Constitution & By-Laws

CONSITUTION AND BY-LAWS MISSOURI DX/CONTEST CLUB

WRIGHT CITY, MISSOURI

Revised and Adopted

December 29, 2008

Preamble

We, the undersigned, wishing to secure for ourselves the pleasures and benefits of the association of persons commonly interested in Amateur Radio DXing and Contesting, and in doing so will perform public service activities as required to serve the community in time of emergency, do hereby constitute ourselves the MISSOURI DX/CONTEST CLUB (MDCC) as a not-for-profit organization and do enact this Constitution and its By-Laws as the governing law.

The objects of this organization are:

1. To provide a source of radio, electronics, and communications for the betterment of the general community and protection of its citizens in times of disaster and emergency.

2. To provide an association from which the members may derive pleasure, improve operating and technical skills, and benefit through their mutual interest and promotion of Amateur Radio, DXing and Contesting.

3. To inform the local community of club activities so as to encourage public interest in Amateur Radio.

4. To provide a source of inspiration and help for those aspiring to become Radio Amateurs.

Article I

Name, Fiscal Year and Headquarters

Section 1: Membership is open to all who are interested in Amateur Radio.

Section 2: The fiscal year and election year shall be from October 1 to September 31^st, both inclusive.

Section 3: The headquarters of the Missouri DX/Contest Club shall be located in Wright City, Warren County, in the State of Missouri.

Article II

Membership

Section 1: Any person interested in Amateur Radio shall be eligible for membership.

Section 2: There shall be four categories of membership; Founding Member, Full Membership, Associate Member, and Affiliate Member.

Founding Member: Founding Members shall include those who originally founded the club and these members will have life time membership. Founding Members are granted the special status of no annual dues required. The Founding Members are:

a. K4SX Ron Lowrance

b. K0KDL Ken Lowrance, PMP, PE

c. K0LDL Dean Lowrance

d. W4CFF Bob Moseson

e. K4EWG Pete Rhodes, PE

f. K4ZRJ Charles Johnson

g. KI4KJV Tana Rhodes

h. W4WT Joe Spear

i. K4JPD Steve McElroy

Full Member: Any licensed Radio Amateur holding a current FCC Amateur Radio license issued by the United States or any other recognized national government. Full members shall receive all rights and privileges as are specified herein.

Associate Member: Any non-licensed person with an interest in Amateur Radio. Associate members shall receive all rights and privileges as specified herein except they may not vote or hold elective office.

Affiliate Member: Upon successful completion of a class conducted by the Missouri DX/Club these persons may be deemed Affiliate Members for the remainder of the current fiscal year. Also, any former member of the Missouri DX/Contest Club or any other deserving person who for reason of circumstances may be granted such status by the Board of Directors. Such reasons may be but are not limited to:

a. Entering the Armed Forces

b. Being full-time student away from the area

c. An extended or serious illness

An Affiliate Member shall receive all rights and privileges as specified herein except they may not vote or hold elective office. No dues are to be paid by an Affiliate Member.

Section 3: The privileges of a member shall not terminate except upon the happening of any of the following events:

a. Death

b. Resignation

c. As voted by the Board of Directors

d. FCC enforcement against the member

e. Dissolution and Liquidation of the MDCC

Section 4: Application for membership and dues shall be accepted by the Board of Directors. A new member will receive the first two years of membership for a one year membership fee. Reinstatement of membership will be reviewed and accepted by the Board of Directors.

Section 5: Upon recommendation of the Board of Directors, any member may be expelled with cause by a vote of two-thirds of the full members present at a scheduled meeting. A member shall be automatically expelled upon any conviction for any offence which results in revocation of the members FCC license. Disciplinary procedures shall otherwise be conducted according to Robert’s Rules of Order.

Article III

Officers and Directors

Section 1: Only full members in good standing shall be eligible to hold office. All officers shall be elected for two year terms. Directors shall be elected for five year terms. Officers and Directors may be elected for a number of successive terms, except that of the Office of President which shall not be held by any person for more than two consecutive terms.

Section 2: The officers of MDCC shall be President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasure, Technical Chair, and Technical Co-Chair.

Section 3: All officers and directors shall be members of the Board of Directors. Other duties of the officers will include:

President: The President shall preside at all meetings of the MDCC in an impartial manner; shall not vote on any question that comes before the meeting except in the case of equal division when the chairperson will vote to decide the question; shall appoint all committee chair persons; shall be an ex-officio member of all committees; shall insure that all provisions of this Constitution, the By-Laws, and other policies are properly carried out. The drafting of the annual report, if required, shall also be the responsibility of the President of the club.

