Constitution of the Treasure Valley Radio Association

I. NAME:

The name of this organization shall be the Treasure Valley Radio Association, and it shall have a perpetual existence. Such existence shall be terminated only upon the unanimous consent of the membership as shown by secret ballot.

II. MEMBERSHIP:

Class of membership shall be determined as follows:

A. Full Membership: Any licensed Amateur shall be eligible for full membership in the Association, provided they pay the prescribed dues. Term of membership and prescribed dues shall be as outlined in the bylaws of the Association.

B. Life Membership: Any licensed amateur shall be eligible for Life membership in the Association, provided they meet the eligibility requirements as set forth in the by-laws and are approved by a single majority vote of the membership. This membership shall be for life with no required annual dues and full voting rights.

C. Associate Membership: Any non-licensed person may join the Association by paying one half of the prescribed dues of a full member. Associate members may participate in all club activities, discussions, be assigned to appointive offices and committees. They may not run for any elective office and have no voting rights.

D. Honorary membership: An honorary membership may be conferred upon any person whomsoever by the consent of the membership. Their membership shall be for life with no required dues and no voting rights.

III. AIMS and PURPOSES:

The aims and purposes of the Association shall be as follows:

A. Radio art and advancements in skill:

1. To promote public and individual interest in the radio art.

2. Too assist all interested persons in obtaining federal radio operator and station licenses.

3. To provide further incentive to advancement in personal skill and license grade by providing incentives and examples for emulation.

4. To provide a technical and personal information exchange between members of the Association, including the establishment of a technical library.

B. Community:

1. To establish and experiment with emergency communications networks for the use of the community.

2. To provide a means for the training of radio operators in message handling and emergency operations.

C. General:

1. To establish and maintain an Association amateur radio station for the use of licensed members and visitors.

2. To provide recreational activities for the members of the Association and their family.

D. Organic:

1. To do business as a non-profit association of citizens.

2. To have and hold property for the use of the Association.

IV. ORGANIZATION:

The Association shall be organized as follows;

A. Executive Committee: The governing body of the Association shall be the executive committee, which shall be composed of the following constitutionally provided elective officers, the chairmen of the standing committees, and the club license trustee. It shall be the duty of the executive committee to conduct all Association business and report on such to the membership at the regular monthly meeting:

B. Officers:

1. President

a. The term of office of the president shall be one year.

b. The president shall be a licensed amateur radio operator of any class of license and must be at least 21 years of age.

c. The duties of the president shall include presiding at all meetings of the Association, or its executive committee. He shall be the executive officer of the Association, and it shall be his duty to see that all directives of the Association be carried out.

2. Vice-President

a. The qualifications and terms of office shall be the same as for the president.

b. The duties of the vice-president shall be to act in the place of the president in his absence.

3. Secretary-Treasurer

a. The term of office for the secretary-treasurer shall be for two years.

b. The secretary-treasurer shall be a licensed radio amateur of any class license who is at least 21 years of age.

c. The duties of the secretary-treasurer shall be:

1. To keep the minutes of each meeting of the Association, it’s executive committee, or it’s board of directors.

2. To collect and keep an accounting of all moneys of the Association.

3. To carry on all Association correspondence (including corporation annual status with the state of Idaho)

4. To report periodically to the Association, also upon demand, on the state of the Associations affairs.

5. To keep an inventory of all goods and equipment owned by the Association, and record its location.

6. To be responsible for the safekeeping of all records of the Association.

7. To keep the constitution and by-laws of the Association up-to-date by adding all constitutional amendments and changes in the by-laws as required.

4. Directors

a. There shall be three (3) directors.

b. The term of office shall be three years, with the terms of office of each director staggered.

c. Any person over 21 years of age, who holds a valid amateur radio license of any class is qualified for this office.

d. The duties of this office shall include,

1. To provide the secretary-treasurer with an up-to-date inventory of the Association's goods and equipment.

2. To hold in trust, in the name of the Association, all of the goods, equipment and property of the Association.

3. To approve all bills, prior to their being considered by the Association, for payment.

4. To appoint members of the Association to serve on the standing committees as needed. Appointments will be made after election of officers and prior to the beginning of the new term of office. This will allow the committee members to be prepared to perform assigned duties.

C. Standing Committees: Standing committees shall be as follows:

1. Finance Committee: The financial committee shall consist of three members not otherwise members of the executive committee. The secretary-treasurer shall be an ex-officio member without vote. It shall be the duties of the finance committee:

a: To provide the executive committee with a comprehensive budget prior to the start of a new year which will allow the new officers with necessary financial budgets and authorities to finance monthly expenses.

b: To examine the Association's financial records prior to start of a new year and provide a report to the Association of the Association's financial condition.

2. Activities Committee: The activities committee shall consist of five members. It shall be the duties of the activities committee:

a. To provide the membership with a schedule of activities for the ensuing year, each schedule to consist of all types of activities, including but not limited to technical, educational, operating, and social.

b. To make all arrangements for the execution of these activities.

