(Updated on 12/02/90)
Revised on 02/11/95
Revised on 12/6/97
Revised on 12/05/2004
ARTICLE I
The registered office of the corporation shall be located at the current
president's home address. The registered office location may be changed
by action of the Board of Directors.
ARTICLE II
A. Qualifications
Any person interested in the sport of canoe racing, who wishes to
promote the aims and ideas of the corporation, shall be eligible for
membership.
B. Classification.
Amateur Racing Member
Dues shall be $30.00 per calendar year. Due April 1 of each year,
late fees of $15.00 will be applied after due date. This entitle member
to all privileges of an Expert member except that he/she may compete
in sanction MCRA Amateur races and compete for annual Amateur awards.
Associate Member
Dues shall be $10.00 per calendar year, and shall entitle the member
to all privileges of an Expert member, except that he/she may not receive
prize money or awards.
Expert Racing Member
Dues shall be $30.00 per calendar year. Due April 1 of each year,
late fees of $15.00 will be applied after due date. This entitle the
member to voting rights, the right to hold office, receive monthly
newsletter, competes for awards of the Association, and compete in
sanctioned MCRA Expert races.
Family Membership
Dues shall be $50.00 per calendar year. Due April 1 of each year,
late fees of $15.00 will be applied after due date. This entitles membership
to two adults and unlimited children under 19 years of age by January
1st of the calendar year, residing within the same household. Adults
are entitled to all privileges of an Expert racing member and the children
are entitled to Junior of Fledging member privileges. One newsletter
will be addressed per family.
Fledging Racing Member
Dues shall be $2.00 per calendar year to any paddler at least 7 years
of age, who has not reached age 14 before January 1st of the current
year. They are entitled to all privileges of a Junior member except
they will qualify for Fledging awards.
Junior Racing Member
Dues shall be $2.00 per calendar year to any paddler who has not reached
age 17 before January 1st of the current year. He/she is entitled to
receive a monthly newsletter and any Association award for Junior paddlers.
No voting rights are allotted to this membership. Junior members may
race and receive points in all MCRA racing classes.
Life Member
Dues to ten times the current membership dues. Member is entitled
to the same privileges as racing members.
Pleasure Racing Member
Dues shall be $20.00 per calendar year and shall entitle member to
all privileges of an Expert member except that he/she may enter MCRA
Pleasure races and compete for annual Pleasure awards.
Standard Racing Member
Dues shall be $20.00 per calendar year and shall entitle member to
all privileges of an Expert member except that he/she may enter MCRA
Standard races and compete for annual Standard awards.
Membership
All MCRA membership renewals are due April 1. All renewals not
paid by April 1, except junior or fledgling, will be assessed a $15.00
late fee. New memberships are not subject to the April 1 deadline. All
Dues are in U.S. Currency.
C. Meetings.
There shall be at least one regular meetings of the MCRA every year.
Additional meetings can be called upon the discretion of the president
and/or the Board of Directors.
D. Voting Rights.
All members entitled to vote shall have the right to vote on all matters
properly brought before the membership, except as restricted elsewhere
in these By-Laws or by statute. Members may vote only to elect director.
E. Quorum.
At all annual and special meetings of the members, the presence of
one-fifth of the members entitled to vote at such meetings shall constitute
a quorum, unless otherwise provided by law.
F. Non-Cumulative Voting.
In all elections for directors, each member entitled to vote shall
have the right to vote for as many persons as there may be directors
to be elected, but no member may cumulate his/her vote and give one
candidate more then one vote.
G. Place of Meetings.
All annual meetings shall be held at such places as the president
shall designate.
ARTICLE III
Board of Directors
A. Authority
The property and lawful activities of the corporation shall be held
and managed by the Board of Directors.
B. Number
The number of Directors shall be eleven. Officers shall consist of
President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Recording Secretary, and Times
Secretary. The President shall be the Chairperson of the Board. The
past President shall be appointed for 1 term following his/her presidency.
