Dear Friends,
On behalf of the Board of Trustees and the Bylaws Team, I want to thank you for the valuable feedback we received at the congregational conversations on our proposed changes to the bylaws. As always, your dedication to our congregation is an inspiration.
We carefully weighed the suggestions, comments and concerns that were raised during the conversations, and have incorporated much of what was discussed. Foremost among these was the concern that the proposed timeframe was insufficient for full consideration of the changes. We agree and have changed the date of the Congregational Meeting to February 28. The linked documents reflect our response to the remainder of the input we received.
Congregational Meeting: Proposed Bylaws Vote
Sunday, February 28 after the service
PROPOSED RESOLUTION
Be it resolved that the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany adopts the proposed bylaws as the foundation for its governance.
Be it further resolved that: In order to achieve an orderly transition to the governance structure established by the proposed bylaws adopted at the congregational meeting on February 28, 2021:
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The provisions of Article V, Section 2, parts A through D of the new bylaws governing terms of elected positions shall be temporarily suspended through December 31, 2021. At the Annual Meeting on May 16, 2021, the congregation shall elect the President, Vice-President, Assistant Treasurer and one Nominating Committee member to one-year terms, and the Secretary, Treasurer and one Nominating Committee member to two-year terms; and
- Committees and councils existing on February 28, 2021 shall continue to function as they do on that date, until Board Policies are adopted governing their operations; provided that each such Policy shall be developed in consultation with the committee(s) or council(s) to which it applies.
These are the proposed bylaws as amended following the congregational conversations.
This document features the markup of changes made subsequent to the congregational conversations to help identify those changes.
This document identifies the questions and comments that were raised during the conversations, and the Bylaws Team’s response to them. It will explain our thinking concerning some issues and indicate how we have incorporated other ideas.
This is draft outline of a Board Policy Book to be developed by a Policy Advisory Team and approved by the Board of Trustees. As a draft document, it is not intended to be comprehensive or complete. Participants in the congregation wanted to see an outline of the policies likely to be included. This outline was constructed using the existing bylaws as a framework, along with those policy categories that have been considered thus far. Other ideas and needs will surely be identified as the Policy Advisory Team consults with committees and teams and delves into the work of fleshing out the outline.
We encourage you to familiarize yourself with these documents to prepare for your participation at the Congregational Meeting. We look forward to seeing you on the 28th!
Thank you.
