Dave and All,

Here is some NAHCA History:

The first bylaws were approved in 1993. They appeared in the Jun/Jul '93 issue of the NAHCA News along with a ballot for approval by the general membership. (I found the returned ballots in my basement - I am such a pack rat!) There were about 60 ballots returned. NAHCA Membership at the time was 1200+. A pretty poor showing.

These first bylaws gave the individual members voting rights and they were responsible for electing officers and approving bylaw changes.

The bylaws were revised in 1995, again based on a membership-wide ballot printed in the Jun/Jul '95 NAHCA News. The changes were administrative in nature and no changes to voting rights were made.

No changes were made to the NAHCA By-laws for 5 years. Officer positions were always uncontested, therefore no ballots were printed in the newsletter.

At the 2000 NAHCA AGM in Kingston, Ont., a bylaws committee was formed to update the bylaws. This was the meeting where I stepped down as NAHCA Chairman and Nigel Pitt became Chairman.

This is where things kind of fall apart. The current version of the NAHCA Bylaws (dated May 1, 2001, posted here ) are 99% the same as those approved in 1995. They still grant members the right to vote, but they don't have anything to vote on anymore. Basically, all business of the NAHCA, including officer elections and by-law revisions, is governed by the Board of Directors, which consists of the Division Chairmen and the Women's Representative. (Note that NAHCA officers do not have voting rights except as individual members).

I can't find anything in my files where the 5/01 changes to the bylaws were approved by a general membership vote as they should have been under the 1995 bylaws. (Doesn't mean it didn't happen, but I don't remember one, either.) I can understand the reasoning behind the changes - it's logistically difficult and time-consuming to conduct a membership-wide vote, although today's technology may overcome that objection. It's also very disappointing when you get less than 5% participation.

If you want to point a finger for the hiccup in procedure, you don't have far to go. This happened on Nigel's watch.

End of lesson.

Oh, and BTW, I'm pretty sure the meeting took place in Atlantic City, not Atlanta. The bylaws do provide for such meetings, however, no voting can take place.