C. Term
The term of office of each director shall be one year.
D. Officers
Officers shall be elected by a majority vote of the MCRA Board of
Directors.
E. Call of Annual Meetings
The annual meetings of the Board of Directors shall be held the first
Saturday of December. Written mail notice, stating the time, place,
and purpose of the meeting, shall be given each director at least ten
days but no more than sixty days prior to such meeting. Any director
may waive notice of the regular meeting in writing or phone or his
presence at such a meeting shall constitute a waiver of notice. The
directors shall elect officers during the annual meeting.
F. Call of Special Meetings
Special meetings of the Board of Directors may be called by the President
or by three directors. Written mail notice stating time, place, and
purpose of the meeting shall be given each director at least ten days
but no more that sixty days prior to such meeting. Any director may
waive notice of special meeting in writing or phone or his presence
at such meeting will constitute a waiver of notice. The highest-ranking
member of the Board of Directors at a race may call a special meeting
of case of an emergency. During a special meeting called in case of
an emergency, a majority of those members of the Board present may
make any decision deemed to be in the best interest of the MCRA.
G. Quorum
Five directors shall constitute a quorum and the acts of a majority
of the directors present at the meeting at which a quorum is present
shall be the acts of the Board of Directors.
H. Place of Meetings
The meeting of the Board of Directors shall be held at such places,
as the Chairperson of the Board of Directors shall designate.
I. Voting Rights
At all board meetings, each member (including the President) shall
have one vote.
ARTICLE IV
A. Selection
The officers shall be elected annually by an official ballot mailed
to each member who has paid dues by August 1 of that year. The ballot
will then be returned to a designated person before a designated deadline.
The results will be announced at the fall meeting. All elected Board
members must be legal Michigan residents and members of the Michigan
Canoe Racing Association.
B. Duties
The President shall have the
A. Authority to operate and conduct the ordinary activities and affairs
of the corporation.
B. Authority to execute contracts on behalf of the corporation.
C. Authority to superintend and direct the activities of all officers
and agents of the corporation.
D. Authority to appoint and suspend all agents of the corporation,
except the Vice-President, Treasurer, Recording Secretary, and Times
Secretary.
E. Presiding position at all meetings of the Board of Directors and
all meetings of the members.
The Vice-President shall have the
A. The authority to perform the duties of the President when delegated
by the President, or when the President is unavailable due to disability
or absence from the state.
The Treasurer shall have the
A. Authority to receive and disburse funds of the corporation, subject
to approval of the President and/or Board of Directors.
B. Authority to maintain books and records reflecting the financial
conduct of the corporation.
C. Duties to deposit all funds of the corporation which may come into
his/her hands in such bank or banks as the Board of Directors may designate.
D. Duty to render such accounts and present such statement to the
Board of Directors and President as may be required of him/her.
E. Duty to turn over the books for a yearly audit if called for by
the Board of Directors.
The Recording Secretary shall have the
A. Authority to maintain and retain custody of the minute book of
the corporation.
B. Duty to maintain a record of the members of the corporation, showing
their names, addresses, and any other necessary information.
C. Duty to notify any person whose membership has been canceled for
non-payment of dues.
D. Duty to notify canoe racers by newsletter of other means, of all
canoe racing information.
The Times Secretary shall
A. Obtain, from the proper officials, the results of all sanctioned
canoe races and he/she keeps accurate records of results.
B. Communicate (in a timely manner) all canoe race results and other
information to the proper news media.
C. (From the canoe race results and he records thereof), compute the
points compiled by canoe racing members to determine their rankings.
This applies to all racing classes.
C. Removal
The Board of Directors may remove any officer, whenever in their judgment
the interest of the corporation will be served, by a 2/3-majority vote.
D. Reimbursement
The reimbursement of the officers if the corporation shall be fixed
by the Board of Directors.
