MSFA Sample Ballot
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SAMPLE BALLOT
Please Mark the Electronic Ballot
For the Following
Note: Each Department is entitled to five (5) votes.
Each Past President is entitled to one (1) vote.
The following Amendments are to read as follows: (additions are underlined and deletions are stricken through):
PROPOSED AMENDMENT # 1
For [ ] Against [ ]
ARTICLE I- NAME AND MEMBERSHIP
Section 2 – Regular Membership- Regular members shall be the Volunteer Fire Companies or Departments, Volunteer Ambulance and Rescue Companies whose stations are located in the State of Maryland, having equipment, personnel and facilities which comply with the provisions of this Constitution, and who have paid the initiation fee, yearly dues, and have elected delegates and alternates to attend the Annual Convention and Conference of the Association. Nothing in this Article shall be constructed as affecting the membership status of any volunteer fire company or department, which was a member of the Association on July 1, 1975. The words “Member Companies” as used in the following articles of the Constitution and By-Laws shall include “Volunteer Fire Companies or Departments, and Volunteer Ambulance and Rescue Companies”, except in those instances where it is necessary to differentiate.
Each company desiring to hold membership in this Association shall pay an initiation fee of five dollars ($5.00). Each active company shall pay to the Financial Secretary on or before the first session of the Annual Convention and Conference each year the sum of Two hundred dollars ($200.00) as annual dues or in the case of new members, a pro rata amount for the current year (payable with the initiation fee), said sum constituting dues for the current fiscal year. Twenty dollars ($20.00) of the annual dues shall be donated to the MSFA Foundation specially identified for scholarships.
Section 4- Associate Membership – Any fire, rescue or ambulance company which does not otherwise meet the standards for membership in the MSFA, and any organization which provides direct services either in supporting any volunteer fire company, rescue company, or ambulance service, by the provision of collateral services which aid the volunteer fire, ambulance and rescue companies of the State of Maryland in providing their services, shall be entitled to apply and upon approval to become Associate Members of the MSFA. Such application would require review and approval by a majority vote of the Executive Committee for election to Associate Membership. Action of the Executive Committee is subject to reversal by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the membership registered and voting at the next Annual Convention and Conference. In order to qualify as Associate Member, the applicant organization must provide services, which directly benefit career or volunteer fire, ambulance or rescue companies of the State of Maryland, such as providing for services at the scene of an emergency, fund raising for such organizations or other similar purposes. The application shall contain a statement of the purpose of the organization applying for Associate Membership, and that it is effectively a non-profit organization; that it is an organization which does not exist for the profit of any individual member thereof, but for humanitarian purposes.
The annual dues for Associate Membership would be fifty dollars ($50.00). The first year’s dues plus a five-dollar ($5.00) initiation fee must accompany the application. Twenty dollars ($20.00) of the annual dues shall be donated to the MSFA Foundation specially identified for scholarships.
Associate Members, once approved as such, are entitled to attend activities of the MSFA. However, Associate Members shall not be entitled to a vote with regard to the business of the MSFA.
Section 5- Sustaining Membership- Any organization which desires to provide pecuniary support or otherwise collaterally support any program or purpose of the MSFA, and the existence of which as an entity does not otherwise contain any conflict with respect to the purposes of the MSFA, may apply to the MSFA as a Sustaining Member. The application for such membership would be required to be submitted to the Executive Committee of the MFSA for review and approved by a majority vote of the Executive Committee for election to Sustaining Membership. Action of the Executive Committee is subject to reversal by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the membership registered and voting at the next Annual Convention and Conference.
The application shall identify the applicant with regard to the name of the applicant, whether the applicant is a sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation, the primary business of the applicant, the nature of activities in which the applicant is involved, other than its primary business, the reason for the application, the type of pecuniary or collateral support the applicant proposes to provide to the MSFA, and the nature and constituency of its directors or membership or any other persons having a directorial or managerial interest in the applicant organization. The application will be accompanied by the first year’s annual dues of two hundred and fifty dollars ($250.00), plus a five-dollar ($5.00) initiation fee. Two hundred dollars ($200.00) of the annual dues shall be donated to the MSFA Foundation specially identified for scholarships.
ARTICLE IX- FOUNDATIONS, BOARDS, AND AGENCIES
Section 1– The MSFA Foundation is a corporate entity related to the Maryland State Firemen’s Association. The Foundation raises funds which provide benefits to the Association. The Foundation reports on its activities to the Executive Committee of the Association.
Renumber Section 2 to Section 1 and Renumber Section 3 to Section 2
ARTICLE K- COMMITTEE DUTIES
Section 23- The Scholarship Committee shall by June 1st in cooperation with scholarship committees of appropriate universities, colleges, academies, or other institutions of higher learning within Maryland to determine to provide or deny grants or loans to new applicants or continuing students. The Committee shall in proper cases award, to the extent funds are available, such grant or loan to an eligible applicant or student participating in a course related to fire or health services including, but not limited to, fire sciences or emergency medical services.
The Committee may use funds provided through resources of the MSFA Foundation or from other sources. The Committee is authorized to solicit funds for grants or loans from any source it deems proper. The Committee shall from time to time, promulgate rules and regulations relating to its duties, eligibility of applicants or recipients, acceptable sources of funds to be solicited or regulations dealing with liability of a given recipient to repay part of any grant or loan.
PROPOSED AMENDMENT # 2
For [ ] Against [ ]
ARTICLE II – ANNUAL AND SPECIAL CONFERENCES AND CONFERENCES
Subsection 2 (a) Guidance to the Maryland State Firemen’s Association is hereby provided in the event that any such restrictions placed upon the organization due to disastrous conditions beyond the control of the association and/or its membership that would not allow for in-person meetings of the organizational components of the Association to be held. Therefore, under these circumstances, the Executive Committee of the MSFA may authorize the use of a virtual format to conduct the regular business of the association. Due notice and an agenda will be provided to the member companies and officers.
Virtual Meetings can be conducted in a variety of fashions and the four allowable forms of electronic communications to conduct meetings within the MSFA shall be:
- Full-featured Internet, or combination Internet/telephone, meeting services that integrate audio (and optionally video), text and voting capabilities.
- Telephone meetings with Internet services for conducting secret votes and sharing documents.
- A speakerphone in the meeting room to allow members who are not physically present to Participate by telephone.
- Telephone meetings without Internet support (and without any central meeting room).
Such electronic meetings of the MSFA shall be subject to all rules adopted by the MSFA Executive Committee or by the membership, to govern them, which may include any reasonable limitations on, and requirements for, members participation. Any such rules adopted by the MSFA shall supersede any conflicting rules in the parliamentary authority but may not otherwise conflict with or alter any rule or decision of the general membership.2021 By-Laws Cover Letter and Amendments (1)