Revised and Adopted 5/18/2009
ARTICLE I
NAME
Section 1: The name of this Association shall be “THE FIRST MASONIC DISTRICT OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF OHIO”.
ARTICLE II
OBJECT
Section 1: The object of this Association shall be to promote the welfare of Freemasonry in the First Masonic District by conciliating true friendship among the members of the constituent lodges; by encouraging the perfection of Masonic Ritualistic ceremonies; by facilitating the organization of programs involving the various Lodges and other Masonic organizations in this District; and by promoting a well planned and constructive education program.
ARTICLE III
MEMBERSHIP
Section 1: Membership shall be limited to present Masters, Wardens, Deacons, Stewards, Secretaries, Treasurers, Tylers, Chaplains, Lodge Education Officers, and the Past Masters of the Lodges of the First Masonic District of Ohio.
ARTICLE IV
MEETINGS
Section 1: The regular meeting of this Association shall be held on the Third Monday of each month, except June, July, and August. The annual meeting of this Association will be held on the third Monday of November. All meetings will be held at the location of the host Lodge at 7:00 P.M., unless otherwise announced by the Presiding Officer.
Section 2: A change in the day, time, and/or place of a regular meeting of this Association shall be announced by the Presiding Officer at the preceding meeting.
If, however, the change is due to adverse weather conditions or other legitimate reason, the membership will be notified by contact with the Worshipful Master, Wardens, or Secretary of the constituent lodges.
Meetings missed for one of the aforementioned causes may be either rescheduled or cancelled, as determined by the Presiding Officer of the Association.
Section 3: Special meetings shall be announced by the Presiding Officer at a regular meeting or by notifying the membership as in Section 2 a, above.
ARTICLE V
OFFICERS
Section 1: The officers of this Association shall be a President, First Vice-President, Second Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Sergeant at Arms, Chaplain (appointed office), and three Trustees.
Section 2: No more than two offices may be filled by officers from the same lodge (in the case of plural membership, “home” lodge), except Trustee, in the same year. The seven line offices should be represented by no fewer than five lodges.
EXCEPTION: In the event of a consolidation of two Lodges, each of which has an elected or appointed office in the Association, such officers may continue to serve as officers of the Association, in each year of their progression, in the same way they would have if the consolidation had not occurred.
Section 3: No member shall serve more than one term in the same office, except the Trustees. In no case shall any Trustee serve more than five years.
ARTICLE VI
DUTIES OF THE OFFICERS
Section 1: The President shall preside at all meetings of the Association, sign all records thereof, appoint committees, and perform generally all the duties usually performed by presidents of like Associations, and such other and further duties as shall be from time to time required of him by membership.
Section 2: The First Vice-President shall perform all the duties of the President in the case of the absence of the latter.
Section 3: The Second Vice-President shall perform all the duties of the office of President in the event that both the President and the First Vice-President are absent or unable to perform their duties.
Section 4: The Secretary shall keep minutes of all proceedings of this Association and make proper record of the same, which shall be attested by him, and generally shall perform such further duties as may be required of him by the membership.
Section 5: The Treasurer shall receive and have in Charge all monies belonging to this Association and shall disburse, or otherwise deal with, the same, as shall be ordered by the Association assembled. He shall keep an accurate account of all monies received and disbursed by the Association, and shall generally perform such further duties as may be required of him by the membership. On the expiration of his term of office he shall turn over to his successor, all monies and properties of the Association in his hands.
Section 6: The Sergeant at Arms shall tile the meetings of the Association and shall preserve order. He shall make a record of the Lodge name and number for all members who shall arrive at the meeting after the roll has been called and shall report to the Secretary before the meeting is adjourned.
Section 7: The Chaplain is responsible for leading the Association in prayer. He will say Grace before each meal as well as the Invocation and Benediction at each monthly meeting and function of this Association.
Section 8: There shall be three Trustees, one of whom shall be elected annually by ballot to serve for a period of three years or fewer to fill a vacancy, as the case may be, or until his successor has been duly elected. The Trustees shall, at the annual meeting each year, make a written report to the First Masonic District Officers Association to be filed with the minutes of this meeting. The report shall list and describe all properties held by the trustees, including investments. The intent of this report is to keep an accurate and current record of all properties held by the trustees from year to year.
ARTICLE VII
COMPENSATION
Section 1: No Officer of this Association shall receive any salary or compensation for his services.
ARTICLE VIII
QUORUM
Section 1: Members representing ten or more of the component lodges and including at least one of the first three ranking officers of this Association shall constitute a quorum.
Section 2: A quorum must be established as the first order of business.
ARTICLE IX
STATUS OF MEMBERS
Section 1: All current Masters, all current Senior Wardens, and all Past Masters of the constituent Lodges shall be eligible to hold any office in this Association.
ARTICLE X
PRIVILEGES OF MEMBERS
Section 1: Every member shall, when present, have the privilege of speaking and voting on any question. The presiding officer shall, however, have the authority to limit the number of times a member may speak, on the same question, at the same meeting, to no more than two times.
Section 2: The privileges of this Association as set forth herein, shall not be denied in any way whatsoever, to any member of this Association, because of the amount of, or the lack of, contribution of his lodge to the support of this Association.
ARTICLE XI
NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Section 1: On or before the May meeting of this Association, the presiding officer shall appoint a committee of five. It shall be the duty of this committee to nominate candidates for the several offices of this Association at the annual meeting.
Section 2: If, for some reason, an office shall become vacant before the end of the fiscal year, each elected and appointed officer next in succession shall assume the office vacated and the Presiding Officer shall appoint from the eligible membership, per Article IX, to fill any remaining vacancy, until the next regular election.
