Subject: NEW BUSINESS: Revising the SPEEA Constitution, By-Laws, Policies and Procedures

Background:

Over the past several years SPEEA has spent an inordinate amount of time and money requesting legal opinions and hearing appeals based on our current governing documents.

Examples include: Associate Membership, Replacement Election and Referendum processes, Training Requirements, and the NW By-laws.

At the request of the SPEEA Governing Documents Committee, the Executive Board hired James Mills to review our Governing Documents and put together the analysis you saw in his presentation earlier today.

The SPEEA Governing Documents Committee (with members from the NW and MW Governing Documents Committees) met with Mr. Mills on May 21st to review and ask questions regarding his analysis and recommendations. After a thorough discussion the committee came to a consensus to bring a motion forward to the Council for its approval.

If this motion is approved James Mills will meet with our governing documents committees, legal counsel, and other interested parties. He will submit several drafts to be reviewed. The finished documents should be available in September. The edited constitution will be reviewed by the council and if approved sent to the membership in a referendum for their approval. The by-laws if acceptable will be published to the membership for comment with final approval by the council. Policies and procedures will be approved by the Council.

It is important to realize the intent of this revision is to clarify, simplify, and make our current documents consistent; it is not to change the way we do business.

Statement of work from Mr. Mills’ proposal, Draft the constitution, the by-laws and the policies and procedures from start to finish until SPEEA is completely satisfied. Mr. Mills will work with the Governing Documents Committee(s) and appointed legal counsel. The completed documents will be comprehensive in scope and will not be in conflict with any higher authorities or within themselves.

Motion
It is therefore moved: The SPEEA Council authorizes drafting a revision of SPEEA’s Constitution, By-Laws, AND Policies for the cost of (nte) $43,000 plus travel expenses for mr. mills. BECAUSE THIS EFFORT WILL CAUSE REQUIRED CHANGES TO REGIONAL BY-LAWS AND POLICY, The SPEEA, NW, AND MW GOVERNING Documents Committees WILL NEED TO work with Mr. Mills along with legal Counsel to PROVIDE DRAFT REVISIONS TO THEir APPROVING BODIES.