In message <[email protected]>, gdgqler
<[email protected]> writes
On 7 Feb 2011, at 19:52, Geoff Wicks wrote:
Perhaps the entire constitution of Quanta needs altering.
Now where did I hear that recently ;-)
I once was involved in rewriting an entire constitution. When Works
Council Law was changed in the Netherlands all Works Councils had to
rewrite their constitutions. We had a choice of either doing it
ourselves or employing an outside consultant costing hundreds of pounds.
As I was the only member of the council with the relevant skills and
experience I was given the job, but at the same time the council
appointed another member to be my mentor to check everything I did.
In practice I found I could still keep much of the old constitution
in the new one and I suspect that would be much the same in Quanta.
There were model constitutions published and I also had to keep
checking the new Works Council Law. In short in was a bit like "pick
'n' mix".
Basically Quanta would have to do is:
1: Look through the old constitution and get a rough idea of what you
would like to leave in and what you would like to leave out. Then have
an extensive consultation period to determine the main details. Do not
rush this - it is better to take your time than do a quick botched
job. (The lesson of the 2005 amendments.)
2: More than one person should be involved in the drafting. It is a
bit like a superbasic program. Few of us could write a superbasic
program that is totally bug free and that also applies to
constitutions. Even better if the draft constitution is proofread by a
person or persons not involved in the drafting.
3: Bear in mind that during the drafting matters could arise that
need further consultation or decision by the committee or members.
When writing the works council constitution I had to consult the
council on whether we should have a personal or list voting system and
prepare a paper on the merits and demerits of each.
For example in Quanta to maintain continuity the officers currently
have a three year period of office. You could have chosen instead for
all committee members to serve 2 years with one half of the committee
to face re-election in any one year. This is not a decision for the
drafters, but the committee and/or members.
4: Publish the draft constitution well in advance to allow time for
possible amendments, comments or objections.
A very time consuming process, but Quanta may find it worthwhile,
When I was involved in producing a new constitution we got an expert to
produce one "off the shelf". This was, in the main, OK but it had what
I thought was a fatal flaw. It required the Committee members to retire
after a period of, I think, 3 years and had to wait 1 year before they
could be re-elected. I got that altered so that Committee members could
stay on indefinitely, subject, of course, to being re-elected every 3
years. My reason for getting that alteration was that I thought it
difficult enough to get anyone to do the voluntary work of being a
Committee member. I reckon Quanta badly needs that change in the constitution.
George
Hi George,
I agree with you, again ... :-)
Good Board/Committee members are very hard to find.
So, when you have them, it is best to keep them.
As I commented in another email, it is best to have no "Time limits".
With all Board/Committee members standing down every Year, and then
standing again (or not if they so choose).
My community group will be holding its AGM, shortly, and this is what we
do.
This will be out eleventh Year of operation, with a budget of over £100K
a Year.
Being a Company Not for Profit and Limited by Guarantee, as well as a
Registered Charity.
--
Malcolm Cadman
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