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[hcoop/zz_old/ikiwiki] / HcoopBylaws.mdwn
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ee25310d 1#pragma section-numbers off\r
2\r
3= Article 1. Name and Purpose =\r
4\r
5Section 101. The name of the Corporation shall be "HCOOP, Inc."\r
6\r
7Section 102. The purpose of the Corporation shall be to provide\r
8Internet hosting services for the mutual benefit of its members.\r
9\r
10= Article 2. Membership =\r
11\r
12Section 201. Membership in the Corporation shall be open to any\r
13individuals who are able to meet the requirements of\r
14membership.\r
15\r
16Section 202. Membership shall be granted by a majority vote by the\r
17board.\r
18\r
19Section 203. Each member shall have an equal vote in all general\r
20membership decisions, and shall have an ownership interest in the\r
21Corporation in proportion to the total amount of the member's business\r
22with the Corporation since its incorporation.\r
23\r
24Section 204. Before admission to the Corporation, a member shall make a deposit of money in an amount specified by Corporation policy. This deposit\r
25shall be returned to a member in good standing upon termination of\r
26membership, less any outstanding obligations of a member to\r
27the Corporation, as determined by the board.\r
28\r
29Section 205. Members shall be charged monthly dues and any other\r
30expenses delineated in the Corporation's policies as determined by\r
31the board.\r
32\r
33Section 206. Members may voluntarily terminate their memberships at\r
34any time by notifying the President of their intentions.\r
35 \r
36Section 207. A member may be expelled for cause by a two-thirds vote\r
37of the membership. Such a vote must be called by the board of directors.\r
38\r
39Section 208. The board may, by majority vote, expel any member who\r
40maintains outstanding debt to the Corporation for three consecutive months or more.\r
41This means that the member has paid less than the total dues owed to\r
42date.\r
43\r
44Section 209. Termination of membership, whether voluntary or\r
45involuntary, does not excuse a person's outstanding obligations or\r
46debts to the Corporation.\r
47\r
48Section 210. The board may suspend a member's privileges, other than\r
49the privilege to attend and vote in meetings, by majority vote at any time pending a vote on\r
50expulsion.\r
51\r
52= Article 3. Board of Directors =\r
53\r
54Section 301. The board shall consist of three members of the\r
55Corporation, and shall serve for terms of one year.\r
56\r
57Section 302. Board elections shall be held prior to the end of the\r
58previous board's term. Only members in good standing may run as candidates in board elections. Each member may vote for up to three\r
59candidates. The three candidates receiving the most votes shall serve\r
60in the new board. In case of ties, run-off elections\r
61shall be held with the candidates whose votes are tied.\r
62\r
63Section 303. Boardmembers may voluntarily resign their positions at\r
64any time.\r
65\r
66Section 304. Any boardmember may be removed by a two-thirds majority\r
67vote of the general membership at any time.\r
68\r
69Section 305. Any vacancy in the board shall be filled as\r
70soon as possible by a special membership election.\r
71\r
72Section 306. Boardmembers shall receive no compensation beyond reimbursement for expenses incurred in performing their duties.\r
73\r
74Section 307. The board shall have regular meetings scheduled at least\r
75four times per year, and special meetings as often as necessary.\r
76\r
77Section 308. The board shall vote to choose officers from the board of\r
78President, Treasurer, and Secretary. Individual boardmembers may\r
79serve multiple roles except no boardmember may be both Treasurer and\r
80Secretary.\r
81\r
82Section 309. The President shall preside over all meetings and\r
83maintain order.\r
84\r
85Section 310. The Treasurer shall handle the Corporation's financial\r
86matters, including preparing financial reports, writing checks,\r
87receiving member deposits and dues, and maintaining detailed financial\r
88records of the Corporation's business with members. The Treasurer\r
89shall submit a proposed budget in December for the following year, and\r
90shall be responsible for filing government tax forms.\r
91\r
92Section 311. The Secretary shall be responsible for keeping the\r
93Corporation's records. The Secretary shall keep logs and minutes for\r
94all meetings, as well as copies of all official Corporate documents.\r
95\r
96= Article 4. Decision-making =\r
97\r
98Section 401. All meetings, whether of the board or the general\r
99membership, shall be open to the entire membership. When possible\r
100these meetings should also be open for the general public to observe.\r
101\r
102Section 402. All votes shall be made with a public ballot, with the\r
103results of the vote recorded in the minutes of the next board meeting.\r
104\r
105Section 403. Decisions by the membership as a whole shall be accomplished through a voting system established by the board. Any member may initiate a vote, which must be announced to the entire membership. Members shall have one week from the time of announcement to cast votes on the issue. Vote results shall be determined based on the proportion of "Yes" votes out of total non-abstention votes cast, not out of the entire membership. The vote result shall only be binding if a quorum of twenty percent of the total membership votes on the issue.\r
106\r
107Section 404. Members who are not board members are only permitted to call potentially binding votes on revising the bylaws and removing board members.\r
108\r
109Section 405. The board may revise the Corporation's policies by\r
110majority vote at any board meeting. The Secretary is responsible for\r
111keeping and publishing up-to-date editions of the Corporation's\r
112policies.\r
113\r
114= Article 5. Amendment =\r
115\r
116Section 501. The bylaws of the Corporation may be amended by a\r
117two-thirds vote of the Corporation's membership.\r
118\r
119= Article 6. Dissolution =\r
120\r
121Section 601. Upon dissolution of the Corporation, all assets remaining\r
122after the Corporation's liabilities are met shall be distributed among\r
123all current and former members in accordance with IRS regulations and\r
124statutory requirements for Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(12)\r
125cooperatives. The board shall be responsible for the liquidation and\r
126distribution of all such assets.\r
127\r
128Section 602. Termination of membership for any reason shall not\r
129forfeit a member's established ownership rights and interests in the\r
130Corporation.\r
131\r
132----\r
133\r
134 A static copy of the latest revision is always available at [http://hcoop.net/board/bylaws.html] along with text versions and prior revisions.\r