Manchester HOG Chapter #1294 By-Laws

Transcription

1 The Manchester HOG Chapter #1294 abides by and enforces all articles of the HOG Charter for Local Chapters, which have been provided and set forth in the Harley Owners Group (HOG) Chapter Handbook. ORGANIZATION: The Harley Owners Group has recommended a proper Chain of Command as a governing body for each HOG Chapter. The Manchester HOG Chapter #1294 has adopted and put into effect this organizational structure. A copy of the organizational structure is an attachment and part of these By- Laws. OFFICERS: In accordance with Article V of the HOG Charter for Local Chapters, the sponsoring dealership (Manchester Harley-Davidson and Buell Inc.) has elected to allow the general Chapter membership to vote on an annual basis for all officer positions. The voting for officers will take place in the month of November, and the elected officers will assume their position on Jan. 1 st of the next calendar year. The voting for the officers will be by a ballot format, only paid up National and Local members and Associate members (only), will be allowed to vote in the general election. Nominations for all officer positions will be solicited from the membership during the October general meeting. Notice of the upcoming nominations and election will be communicated by way of the Chapter newsletter (September-October edition), and the September-October monthly general membership meeting. Results of the November election will be published in the next available version of the Chapter newsletter. In the event that nobody is nominated and subsequently elected for a given officer position the newly elected Director will solicit board members and anyone interested in serving in any particular board position will have the opportunity to make himself or herself known to the Chapter Director. The Chapter Director will then appoint interested members to occupy unfilled officer positions, (again, in accordance with the Organizational structure adopted by the Chapter), and will make known his/her selections to the general membership at the next general meeting after the appointment. In the event that an officer cannot complete his/her term of office, whether elected or appointed according to the terms above, the Director shall appoint a replacement to serve until the end of the term. The sponsoring dealer may overrule any or all votes and appoint officers at any time. PRIMARY OFFICERS In accordance with the National Charter, the following four positions constitute the Board of Directors. Co-Officers are not permitted. An individual cannot hold more than one Primary Officer position at the same time or can he/she run for more than one Primary Officer position at the same time. An individual may serve as a Primary Officer and a Discretionary Officer concurrently.

2 DIRECTOR: The Chapter Director is directly responsible for the overall management of the Manchester HOG Chapter #1294. The Director is the key interface between the Sponsoring Organization, the Sponsoring Dealer, and the Regional HOG Manager. ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: The Assistant Director may act in the capacity of the Director in the event of his/her absence. If, for any reason the Director cannot perform his/her function or term of office, the Assistant Director will be elevated to the position of Director. He/She will serve in this capacity until the Jan. 1 st of the next calendar year. The Assistant Director will also be responsible for relaying information for all state HOG rallies to the membership. SECRETARY: The Secretary is responsible for the administrative matters of the Chapter in accordance with the HOG Charter for Local Chapters and Section C (Job Descriptions) of the HOG Chapter Handbook. The Secretary may serve, at the discretion of the Director, as Membership Officer. TREASURER: The Treasurer will comply with Article V of the HOG Charter for Local Chapters and Section C (Job Descriptions) of the HOG Chapter Handbook. In addition, the Treasurer will, on a regular basis, provide the general membership with a Chapter financial statement. The Director is responsible to ensure that the Treasurer complies with all articles of the HOG Charter for Local Chapters. The Treasurer is responsible to insure good financial procedures are followed. DISCRETIONARY OFFICERS: The following eight positions are Discretionary Officers. For these positions, Harley Owners Group National only recognizes one individual for each position. In the best interest of the Chapter, we allow two individuals to be elected and serve as Co-Officers in all discretionary officer positions. When Co-Officers are elected, only one will be listed on the National Paperwork as the officer of record. In all local matters & publications both will have the same job description, responsibilities, and benefits of their office. LADIES OF HARLEY OFFICER: The Ladies of Harley Officer is responsible for matters pertaining to Ladies of Harley members, and will ensure that the Chapter is current on all activities, events and programs relative to Ladies of Harley. The Ladies of Harley Officer will conduct regularly scheduled Ladies of Harley meetings and activities as needed and wanted by its members, which are opened to all Ladies of Harley Chapter members.