E. Chain of Command
The chain of command is as follows: President, Vice-President, Treasurer,
Recording Secretary, and Times Secretary.
ARTICLE V
The members of the Board of Directors of the corporation may make
and/or alter any By-Law or Race Rule with the exception of changing
boat specification. Also the Board shall not make and/or alter any
By-Law affixing their number, qualifications, or term of office, nor
shall the Board have power to alter Article V.
Corporation members may amend By-laws by a 2/3 written majority vote
of the membership. Said voting to be conducted by mail and the results
announced at the general meeting.
ARTICLE VI
Order of Business
The order of business at the meetings of the MCRA shall be:
1. Call to order
2. Minutes of the last meeting
3. President's report
4. Treasurer's report
5. Communications
6. Committee reports
7. Old business
8. New business
9. Good of the order
10. Adjournment
ARTICLE VII
Miscellaneous Provisions
A. Canoe Specifications
1. Refer to MCRA Race Rules.
2. Any amendments pertaining to Expert Canoe Specifications shall
require:
A. A petition signed by at least one-fifth of the current members
of the Expert racing class.
B. Present the petition to the Board of Directors who will endorse
the proposal and present or to the expert members as either Board endorsed
or unendorsed.
C. An official written ballot will be mailed to the members of the
Expert racing class who are paid-up by August 1of that year and have
participated in at least 3 MCRA Expert point races within the previous
24 months. The outcome of the voting will be determined by the following
formula and descriptions:
Pass if Y - N exceeds 0.05M + 0.15M(1-V/M)
Where M=the number of voters eligible to vote
Y=the number voting YES
N=the number voting NO
V=Y+N=the total number voting
3. Any amendments pertaining to Amateur Canoe Specifications
shall require:
(The same three steps as found in the amendment procedure for Expert
Canoe Specifications with the substitution of Amateur racing class
in place of Expert racing class.
4. Specification changes will take effect the following calendar
year.
B. Amendments
1. Amendments pertaining to detrimental remarks - Any member that
speaks detrimental remarks against the MCRA, or causes undue humiliation
of the cause and purpose of the MCRA, may be brought before the Board
of Directors for disciplinary action, and can be discharged and/or
fined.
2. Annual Awards - Annual awards shall be given to the individuals
in their respective places.
3. MCRA members who wish to keep open the possibility of competing
in the Olympics, Pan Am Games, or World Championships, must maintain
amateur status according to the rules of the International Canoe Federation
(ICF). Enforcement of these rules in the United States has been delegated
by the ICF to the U.S. Canoe and Kayak Team Pan American Plaza 201
South Capitol Avenue Indianapolis, Indiana 46225. (Phone: 317-237-5690).
Unlike the MCRA rules, where a paddler may change class from one year
to another, the ICF rules state that once a paddler has been classified
as a professional, the paddler can never be an amateur again.
Amateur paddlers may accept prize money and sponsorship money according
to the ICF rules: briefly stated, amateur paddlers may have sports
income provided that it does not exceed expenses and provided that
it is handled correctly. To be technically correct, all income and
expenses must be handled as approved by the ACA. Precedent has been
set for the MCRA Treasurer to oversee the filing of income and expenses
for paddlers wanting to preserve their ICF amateur statues. Paddlers
may obtain an Amateur Athlete Income/Expense Report Form and Instructions
from the MCRA Treasurer. The MCRA Treasurer may act as the agent of
the ACA in receiving income and paying the paddler for expenses. At
the end of each paddling season, the MCRA Treasurer will forward a
copy of all report forms to the appropriate committee of the ACA.
4. The calendar year for the racing season of the association shall
be from October 1 to September 30.
5. Race sponsors must notify MCRA Board of Directors, no later than
January 1 of said year, to secure their prior rear's time slot.
THIS IS THE END OF THE BY-LAWS OF THE M.C.R.A.
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