Dear CAHPERD Member:
All CAHPERD members who are eligible to vote should have received information about the “Amended and Restated CAHPERD Bylaws” that were considered and approved by the Board of Directors in November 2011. The document is now available on the “Members Only” page of the CAHPERD website, or you may obtain a hard copy by contacting the CAHPERD office at 1-800-499-3596. I respectfully request that the membership please read through the proposed Bylaws carefully. Over the past 11 years, many changes have been made to the California Corporate Code and tax laws for California nonprofit organizations. Unfortunately, because of these changes, CAHPERD’s current Bylaws are out-of-compliance with some of these codes and regulations.
Additionally, current technology, processes, and changes within HPERD, now allows CAHPERD leaders and members options to conduct business not previously available when the Bylaws were written or last amended (such as electronic communications and e-mail voting, conducting business via conference call and teleconferencing, etc.). Therefore, with the help of an attorney that specializes in nonprofit and association legal issues, the Bylaws have been revised and updated to address the aforementioned issues and opportunities.
Within this revised document are several suggested structural revisions and a few important additions, recommended by CAHPERD’s legal counsel. Previously, when Bylaw amendments were presented to the membership for adoption, it has been CAHPERD’s past process to print and distribute/mail to its members, hard-copy versions of both the current Bylaws and the Bylaws with the suggested changes, for review and vote by the General Membership (via absentee ballot or at the CAHPERD Conference). However, it has been determined by the CAHPERD Board of Directors (BOD), that the aforementioned archaic process is both prohibitively costly, and not environmentally sound.
Additionally, the traditional process used for member review would be excessively complicated and confusing, due to Bylaws sections relocated from one area of the document to another, redundant words or phrases removed, and the addition of the missing codes, among many other issues. Therefore, the Board of Directors provided members electronic access to the complete text of the restated version of the Bylaws for review, questioning, and to be voted on at the next election. The proposed “Amended and Restated Bylaws” document is available on the CAHPERD website, along with the current Bylaws for those who wish to conduct a detailed comparison. The CAHPERD leadership is also working to create a forum for those of you who have specific questions about the documents and/or process, and will keep you informed regarding those opportunities.
The “Amended and Restated Bylaws,” submitted for your review and approval, provide CAHPERD a firm foundation to conduct the business of the Association in a legal and efficient manner, allowing the organization
to more effectively meet and exceed its goals and objectives, and better implement its mission.
I thank you for your time, effort, passion, and most of all, your membership. Now more than ever, we need to unite to further our vision and mission. I look forward to speaking with all of you at the CAHPERD State Conference in Pasadena.
Sincerely,
Christopher Busch
CAHPERD President-Elect
CAHPERD Constitution & Bylaws Committee Chair
