July 7, 2009

CLEARS Central Chapter has been very busy this year.  We have held our regular Central Chapter meetings and have also organized and held a Region II Training Seminar in May.  Our chapter meetings and trainings have been moved to the second Friday of the month, and we have changed the times of our training and business meetings.  We now begin registering at 10:00, training begins at 10:30, followed by lunch and then our chapter business meeting is held after lunch.  This allows for a longer training period, and we get to enjoy the training before lunch (eliminates some of that post-lunch fuzziness).  We also decided to keep our training, lunch, and business meeting times flexible to accommodate our training needs.  There may be times we use lunch as a “working lunch” either to extend training or business meeting times. 

We have had some excellent training, some productive meetings, and all of us have had opportunities to exchange information, ideas, and to get to know each better.  We have also had a lot of fun doing this.   We have had excellent training in the areas of supervision skills, Department of Motor Vehicle registration and driver’s license information, Communications and Team Building Skills, Department of Justice training including Validations and Audits, and we are looking forward to meeting our CLEARS President Joe Surges in Modesto in July training about Records Retention/Purging. 

At the June meeting member Susan Galindo was appointed to head our Nominations Committee for our Board positions for the 2010 year.  She will be contacting members to encourage them to participate by taking a position on the Central Chapter Board.  The positions and duties are: 

ARTICLE V                                     BOARD OF DIRECTORS

SECTION 1                                    
There shall be a Board of Directors consisting of: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Sergeant of Arms, Legislative Chairperson, By-Laws Chairperson, Director at Large/Hospitality, and Immediate Past President.

SECTION 2                                      
The President shall serve as Chairperson of the Board of Directors and shall be entitled to a vote as a member of said Board.

SECTION 3                                      
The Board of Directors shall have the authority to set policy(s) not stated within this Constitution and By-Laws.  Such policy(s) shall be in written form and all members of this Chapter shall be notified of such policy(s) in writing.

ARTICLE VI                                   

DUTIES OF THE OFFICERS

SECTION 1                                      
The President shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the Chapter and shall preside over all meetings of the membership and the Board of Directors.  This Officer shall carry out the orders of the membership and the Board of Directors in supervising all the functions and activities of the Association.  This Officer shall appoint all standing and special committees as outlined in Article XII.

SECTION 2                                      
The Vice President shall act as a Presiding Officer of the Chapter during the temporary absence of the President.
                                                           
This Officer may not serve for more than three consecutive years except in cases where this Officer serves the unexpired term of his/her predecessor.  The Vice-President shall be a member of the Board of Directors and be entitled to a vote as a member of the Board.

SECTION 3                                      
The Secretary shall keep the records and minutes of the Chapter.  The Secretary shall cause the minutes of the monthly meeting to be printed and sent to members and/or person(s) as directed.  This Officer shall keep a current list of all paid members.  This Officer shall receive all applications for membership from the Treasurer.  The Secretary shall be responsible for receiving and answering in coordination with the President, all communication addressed to the Chapter.

The Secretary shall have the minutes of the Chapter from the last meeting printed and sent to the members within two (2) weeks of the meeting.

This Officer may not serve for more than three consecutive years, except in cases where this Officer serves the unexpired term of his/her predecessor.  The Secretary shall be a member of the Board of Directors and have a vote as a member thereof.

SECTION 4                                      
The Treasurer shall receive all monies due the Chapter and keep a just and accurate account between the Chapter and its members.  The Treasurer shall draw all warrants and checks for expenses of the Chapter and sign the same.  The Board of Directors may require the signature of another Officer of the Chapter to accompany that of the Treasurer.  This Officer shall submit, at each meeting, a detailed report of receipts and disbursements, and the condition of the accounts.  Monies collected shall be deposited no later than five (5) working days after receipt.

This Officer may not serve for more than three consecutive years, except in cases where this Officer serves the unexpired term of his/her predecessor.  The Treasurer shall be a member of the Board of Directors and have a vote as a member thereof.

SECTION 5                                      
Any expenses in the usual and ordinary business of the Chapter must be approved by the membership if the sum is over $150.00.  Payments of expenses less than $150.00 are authorized by the majority vote of the Board of Directors.

No request for reimbursement for expenses shall be approved without proper documentation or receipts.

SECTION 6                                      
The Sergeant at Arms shall maintain order and assist in the conducting of the meeting.

This Officer may not serve for more than three consecutive years except in cases where this Officer serves the unexpired term of his/her predecessor.  The Sergeant at Arms shall be a member of the Board of Directors and have a vote as a member thereof.

SECTION 7                                      
The Director at Large/Hospitality shall represent the interest of the membership at all Board of Directors Meetings.

The Director shall confer with members and ascertain their feelings on matters of policy under consideration by the Board of Directors.  The Director shall receive suggestions from any Chapter member and, at their direction, present such suggestions to the Chapter for a vote and incorporation into the By-Laws.

This Officer may not serve for more than three consecutive years, except in cases where this Officer serves the unexpired term of his/her predecessor.  The Director at Large/Hospitality shall be a member of the Board of Directors and have a vote as a member thereof.

SECTION 8                                      
The Immediate Past President shall act as an advisor to the President and the Board of Directors.  The Past President shall be an ex-office member of the Board of Directors and have a vote only in the event of a tie.

In the event of the death, disability, resignation, transfer, or removal from office of the President, the responsibilities and duties shall automatically pass to the Immediate Past President or if not available, the Board of Directors shall appoint a qualified member to fill the position.