Proposed Amendments to AMSA's Bylaws
AMSA's Planning & Bylaws Committee met in Chicago on April
1 to discuss and develop recommendations for Board of Directors
consideration on a number of issues. Chief among their recommendations
to the Board was the approval of two proposed Bylaws amendments,
one addressing board composition and the other focusing on membership
development. Following the Committee's recommendation, a majority
of AMSA's Board of Directors voted to present the two amendments
for membership vote in May. The membership will vote on the amendments
which follow during the Annual Association Business Meeting on
Monday, May 5, 1997 in Washington, DC during AMSA's 1997 National
Environmental Policy Forum & 27th Annual Meeting.
Two bylaws amendments are being recommended for approval by AMSA's
membership. The first addresses the issue of board composition
and the second addresses membership development. The following
material will provide recommendations and rationale for your review.
Board Composition
Recommended Bylaws Amendment: Article IV, Board of Directors,
Section 1. Composition shall be amended to read as follows (additions
in italic/deletions as strikeouts):
1. Composition: The management of the affairs of the association
is vested in a Board of Directors of not less than ten nor more
than thirty directors who shall be elected on a regional basis
(using EPA, or any successor agency, federal regions) with the
number of directors from each region based upon the number of
member agencies in such region according to the following formula:
for regions with ten seven or fewer members,
one director; for regions with eleven eight to
fourteen members, two directors; and for regions with fifteen
or more members, three directors. provided, however,
that any director serving on the Board at the date of the adoption
of this section shall continue to serve until the end of his current
term regardless of the regional formula.Rationale:
The proposed amendment would change the formula currently
used to determine the composition of the AMSA Board of Directors.
This change would provide regions with between eight to 14 members
the opportunity to have two, as opposed to one, directors on the
board. By lowering the requirement threshold, regions I, VII
and X would be able to nominate an additional representative from
their respective regions to serve on the board. The approval
of this amendment would increase the size of the board from 21
to 24 members.
By way of background, when members of AMSA's Strategic Planning
Committee met in 1987-88 they discussed extensively board membership
distribution, considering both a "number of members"
and a "population served" approach. In considering
the "number of members" approach, they reviewed both
the current formula and the formula being proposed above, but,
there is no indication why they selected the current formula except
that it resulted in a board with one less seat, making the composition
17 as opposed to 18 members. In making its recommendations, the
committee also considered the regional breakdown of the 99 agencies
that were members during that time. Since 1987, AMSA's membership
has grown by 62% and the board has grown by 24% going from 17
seats to 21 seats. In addition to significant growth in regions
III, IV, V, VI, and IX, all of which have three seats on the board,
there has also been considerable growth in regions I, VII, and
X. This growth should be recognized through the provision of
additional board seats in these regions. Region VIII has experienced
the slowest growth, just recently increasing its membership from
four to five. The slow growth in region VIII is largely due to
the fact that AMSA has no members in Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota,
or South Dakota.
The attached chart compares the number of members per region for
the years 1988 and 1997, the corresponding board seat composition
for those years, and reflects the changes to the board composition
if the proposed amendment is approved.
Membership Development
Recommended Bylaws Amendment: Article IX, Membership, Section
3. Associate Members shall be amended to read as follows (additions
in italic/deletions as strikeouts):
3. Associate Members: The affirmative vote of a majority
of the members of the Board of Directors may elect into Associate
Membership of the association public sewerage agencies who do
not meet the qualifications for members. Such associate members
shall be entitled to all perquisites of membership except voting
rights. The fee for associate members shall be at the
same rate as the minimum membership fee. The Board shall
not approve applications for associate membership submitted jointly
by two or more agencies.
Rationale:
The proposed amendment would provide the Board of Directors
with the discretion to establish a different dues schedule for
associate members than is currently in practice.
In recognition of the 25th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act,
it is recommended that AMSA take steps to aggressively reach out
to the thousands of POTW's currently serving populations of less
than 100,000. An increased membership base would dramatically
strengthen AMSA's ability to represent the nation's POTW community
before Congress, EPA, and other federal agencies; it would enable
AMSA to be more effective at the EPA regional and state levels;
and would establish AMSA as the preeminent organization representing
POTW's in the United States.
1988 and 1997
Region/Board Growth Comparison Chart
REGION | 1988 MEMBERSHIP | 1988 BOARD SEATS | 1997 MEMBERSHIP | 1997 BOARD SEATS | PROPOSED BOARD SEATS |
I | 5 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 2 |
II | 12 | 2 | 14 | 2 | 2 |
III | 8 | 1 | 17 | 3 | 3 |
IV | 13 | 2 | 28 | 3 | 3 |
V | 19 | 3 | 27 | 3 | 3 |
VI | 13 | 2 | 18 | 3 | 3 |
VII | 4 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 2 |
VIII | 4 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
IX | 15 | 3 | 24 | 3 | 3 |
X | 6 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 2 |
TOTALS = | 99 | 17 | 160 | 21 | 24 |