3 MEMBERSHIP OFFICER: The Membership Officer is responsible for matters pertaining to Chapter membership. This includes but is not limited to maintenance of membership applications and verification that all Chapter members hold a valid National HOG membership prior to acceptance of application to Manchester HOG. The Membership Officer works closely with the Treasurer to insure membership fees are received and processed in a timely manner. At the discretion of the Director, the Membership Officer position may be combined with the Secretary position. ROAD CAPTAINS: The Senior Road Captain is required to have completed the requirements for Assistant Road Captain and an experienced motorcycle safety course (ERC). The Senior Road Captain is responsible to ensure that he/she has adequate support (Assistant Road Captains), and is also responsible for their instruction. Requirements to become an Assistant Road Captain 1. Have a minimum of 5000 miles riding experience. 2. Have ridden with the Chapter on three rides. 3. Have completed the Rider s Edge Group Riding Course. 4. Have completed the Manchester H.O.G. s Road Captain Training Program 5. Satisfactorily lead one ride under the supervision of the Senior Road Captain. It is recommended that Assistant Road Captains also complete an experienced rider course (ERC). In order to maintain Assistant Road Captain status, Assistant Road Captains must plan & lead one ride and must assist with three other rides during the calendar year. Assistant Road Captains dropped for lack of participation may be reappointed after one year with the approval of the Senior Road Captain and the Director. In appreciation of their service to the Chapter any member that has served as an Officer and an Assistant Road Captain will be granted Permanent Assistant Road Captain status, with no participation requirements. In addition, the Senior Road Captain will ensure that a monthly riding schedule gets approved and printed in the Chapter newsletter, and is posted on the Chapter bulletin board. The riding schedule will be completed on a monthly basis during the riding season. It will be the responsibility of the Senior Road Captain to ensure that conditions (road and weather) are acceptable for riding. However, in accordance with the HOG Charter for Local Chapters (Article XIV), all members and guests ride at their own risk. ACTIVITIES OFFICER: The Activities Officer will be directly responsible for all activities of the Chapter. He/she must ensure that all activities that are planned, meet with the approval of the general membership, and that all activities are financially feasible and meet with overall board approval. The Activities Officer works with the officers to complete a yearly activity calendar.

4 SAFETY OFFICER: The Safety Officer is responsible for providing information relating to the availability of rider training to Chapter members. He/She will provide instruction/guidance relating to safe motorcycle operation to the Chapter or to individual members and guests, as appropriate. He/She (with assistance from other officers, as necessary) will attempt to correct or stop any known unsafe riding practices of any members or guests. At the discretion of the Director, the Safety Officer position may be combined with the Road Captain position. EDITOR: The Editor organizes written material for the Chapter, i.e. newsletters, press releases, etc. He/She, with the assistance of the Secretary or Membership Officer, will maintain a current member mailing list. He/She will see to the timely distribution of Chapter newsletters and other communications to the general membership as appropriate. PHOTOGRAPHER: The Photographer organizes Chapter photos for newsletters, bulletin boards, Chapter history albums, etc. HISTORIAN: The Historian organizes written account of Chapter activities, membership levels, etc. WEBMASTER: The Webmaster is responsible for creating and maintaining the Chapter Website. OTHER POSITIONS The Board of Directors may create other local positions they deem beneficial to the Chapter. Appointees must be approved by a ¾ vote of the officers. Appointments will expire at the end of the calendar year. OFFICERS MEETINGS: The Officers will meet on a regular basis to ensure proper management of the Chapter. The Secretary will be responsible for documenting and distribution of the meeting minutes. ANNUAL MEETING: The Board of Directors along with the Sponsoring Dealer must meet annually for the Chapter Annual Business Meeting. The Annual Meeting Kit found in Section G of the Chapter Handbook shall be used as a guide for this meeting.