Vice President: The Vice President shall perform all the duties of the President in the absence of that officer and shall be responsible for the planning and facilitation of all educational and training programs.

Secretary: The Secretary shall keep the minutes and attendance records of all general and board meetings, keep a roll of members, carry on all correspondence, and read the communications at each meeting and maintain the club scrapbook. It shall be the duty of the Secretary to keep the Constitution and By-Laws of the club and have the same at every meeting, and shall cause all amendments, changes and additions to the noted thereon and shall permit the same to be consulted by members upon request.

Treasure: The Treasurer shall receive all monies and other assets due to the MDCC; shall disburse MDCC funds at the direction of the Board of Directors; shall keep accurate records of all monetary assets and shall issue regular statements to the membership; shall make the records available for inspection by members or the Audit Committee. All checks and withdrawals must be reviewed and agreed to by the Board of Directors and signed by the President of MDCC.

Technical Chair: The Technical Chair shall be responsible for distribution and technical competency and accuracy of all club technical publications and its distribution to the membership. The Technical Chair may at his or her discretion publish technical articles to the membership. The Technical Chair will be a permanent position held by K4EWG, Peter Rhodes, a licensed Professional Engineer, and ARRL author of technical antenna article publications since 1973. The MDCC technical committee will at a minimum be constituted by the Technical Chair and Co-Chair. The Technical Chair may at any time form a technical committee with notification to the Board of Directors.

Technical Co-Chair: The Technical Co-Chair shall be responsible for the distribution and technical competency and accuracy of all club technical publications and its distribution to the membership. The Technical Co-Chair will work in concert with the Technical Chair as agreed between the two Chair positions. The Technical Co-Chair is a permanent position held by K0KDL, Ken Lowrance, who is a licensed Professional Engineer. The Technical Co-Chair may at any time form a technical committee with the notification to the Technical Chair and Board of Directors.

Article IV

Board of Directors

Section 1: The Board of Directors (also known as the “Board”) shall be the governing body of MDCC. The Board shall have the power to over rule the actions of any officer with a majority vote of the Board being required.

Section 2: The Board shall consist of the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and both Technical Chairpersons. A minimum of four Board members shall constitute a quorum.

Section 3: The duties of the Board of Directors shall be:

a. To facilitate in all possible manner of objectives and purposes specified in the preamble.

b. To consider all new business of MDCC and prepare it for presentation to the membership as appropriate.

c. To authorize all expenditures and plan fiscal policy and to do so in a manner that does not create indebtedness beyond the assets of MDCC. The Board shall cause the financial records of MDCC to be audited at least once per year by a committee appointed by the President.

d. To review all applications for membership in the MDCC.

e. To specify the date, time, and place for all regular, special, nomination and election meetings and issue proper notice to all members.

f. To receive committee reports and recommendations and to present details of same along with policies which it has approved effecting the activities and administration of MDCC.

g. To be responsible for all assets belonging to the MDCC. And to accept all donations on behalf of MDCC.

h. To make known to the members of MDCC the dates and times of all Board meetings and to encourage members to attend and provide input to Board proceedings.

Article V

Elections

Section 1: The President shall appoint a nominating committee. The committee shall prepare a slate of officers and directors which shall be presented to the membership at the designated annual meeting.

Section 2: The annual meeting shall be held in September of each year unless otherwise determined by the Board. The Secretary shall certify that nominees meet all qualifications to hold office and shall submit a list of the candidates for each office to the membership at least 24 hours prior to the election.

Section 3: Voting shall be by secret ballot and a simple majority of those present and voting required for the election. In the event that three or more candidates have been nominated for an office and none receives a majority, the two candidates who receive the largest number of votes shall then be voted upon by the members as provided above.

Article VI

Meetings

Section 1: MDCC shall hold general membership meetings at least once per quarter and at a time and place determined by the Board.

Section 2: The scheduled meetings shall be devoted primarily to activities promoting the objectives specified in the preamble, through the presentation of programs, technical discussions, DXing & Contesting, and other items of general interest to the MDCC members and the community.

Section 3: Special meetings may be called by the Board as necessary.

Section 4: Attendance of 25% or more Full Members in good standing shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of MDCC business.

Section 5: The President shall have the power to limit the debate on any subject and any limitations established by the President shall govern unless over ruled by a two thirds vote of the members present at the meeting.

Article VII

Dues and Assessments

Section 1: Dues shall be established at the annual September meeting. If a members due are in arrears for more than a one year period, that member shall be deemed to have resigned membership and immediately lose all privileges. Any such former member must comply with Article II, Section 4, in order to regain membership.

Section 2: Dues shall be specified in the MDCC By-Laws. Any person for membership after March 1st shall only pay one-half of the annual dues specified.

