Fellow ACFA North Central Region Members,
ACFA’s semi-annual board meetings were held February 19 and 20 in Kansas City. Thanks to those who gave me feedback on the questions I asked in my previous email to the region.
All who gave me feedback on the breeder of the year question agreed that ACFA’s breeder of the year and the regional breeder of the year should be a member of ACFA. The board passed my motion to require ACFA’s breeder of the year to be an ACFA member, but the board voted to leave the regional requirement up to each regional director. Based on your feedback, I am requiring the ACFA North Central Region breeder of the year to be an ACFA member; if the person who has the most points toward that honor is not an ACFA member on the last day of the current show season, then the honor will pass to the person with the next highest point total.
As you may have already seen from Judy Eastwood’s posting on the ACFA list, Jim Nelson has applied for entrance to the judging program. Jim has clerked for many years, and we look forward to seeing him standing behind the table, rather than sitting at it!
After discussing the alternatives, the board approved an additional $1 surcharge for each cat entered in a show, effective at the beginning of the next show year. 50 cents of previous $2 surcharge went to the region, and in North Central that money goes to regional awards and the annual renewal of the web hosting and domain name for www.acfanorthcentralregion.org. (Note that the webmasters – Jo and I – donate our time.) The other $1.50 of the current $2 surcharge goes to ACFA. The additional $1 surcharge per cat will be divided between the Parade of Royalty (50 cents) and the ACFA annual awards fund (50 cents). The POR loses money most years, and this extra 50 cents per cat will help reduce the loss. We have often had to go to special lengths (extra fundraisers or asking for donors) to fund the IA awards, and the 50 cents per cat surcharge will minimize the need for those extra fundraisers. Compared with raising annual dues, this way of funding ACFA’s needs seems to put the extra cost on those who are most likely to benefit from it, by having award-winning cats at the IA ceremonies or in the POR.
Between January 1 and February 19, about 65% of NC members who had not renewed by the first of the year renewed their ACFA memberships. If you are in the remaining 35%, I encourage you to renew and continue to support your association. Furthermore, the board passed my motion to make a three-year membership renewal standard, not just offer it at the end of the year. Thus if you’re renewing now and want to sign up for three years, or if you’ve already renewed and want to extend your membership further, here are the three-year rates:
- Regular member: $120
- Family member: $30
- Junior member: $15 (a convenience, not a discount, since the annual rate is $5)
- Extra breed section (all membership types): $5 per section
If a one-year renewal is more to your liking, the standard $50/regular, $15/family, $5/extra breed section rates still are available.
Based on the mixed feedback I received in response to my previous question about the three-year rotation, I do not plan to write a proposal to change it. However, several people said that they expect the board to make reasonable use of their prerogative to classify a proposal as an emergency so that it is considered in a year other than the one specified in the bylaws. If you have a proposal that you feel the board should considered an emergency, please submit it according to the guidelines in the bylaws and let me know that you’d like it considered as an emergency.
As a reminder, 2010 is a Bylaws year, 2011 is a Show Rules and Registration Rules Year, and 2012 is a Standards of Perfection Year. Here’s the beginning of the section of the bylaws that tells you how to request a change:
Section 5. Submission of Proposals.
Proposals to amend the Rules may be submitted by any ACFA Member in good standing, any ACFA Chartered Club, any recognized and duly constituted ACFA Committee or the Board of Directors. Proposals must make reference to the Article and Section of the Rules to be revised or amended; provide the exact proposed wording of the revision or amendment; and include a reason for the acceptance of the proposal.
a. Submission by Mail, Email or Fax. Proposals must be forwarded to the Central Office no later than April 30 of the year stated for amending the specific Rules. The amendment will be forwarded to the Rules Research Committee and subsequently to the Board of Directors to be reviewed, researched or considered for acceptance and referral to the General Membership vote.
Sincerely,
Glen Newton
North Central Regional Director