3. Repeater Usage and Policies Committee: The repeater usage and policies committee shall consist of five members of any license class. It shall be the duties of the repeater usage and policies committee to:

a. Coordinate the usage of the Association's license equipment, including but not limited to, repeaters, translators, digital equipment, link radios, phone patches and other transmitters.

b. Provide, maintain, and update a comprehensive plan for the usage of the Association's aforementioned equipment, including, but not limited to, a procedure by which proposed nets may be permitted to use our repeaters and a procedure by which their use of the repeaters may be terminated.

c. Hold regular hearings for the purposes of granting repeater or denying further repeater use, the results of the committee decisions to be subsequently approved by the executive committee.

d. All decisions of this committee may be appealed to the executive committee.

4. Technical Committee: The technical committee shall consist of the Association station trustee, the chairmen of the equipment committee, and the repeater committee (where such committees exist), and members at large to bring the total to five.

a. The duty of the technical committee is to coordinate all Association activities of a technical nature.

5. Emergency Communications Committee: The emergency communications committee will consist of the Malheur county ARES emergency coordinator, the Payette county ARES emergency coordinator, the Washington county ARES emergency coordinator, where such emergency coordinators exist, and three members at large.

a. The purpose of this committee shall be to coordinate all Association matters pertaining to emergency communications.

6. Education Committee: The education committee shall consist of 5 members of any license class.

a. The purpose of the education committee shall be to carry out the aims and purposes of the Association as detailed in section III, article A.

D. Other Officers:

1. Honorary Officers: The only honorary officer of the Association shall be the immediate past-president.

a. Any person who has served at least seven months as president shall automatically become past-president.

b. A past-president remains one for as long as he remains a member of the Association.

c. The immediate past-president shall be an ex-officio member of the executive committee; he/she may preside at any meeting of the Association or its executive committee in the absence of both the president and vice-president if a quorum is otherwise provided.

2. Appointive Officers: Such officers as the publicity chairman, librarian, historian, social activities chairman, etc. may be set up as required by the Association. Qualification, duties, and appointments shall be provided in the by-laws of the Association.

3. None of the officers provided for in this article (IV, Section D), shall be deemed to be members of the executive committee for determining a quorum.

4. Club License Trustee: Any member in good standing of the Treasure Valley Radio Association may be selected by the executive committee to serve as the trustee of the Association's amateur radio station license and call sign. When feasible, consideration should be given by the executive committee to select a member holding an extra class amateur radio license for installation into this position for the benefit of the Association.

a. The trustee shall have final say regarding the legality or appropriateness of all projects and activities with which the club call sign is used.

b. It shall be the trustee's responsibility to insure legal operation, in accordance with FCC regulation, of all equipment and activities using the club call sign.

c. Final approval for any trustee to be appointed to this position must be made by a vote of the membership of the Association at any meeting where a legal quorum has been assembled, and, at any time, a vote of the membership may disqualify said appointee and a new member appointed as deemed necessary.

E. Quorum: A quorum for conduction of business of the Association at any meeting shall be 10 % of the voting members and shall include at least two of the elected officers (of which one must be the president, vice-president or immediate past-president). Association meetings may be held either at a physical location or via electronic means. All Association meetings shall be held in a manner to conform to regulations set forth in the by-laws.

V. ELECTION OF OFFICERS:

A. Elections: Elective officers shall be elected annually as prescribed in the by-laws of the Association.

B. Voting: Voting shall be done by written ballot and the majority of all votes cast shall be necessary for the election of said officer.

C. Absentee Ballots: If any member of the Association can not be present at the meeting set aside for election of officers, they may elect or choose to vote using an absentee ballot, but at no time will a vote by proxy be allowed. Absentee ballots must be in a sealed envelope and delivered to a member of the executive committee prior to the meeting when elections are held. Absentee ballots delivered after the election has been completed and candidates declared elected into said office, will be declared null and void and not allowed.

D. Installation: The elected officers shall be installed into their respective offices at the January meeting. At this meeting the outgoing President shall read their duties aloud to them, as laid out in this Constitution, and they shall be duly installed into their office after stating they understand these duties of their office.

VI. ASSOCIATION BY-LAWS:

Association by-laws shall be formulated and adopted by the Association to set up all necessary items not covered by this constitution. Such items as meeting dates and times, frequency of meetings, terms of membership and dues, funds and property, committees and any other necessary items for operation of the Association shall be included in these by-laws. These by-laws may not in any manner, change, alter or disagree with any article of this constitution, but are to provide additional information necessary for operation of the Association.

VII. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS:

This Constitution, or any part thereof; may be altered, amended or annulled at a regular meeting of the Association, only if the following conditions are met and adhered to by the membership.

A. Resolution: A resolution in writing must be submitted before the membership stating what article is to be amended and the reason for such amendments. Any necessary rewording of the article must be included in this resolution.

B. Readings: This resolution must be read at two regular meetings of the Association prior to balloting on the amendment.

C. Adoption: Amendments may be adopted only after a vote of the membership present at regular meeting shows a two-third majority of the members present favor this amendment.

VIII. Ratification:

This Constitution shall be considered ratified and the Association functioning upon it only after its approval by two-thirds of the current membership at the regular meeting set aside for its ratification. The ratification of this document shall be final upon affixing to this document the signatures of the members present at the regular meeting set aside for said ratification of this document. Any or all previous constitutions and by-laws of this Association shall be considered null and void at the time of ratification of this constitution.