ARTICLE XII
ELECTION OF OFFICERS
Section 1: The officers of this Association shall be elected, by ballot, at the annual meeting of this Association in November and shall continue in the office until their successors are elected and installed. If unforeseen conditions prevent the November meeting, the election shall take place at the first meeting of this Association thereafter.
Section 2: After the nominating committee has reported, the presiding officer will ask the membership assembled if there are any additional nominations to be made from the floor. If no additions are to be made to the reported list, the presiding officer may entertain a motion to instruct either the Secretary or the Treasurer to cast a unanimous ballot in favor of the slate of officers, so nominated. If the motion is duly seconded, and passed by unanimous consent of the membership assembled, the slate of officers nominated by the committee may be so elected. If the motion fails to achieve unanimous consent, the election of officers must proceed as if additional nominations are to be made from the floor per Section 3.
Section 3: If there are additional nominations to be made from the floor, for a given office or if there are two or more candidates for a given office, there will be a written ballot taken for that office.
The officers shall be elected in the order set forth in Article V, Section 1. Elections shall be completed for each office before any nominations can be made for the next office.
The presiding officer will ask the membership assembled if there are any additional nominations to be made from the floor for the given office to be elected (ref. Section 3a). In any case, where there is but one candidate nominated for an office, the presiding officer may entertain a motion to instruct either the Secretary or the Treasurer to cast a unanimous ballot in favor of that candidate, so nominated. If the motion is duly seconded, and passed by unanimous consent of the membership assembled, that candidate may be so elected. If the motion fails to achieve unanimous consent, the election for that office must be made by written ballot of the eligible membership assembled.
The presiding officer shall appoint a judge and two tellers who shall distribute ballots to all the members. The ballots shall be collected and placed on a table in a conspicuous part of the meeting room, and after the presiding officer has declared the ballot closed the ballots shall be read aloud by the judge. In counting the ballots, all blanks are to be ignored.
Section 4: A majority of the ballots cast shall constitute an election.
Section 5: Where there are two or more candidates for the same office and the vote results in a tie, it may be decided by lot, or if time permits, the presiding officer may order the assembly to cast another ballot.
Section 6: Where there are more than two candidates for the same office and, on the first ballot no majority is had, the two high nominees only shall remain on the ticket, and a second ballot taken to decide the election.
ARTICLE XIII
INSTALLATION
Section 1: The officers of this Association shall be installed by the District Advisor, or his designee, at the meeting of their election, provided however; the installation of any or all of the officers may be deferred until a subsequent meeting by authority of the presiding officer.
ARTICLE XIV
VACANCIES
Section 1: If for any reason an office becomes vacant, the presiding officer shall announce such vacancy and the same shall be filled in accordance with the procedure set forth in Article XI, Section 2.
Section 2: In the event the offices of President, First Vice-President, and Second Vice-President become vacant before the annual meeting. Members representing at least ten of the component lodges may meet under the direction of the highest ranking officer present for the purpose of filling vacant offices.
ARTICLE XV
ORDER OF BUSINESS
Section 1: The order of business shall be as follows:
Roll Call
Reading of the minutes
Presentation of bills
Communications
Report of committees
Unfinished business
New business
Program of the evening
Good of the order
Announcement of attendance
ARTICLE XVI
FINANCES
Section 1: The income of the Association shall be derived from voluntary contributions solicited from the Lodges of the First Masonic District of Ohio, and other legitimate income such as sale of advertisement in the roster.
Section 2: Gifts and donations from sources other than Lodges of the First Masonic District of Ohio would be gratefully received and acknowledged.
Section 3: Financial obligations shall be contracted only with consent of the Association assembled. Expenses incurred shall be read to the Association assembled, vouchers drawn and signed by the Treasurer and either the President or Secretary, and paid from the checking account of the Association.
Section 4: The Association shall operate to a balanced annual budget. This budget shall be developed by the Vice-Presidents and Treasurer. This budget shall be distributed to the constituent Lodges of this Association at the October Association meeting.
ARTICLE XVII
AUDITS
Section 1: The books of the Treasurer and the books of the Secretary shall be audited at the close of each fiscal year, by a committee appointed by the presiding officer for that purpose. The committee shall be appointed by the newly elected President at the annual meeting or in time to submit its report before the nominations are made at the subsequent annual meeting.
Section 2: The audit committee shall conduct periodic reviews of the records of the Secretary and Treasurer to help ensure use of appropriate accounting and recordkeeping practices.
Section 3: If, for any reason, the office of the Treasurer or the office of Secretary shall become vacant before the end of the fiscal year, the books of the vacant office shall be audited by a committee appointed by the presiding officer for that purpose and their report shall be made and accepted before the vacant office is filled.
ARTICLE XVIII
AMENDMENTS
Section 1: A proposed amendment to the By-laws of this Association shall be submitted in writing, signed by members representing at least five (5) constituent lodges. Such proposed amendment shall be read at the meeting when it is submitted and shall lay over without action until the next regular meeting of the Association when it shall be read a second time and acted upon.
Section 2: Each constituent Lodge represented shall have one vote and the votes shall be taken by calling the roll of the lodges. A majority of votes cast shall be required to adopt the proposed amendment. When the representatives of the constituent Lodge cannot agree on how their Lodge shall vote, fractional votes shall be tabulated.
ARTICLE XIX
AUTHORITY
Section 1: The rules contained in “Roberts Rules of Order” shall govern the proceedings of this Association in such cases where the By-laws do not cover the same.
By-Law Committee, 2009
Robert H. Coster, PDDGM, Chairman
Matthew F. Helton, PM, Past President
Douglas K. Ryan, PM, 1st Vice President
Douglas A. Sunnenberg, PM, Treasurer
George W. Koehnke, PDDGM, Past President
Edward C. McIntyre, DDGM, Past President
John T. Phelps, PM, Secretary