The constitution below was adopted at the 1999 state convention of the American Council Of The Blind Of New York. This document was modified at the organization's October 2004 convention and amended at its September 2011 convention.
The name of this organization shall be the American Council of the Blind of New York, Inc., hereafter referred to as ACBNY.
The purpose of ACBNY is to enhance the lifestyle of the community by:
A. Fostering opportunities for blind and visually impaired persons to
become self sufficient productive members of society;
B. Educating the public regarding the economic and social benefits
that occur when blind and visually impaired individuals actively
participate in society;
C. Providing a local forum to study the concerns of blind and
visually impaired people and to address solutions to identified problems;
D. Supplying information regarding available services and resources;
E. Insuring quality service by acting as a liaison between the blind
community and service providers;
F. Implementing social action programs leading to the improvement of
living and working conditions of blind and visually impaired persons
throughout New York state;
G. Coalescing with other organizations whose goals and purposes
coincide with ours;
H. Engaging in other activities which promote the dignity and
independence of blind and visually impaired persons.
A. ACBNY is an affiliate of the American Council of the Blind, Inc.
B. Any group of at least five voting members, a majority of whom are
blind or visually impaired, is eligible to become an affiliate.
An affiliate's members must consist of individuals from a defined
geographical area or must be recognized by ACBNY as a special interest
group.
In order to become an affiliate, approval must be obtained from the
board of directors. If the membership of an affiliate falls below five, a
year's grace time will be given. If after a year an affiliate still has
less than five members, it will be dissolved.
Membership shall be of the following classifications:
2. Dues for life members shall be assessed at half the rate of Life membership in the American Council of the blind, Inc. at the time of application for said Life membership in ACBNY, which may be paid in no more than five (5) consecutive annual installments. Life Membership becomes effective upon completion of all paymentns.
Dues, except for Life members, shall be set by the Board of Directors, provided this rate is
higher than the dues charged by ACB National. Dues amounts may vary
according to type of membership.
Each affiliate, member at large,
organizational member, and associate and junior member not belonging to an
affiliate and Life member shall submit the required dues to the Treasurer. This must be
done at least thirty days prior to the date on which dues must be received
by the ACB National Office.
An alphabetical list of voting members shall
be sent along with these dues. This list shall also be sent to the
Membership Committee chair.
The Treasurer shall notify each affiliate,
member at large, organizational member, and associate and junior member
not belonging to an affiliate and Life member that dues, and where applicable membership
lists, must be sent. This notification shall be sent in writing at least
thirty days before the State dues submission date.
A list of the names and addresses of those receiving dues notification shall be provided to
the Treasurer by the Membership Committee chair at least thirty days
before notices are due.
A. Each voting member attending a state convention shall be entitled
to one vote. An official delegate from each affiliate shall cast the
number of votes to which that affiliate is entitled. Each affiliate
represented at the state convention shall be entitled to one vote for each
nine of its voting members or major fraction thereof, provided that an
affiliate may cast no more than twelve votes.
B. The right of an affiliate or member at large to vote shall be
contingent on payment of dues and the furnishing of an alphabetical list
as provided for in Article V. Failure of an affiliate or member at large
to comply with this section shall result in the loss of voting privileges
during the first year of noncompliance. A second year of noncompliance
shall result in the revocation of membership.
C. There shall be no proxy voting.
D. Officers shall be elected by a majority of the votes cast at any
state convention. Voting shall be by secret ballot for all contested
elections.
E. No officer of this organization, except for the treasurer and
newsletter editor, shall be elected for more than two consecutive terms to
the same office.
F. All officers, directors and delegates must reside in New York state.
G. Should a vacancy occur in any office, a person to complete the
unexpired term shall be elected by the board of directors if there is a
regularly scheduled meeting of the board of directors within 30 days of
the date the vacancy occurred. If there is no such regularly scheduled
meeting of the board of directors, a person to complete the unexpired term
shall be elected by the executive board. The completion of an unexpired
term of one year or less shall not be defined as a term of office.
H. Each member of the board shall exercise only one vote.
A. As of January 1, 2001, the officers of this organization shall be:
President,
First Vice President,
Second Vice President,
Secretary,
Treasurer
and Newsletter Editor.
Officers shall serve two year terms.
B. The board of directors shall consist of the officers, a delegate
at large to be appointed by the President with the approval of the board
of directors, the immediate past president, and one director to be
selected by each affiliate.
A majority of the board of directors shall be
blind or visually impaired.
Officers shall be elected by the majority of
the votes cast at any state convention.
Term of office shall commence on
January 1 of the year following the date of the election beginning in
1993.
Each affiliate shall submit the name of their selected director to the ACBNY Secretary no later than December 31 of the year preceding that director's term of service. Directors shall serve for terms of 1 (one) year, except in permanent unforeseen exigent circumstances. Directors may succeed themselves.
C. No member of the board of directors shall receive compensation for services to ACBNY. Officers and delegates may receive reimbursement for actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.
A 1. The convention. Any voting member may make or second motions,
nominate officers and committee members and serve on committees. Only
voting members may be elected to office. To be eligible for nomination and election to State Office, a candidate must have been a member in good standing of ACB for at least one year. The convention shall determine
the time and place of its meetings.