5 MEMBERSHIP: Anyone that has a paid up membership in HOG, is welcome to join the Manchester HOG Chapter. The annual membership dues in the Manchester Chapter are $ However, the maximum allowed by HOG is $24 annually. If at any time a local member allows their HOG membership to lapse, then their local membership will lapse as well. If a member re-instates their national membership, their local membership will be re-instated without any additional charge. A local membership is effective from April 1 st to March 31 st. If anyone joins the local Chapter after the month of October, then their membership will go from October until March 31 st of the year after (i.e. Oct. 2, 2000 to March 31, 2002). All members must be either a full National HOG member or an Associate HOG member. NEWSLETTER: The newsletter must be printed and distributed a minimum of six times in a calendar year. It is the responsibility of the Secretary to ensure that the Editor complies with Article IX of the HOG Charter for Local Chapters. The Chapter newsletter will contain no information of personal intent, or for personal gain. In addition to the general membership distribution, all local HOG Chapters will be sent a copy of the newsletter, as well as the Harley-Davidson District Manager, the Regional HOG Manager, Manchester Harley-Davidson and Buell Inc. (Sponsoring Dealership), and HOG (Milwaukee). COMMUNICATION: The Chapter supports and utilizes five vehicles of communication: Chapter newsletter, monthly Chapter meetings, a voic messaging mailbox (hotline), electronic mail and a HOG bulletin board (located at Manchester Harley-Davidson and Buell Inc.). Any immediate changes that cannot be posted in the Chapter newsletter, will be brought to the attention of the general membership at either the monthly general membership meeting, and/or posted on the Chapter bulletin board and/or posted on the hotline and/or distributed via . Also, any benefit that may be offered to a local Chapter member, will be communicated via these networks, i.e. special Chapter or dealer promotions which may be of benefit to a Chapter member. REQUIREMENTS: The Chapter abides by and enforces all local and national safety requirements. The Chapter does not approve of the running of red lights, and does not support the use of road guards, as this is against the law. Whenever the riding group gets split up for any reason, the Road Captain will pull the group over at the nearest point of safety and reorganize the group. The Chapter has adopted the policy of riding in staggered formation. All other styles/methods of riding are considered unacceptable, and will not be supported by the Chapter.

6 VISITING RIDERS: It is mandatory that any visiting riders sign a release for both rider and passenger and present it to the Road Captain. A member may sponsor multiple guests in the course of a riding season. A member may sponsor a particular visiting rider up to three times per riding season, and it is mandatory that the visiting rider be riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle (unless previous arrangements have been made with the Chapter Director). Guests may participate in no more than three events per year and must sign a release for any and all events. The purpose of inviting visiting riders is that he/she may already be a HOG member, or a potential HOG member. All visiting riders will be informed of the Chapter Policy of riding in a staggered formation, and abide by all safety requirements. DEFINITION OF ACTIVE MEMBER: The Sponsoring Dealer and the Board of Directors will define the term Active Member, for the purpose of any special member benefit offered by the Sponsoring Dealer. In all such matters the Sponsoring Deal will have final authority. BY-LAW CHANGE/VOTING PROCESS: There may be on occasion, issues/concerns raised by the general membership relative to the content or lack of content pertaining to the Chapter By-laws. In order to make a change to a by-law, it must be determined first, if it is in accordance with the HOG Charter for Local Chapters. If an issue raised by a member meets this criterion, then the Secretary will ensure that the content of the issue is read back to the member to ensure that the issue is clearly stated. In order to ensure that the issue is properly communicated to the general membership, the issue must be printed in the next version of the Chapter newsletter to inform the members that a vote will take place at the next general membership meeting. This allows each and every member to voice his or her approval and/or objection to an issue. The voting process will be by ballot format (to ensure that no member ever feels pressured into a vote), and validated by at least 3 non-interested parties. If the vote is approved or disapproved, the results will be published in the next version of the Chapter newsletter. If approved, the Secretary is responsible to ensure that it is incorporated into the Chapter by-laws and made available to the membership. All other Chapter matters requiring a general membership vote will follow the same voting process. The sponsoring dealer must approve all By-law changes. RIDING OF NON-HARLEY MOTORCYCLES: The riding of non-harley motorcycles shall be permitted to ride at all Chapter sponsored rides by Associate members. However, the Associate members must be a member of the Manchester HOG Chapter as well. ATTACHMENTS: 1. HOG Charter for Local Chapters 2. Organizational Structure