Section 3: The Board may from time to time recommend additional assessments to the membership to meet budgeted expenses. A vote of two-thirds of the members present at any scheduled meeting shall be necessary to enact such assessments which may be an amount no greater than the annual dues.

Article VIII

Amendments

Section 1: Any article of this Constitution may be altered, amended or suspended at any time by a vote of two-thirds of the Board of Directors.

Article IX

Dissolution

Section 1: Upon dissolution of MDCC, the Board shall make provision for payment of all MDCC liabilities and dissolve all assets held by MDCC.

Article X

Enactment

Section 1: The Constitution and By-Laws heretofore are in force.

Section 2: This Constitution and its By-Laws approved by the Missouri DX/Contest Club Board of Directors shall be effective December 29, 2008.

Board of Directors

K4SX, Ron Lowrance

K4EWG, Pete Rhodes

KI4KJV, Tana Rhodes

K0KDL, Ken Lowrance

W4CFF, Bob Moseson

K4JPD, Steve McElroy

BY-LAWS OF THE MISSOURI DX/CONTEST CLUB

1. It shall be the intent of the Missouri DX/Contest Club to encourage members to join the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) in order that privileges and benefits of such affiliation will be available to the MDCC members.

2. Annual dues for the MDCC shall be as follows:

a. Each year the Board will set the annual dues. Full Membership dues shall be $10.00 per year. Control of the amount of annual dues is vested exclusively in the members.

b. The Founding Members are exempted from annual dues.

c. Any Full Member may elect to enroll other members of the immediate family in MDCC. These individuals shall have membership as provided in Article II, Section2. Each additional family member residing at the same mailing address shall pay only $1.00 per year and shall enjoy full MDCC privileges appropriate to the class of membership.

d. Annual dues for Associate Members will be set at $5.00 per year.

3. The following Committees shall be formed and will be active or inactive based on Club requirement:

a. Program Committee: This committee shall be responsible for providing appropriate programs at MDCC meetings.

b. Newsletter: This committee shall publish and send via email to all members in good standing a quarterly and/or annual report of MDCC, meetings, and other general interest.

c. Publicity: This committee shall prepare all publicity for distribution to the various media and interested organizations. All releases shall be of such nature as to create a good public image for MDCC.

d. Activities: This committee shall be responsible for all operating and social programs of MDCC such as Contest, Field Day, Picnics, etc. The committee shall work with the ARES Emergency Coordinator and the RACES Radio Officer to insure active MDCC participation in these public service activities.

e. Interference & Technical: This committee which will be led by the Technical Chair and Co-Chair shall be responsible for investigating complaints of interference and technical articles.

4. MDCC Official Club Station: Amateur Radio Station K0ETV shall reside at 2 Inland Court, Wright City, Missouri and will be used for the purposes of DXing, Contesting, Special Events, emergency communications, and other communications as required by the Board of Directors and emergency services. The equipment used in the operation of K0ETV at 2 Inland Court Wright City, Missouri is owned by K4SX, Ron Lowrance, and shall remain his personal property and will not be considered as the property or assets of MDCC. The MDCC and/or its membership will not be responsible for the maintaining and/or the repairing of said Amateur Radio equipment residing at 2 Inland Court, Wright City, Missouri.

a. Operation of the MDCC Club Station equipment will be at the discretion and permission and under the supervision of K4SX, Ron Lowrance. (Ron Lowrance reserves the right to permit or not to permit access and operation of the Club station located at 2 Inland Court, Wright City, Missouri). Access to the Club station location is restricted and limited only to MDCC members, is granted and permitted by Ron Lowrance K4SX.

5. The Use of Call Sign K0ETV: The use of call sign K0ETV will be under the permission and discretion of the Trustee, K4SX.

a. The call K0ETV will primarily be used in Amateur Radio Contests, DXing, Field Day, Amateur Radio special events, and in emergencies as designated by local and state authorities.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

We, the duly elected officers of the Missouri DX/Contest Club, certify the above By-Laws and all amendments for the Missouri DX/Contest Club are in accordance with this Constitution and are now in force.

Ronald D. Lowrance, K4SX

Founder, President, Board of Directors, and Trustee

_________________________________

Peter D. Rhodes, K4EWG

Founding Member, Vice President, Board of Directors, Technical Chair

_________________________________

Kenneth D. Lowrance. K0KDL

Founding Member, Board of Directors, Technical Co-Chair

_________________________________

Tana Rhodes, KI4KJV

Founding Member, Board of Directors, Secretary and Treasurer

_________________________________

Robert D. Moseson, W4CFF

Founding Member, Board of Directors

_________________________________

Steve McElory, K4JPD

Founding Member, Board of Directors

_________________________________