A 2. The convention shall select the site of at least the following year's
state convention from among the proposed sites submitted to it. However,
if no proposal is submitted or if the convention declines to approve any
of the submitted proposals, the executive board shall select the site for
at least the following year's state convention. In this case, the executive board
must select a site within 60 days following the present year's state
convention. State conventions may be planned and contracted for more than one year in advance with the approval of the convention.
B. Officers.
1. The Secretary shall, in addition to the usual duties of this
office, furnish board members with minutes in accessible form of all board
and business meetings no later than sixty days after the meetings. The
Secretary shall also provide the President with a list of all motions
adopted at general membership and Board of Directors meetings.
B 2. The Treasurer shall, in addition to the usual duties of this
office, forward to the Secretary the names of all those eligible to vote
at each meeting of the board of directors.
B 4. The Newsletter Editor shall be responsible for the preparation
and dissemination of the ACBNY newsletter.
C. The board of directors shall be the governing body between
conventions provided that it make no decisions and take no actions in
conflict with existing decisions and actions of the convention.
D. The Executive Board shall consist of the officers, and shall, in
the event emergency action is needed between board meetings, make
decisions, provided that they do not conflict with existing decisions of
the convention or Board of Directors.
ACBNY shall have Standing Committees and other committees as provided in the Council By-laws.< /p>
A regular meeting to be known as the annual convention shall be held once a year. A majority of those members present on the convention floor and eligible to vote shall constitute a quorum. Other meetings may be held during the year at the discretion of the board of directors. All major matters dealing with policy shall be enacted at the annual convention.
This constitution may be amended at any regular convention by a two thirds vote of those members present and voting. Such proposed amendments must be presented in writing to the constitution and bylaws committee no less than 60 days before the beginning of the state convention. Written copies of the proposed amendments must be sent to each affiliate at least 30 days prior to the beginning of the convention.
In the event of dissolution, all assets shall become the property of the American Council of the Blind, Inc., upon satisfaction of all outstanding liabilities.
In the absence of provisions contained herein, all proceedings of ACBNY shall be governed by Robert's Rules of Order, revised edition.
1. ACBNY hereby establishes the following committees:
A. Constitution and By-Laws:
This committee shall consist of a chair
and not less than three other members to be appointed by the President.
The chair shall serve as parliamentarian during convention meetings.
B. Finance Committee.
This committee shall consist of three members
elected by the membership with no member being an officer. The chair shall
be selected by the president from those elected.
C. Funds Committee:
This committee shall consist of a chair and not
less than three other persons to be appointed by the President. Its duties
shall consist of initiating, monitoring, and conducting fundraising
activities.
D. Legislative Committee.
This committee shall consist of a
chairperson appointed by the President and one member selected by each
affiliate. This committee shall support no legislation which conflicts
with the policies of ACBNY and shall endorse no unwritten legislative
proposals.
E. Newsletter Committee:
This committee shall consist of the
Newsletter Editor and not less than three other members to be appointed by
the President. Its duties shall consist of writing, obtaining, and editing
articles for the newsletter. Articles shall be solicited from ACBNY
members, but may also be obtained from other sources when the editor deems
their content appropriate. The Newsletter Editor shall be the chair of
this committee.
F. Nominating Committee.
This committee shall consist of one person
to be selected by each affiliate and a member at large selected by the
board of directors. The President shall appoint a chairperson who shall
have no vote except in case of a tie. This committee shall propose a slate
of officers and members of the finance committee. The committee may not
nominate its members to office. Meetings of this committee shall be
closed.
G. Resolutions Committee.
Within sixty days after the close of each
state convention, the President shall appoint a chairperson and not less
than four members to serve as a resolutions committee. This committee
shall receive and review all resolutions to be considered during the next
convention. All resolutions submitted to the committee by noon of the day
twenty-one (21) days prior to the convention business meeting ,except in case of unforseen exigent circumstances, shall be reported with or without
recommendation.
H. Convention Coordinating Committee.
The committee shall consist of
a chairperson to be known as the convention coordinator and two members
appointed by the President. It shall prepare and submit proposals for the
site of the annual state convention and shall assist any member or
affiliate which may also wish to submit such a proposal. It shall provide
assistance to the host committee in planning and organizing of the
convention and shall assure compliance with any guidelines or requirements
which may be adopted for the organization of the convention. Should the
convention be hosted by ACBNY as a whole, the convention coordinating
committee shall be the host committee for the convention. In this case,
the convention coordinator may appoint additional members to serve on the
host committee.
I. Membership Committee:
This committee shall consist of a chair and
three members to be appointed by the President. The Membership Committee
chair shall be charged with the responsibility of maintaining a roll of
the members of each affiliate, the members at large, organizational
members, and junior and associate members not belonging to an affiliate and Life members.
During the course of the year, each affiliate shall provide the Membership
Committee chair with changes, additions to and deletions from its
membership roster.
The Membership Committee chair shall furnish the
Newsletter Editor with an up-to-date roster of all ACBNY members, and
shall furnish the Treasurer with a list of all members at large,
organizational members, and junior and associate members who are not
members of affiliates and Life members.
The Membership Committee members shall assist the
Membership Committee chair in performing these functions, and shall be
responsible for recruiting and helping affiliates recruit new members and
communicating whenever possible with former members, encouraging them to
rejoin.
Revised September 17, 2011.