Hilton Continental Ballroom 4
Friday September 4, 2015
San Francisco, CA
Approved at the 2016 All-Member Business Meeting on September 1, 2016
D Lake introduces the proposed changes to the constitution and bylaws that Council is proposing, as well as the process that will need to take place for the alterations to be approved by the membership. S. Smith discusses the rationale for Council’s decision to revise the bylaws and Council’s role. An APSA member suggests that the Vice President position be maintained. A second APSA member suggests that the position lessens the diversity of the Council. Lake believes by adding at-large members the diversity issues will be resolved. J. Scott, having served as a member of the nominating committee, council, and as a vice president, reinforces the importance of the Vice President and the diversity it will bring. J. Scott asks how the committee came to their decisions and Lake explains. A motion is made to accept the proposed language into article V. section 2 to include 3 Vice Presidents. An attendee suggests changing the second bullet point to specify that vice presidents must be former members of the association’s Council. K. Thelen then questions if the additional three at-large members should serve one year as vice presidents. Super clarifies the procedures that must be followed in order for the amendments to the bylaws to be accepted. V. Martinez Ebers conveys that she would not like to accept the friendly amendment since it does nothing to help diversity. T. Affigne accepts this. K. Monroe believes that institutional memory is worth maintaining. J. Hochschild and N. Hirschman provide their reasoning for and against the amendment respectively. A guest suggests increasing Council by three members to a total of 32 members, and changing the language to reflect this. The motion is made, seconded, and approved.
Lake explains that the amendments suggested by J. Mansbridge were considered and endorsed at the Council meeting on September 2, 2015. The proposed amendments suggest 50 members be required rather than 1% to nominate alternative candidate, require nominating committee to publish nominees 120 days before the all-member business meeting, and specify alternative nominees must be published 60 days in advance. The motion is called to question and seconded. Motion passes.
Lake then explains Mansbridge’s amendment to the process for having a topic brought before the membership at the all-member business meeting, and Council’s recommendations of her changes. Mansbridge accepts Council’s changes to her amendment. The motion to amend is called to question and seconded by J. Koppell, and passed. J. Stoner proposes an amendment to article I, section IV, on limitations. The motion is made to include language from the constitution that states, “The Association will not commit its members on questions of public policy or not take positions not immediately concerned with its direct purpose as stated above.” D. Lake requests a motion, which is made, seconded, and discussed. Lake mentions that the current constitution is not up to DC standards, but he fears that taking this piece may make the bylaws noncompliant with DC law. Motion to table the discussion is seconded and approved.
T. Affigne introduces a motion to modify article III, section 3, c. 2 to replace 10% with 3% for the number of individuals needed to have a petition accepted for a proposal to be sent to the membership. J. Koppell expresses that there has to be an urgent reason for APSA to consider something mid-year rather than at the next all-member business meeting. J. Mansbridge believes it should be 5%. D. Lublin does not agree with the amendment, but believes that the 5% is a good compromise. T. Affigne accepts the friendly amendment of 5%. The motion is seconded and passed.
D. Lublin moves to pass the proposed bylaws. J. Stoner calls absence of quorum. R. Hero explains that a quorum is called at the beginning of the meeting. J. Stoner explains that if you lose a quorum during the meeting a vote would not be valid. T. Affigne affirms that a quorum can be broken at any time when a member of the body questions the presence of the quorum. A motion to continue the meeting is made, seconded, and passed. A guest explains that under Robert’s Rules of Order, it is left up to the chairman of the meeting to decide in consultation with the Parliamentarian how to continue the meeting. R. Hero chooses to continue. J. Stoner does not believe the membership is effectively informed of the meeting. He believes that the process did not allow for members opposing the Council’s decisions to muster up support for this meeting. Smith confirms the e-mails and notices sent to the membership about the voting that would take place at this meeting along with the links to all appropriate documents. A motion is introduced to send all members a constitutional amendment as follows: “Replace (a) APSA constitution articles I to IX and (b) APSA bylaws chapters I to VII with new bylaws of the American Political Science Association (2015), as proposed by the APSA ad hoc Committee on Governance Reform, approved by the APSA Council, and as amended by this meeting.” J Berry calls the motion into question. The motion is seconded and passed.
S. Smith moves to approve the articles of incorporation. The motion is seconded, and passed. S. Smith announces the Council nomination slate and asks for any additional nominees, there are none. Motion to approve the slate by acclamation by D. Lublin, seconded, and passed. K. Thelen gives her treasurer’s report that the association is in sound financial standing with an investment total of $3.5 million, T&D trust portfolio of $14 million and the Congressional Fellowship Program portfolio with $15.5 million. Projected APSA revenue for the current year is $7.5 million from operations and $7 million from operating expenses. The year-end net profit was about $500,000. J. Scott asks J. Hochschild to conduct a study on the Nominating committee and suggest ways for improving diversity of the nominees. Hochschild agreed.
R. Hero adjourns the meeting. ■
