed annually and determined by the Board of Directors.

Library Committee
The Library Committee’s responsibilities will be to safeguard and distribute LIW books, tapes, and DVD’s at the monthly LIW meetings and to update the existing database as necessary. The Committee will also provide updated information to the Website Committee as necessary for listing items online. The budget of the Library Committee will be reviewed and determined by the Board of Directors.

Article Seven: Nominations and Elections
A Nominating Committee shall be assembled by the presiding officer at the September LIW meeting whose purpose is to create a list of candidates for office elections. The proposed slate for the Board of Directors shall be published in the LIW’s newsletter prior to the elections.

Elections shall be held annually at the November meeting. The Nominating Committee will present the proposed slate and additional nominations will be received from the floor. To be elected to office, a candidate must be a member for at least one year and have a majority of the vote of LIW members present. A tie vote must be redone at the same meeting or scheduled to be held again at the next meeting.

The term of office for President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Trustees, and Membership Chairperson shall be for one year. Officers may be re-elected to consecutive terms. The chairpersons of the standing committees shall also be elected annually. All elected positions shall run from January 1st to December 31st with the exception of Show Chair (see article 6).

Article Eight: Board Meetings
Meetings of the Board of Directors shall be open to any member of the LIW who shall have the right to state his views on any subject under discussion. Any LIW member may suggest a subject for Board discussion at a meeting. Any LIW member may take part in the discussions of the Board but may not cast a vote at Board meetings. Notice of a scheduled Board meeting will be announced at the previous LIW meeting or printed in the newsletter for members’ awareness, except in cases of emergency or extreme circumstance. Any changes to these by-laws are to be published in the newsletter.

Article Nine: Amendments to By-Laws
Proposed amendments to the by-laws by a LIW member shall be presented to the Executive Board in writing and shall contain the signatures of no less than ten (10) active members (in good standing) outside of the Board of Directors. The exception would be an amendment proposed by the President or a member of the Executive Board. If approved by the Executive Board, notice of the proposed amendments shall be published in the newsletter. Print copies of the proposed amendments shall be made available to the general membership, and shall be voted on by the members at the next regularly scheduled meeting. A two-thirds (2/3) approval vote of the assembled members shall be required to amend the by-laws.

Article Ten: Records and Financial Audits
The officers of the LIW shall keep appropriate records of the LIW’s business, including membership lists, minutes of the meetings, financial records, records of LIW assets, lists of past and scheduled speakers, and so on. The outgoing officers shall deliver those records to their successors prior to the first meeting of their new terms of office.

It shall be the duty of the Board of Directors to perform an audit of the accounts of the treasurer of the LIW whenever they consider it appropriate, but not less than once a year if regular reports are not issued giving adequate disclosure that satisfies the Board and its members.

Article Eleven: Reports
At the option of the presiding officer at each meeting, the reading of the minutes and the making of a President’s and/or Treasurer’s report may be waived except that at least once a year formal reports by these two officers shall be given to the membership of the LIW either in an open meeting or in writing.

Article Twelve: Buying and Selling
Conducting buying or selling activities during either formal or informal meetings shall be limited to items or services relating to woodworking that are made equally available to the entire membership present unless the Board of Directors has considered the situation and granted an exception.

Article Thirteen: Grants and Awards
The LIW may, as it chooses and as its resources permit, bestow scholarships, awards, and grants in aid or The Marketplace other forms of help or recognition on persons or organizations pursuing courses of study, doing scholarly research, or who are engaged or have been engaged in projects which are in keeping with the stated aims of the LIW.

Article Fourteen: LIW Representation
Members in good standing may use the LIW logo on stationary (business cards, letters, and forms) only if identifying themselves clearly with the word “member” printed in close proximity to the LIW logo, unless they are a current officer of the LIW, in which they may identify themselves in their current position in office. Clothing and items purchased and worn with the LIW logo shall be only for promotional consideration of the LIW, and not necessarily represent a LIW member or a person acting in an official capacity on behalf of the Long Island Woodworkers.