While clubs have been dealing with Covid and taking breaks from dancing, there has been an effort underway to modernize the IAGSDC bylaws to conform to current standards and to California law.  The original bylaws were written many years ago and have been amended several times, and a rewrite was long overdue to clear up many confusing and conflicting provisions.

A proposed draft of a new set of bylaws was introduced at the last virtual meeting of the delegates, and a number of people have given input since then to come up with the revised draft version now posted on iagsdc.org.

The primary source for the new bylaws was a standardized form for California non-profits published by Nolo Press.  The standard form was modified by folding in the language and concepts of the original IAGSDC bylaws to maintain their intent and the structure of the organization, with minor updates as needed.  The one significant change is that any future amendments to the bylaws will be approved by the club delegates, not the general membership.

There is no change document, as the bylaws were entirely rewritten.

We are posting this article here to allow for public comments.  The current plan is to present the new bylaws at the Minneapolis convention with the goal of approval by both the delegates and general membership in attendance.  We hope that providing the ability to have a public discussion beforehand will facilitate that process.

Changes can occasionally inspire strong emotional responses, and written public comments can sometimes turn sour.  Passion is good, but we urge everyone to remember when writing a comment that you may well find yourself in a square one day with the people you are addressing.  Let’s all do our best to remain civil.

If you have questions about the proposed bylaws or wish to send comments by email, please address them to bylaws@iagsdc.org by February 28, 2022, so they can be reviewed prior to the convention.

Current bylaws can be found at https://iagsdc.org/sites/iagsdc.org/files/bylaws/bylaws_0.pdf.

Proposed Draft Bylaws can be found at https://iagsdc.org/sites/iagsdc.org/files/bylaws/iagsdc_proposed_bylaws.pdf.

Comments will close on February 28, 2022.