Rewriting our Bylaws

[James R Holliday]

Greetings, group.

As you may be aware: the saga regarding our path towards non-profit
status--specifically 501(c)(3)--continues.  I had a nice conversation
with our CA Franchise Tax Board representative, and his take is this: if
we eliminate any sort of "member class" from our corporation structure,
we'll be good for recognition as a non-profit corporation.

Sounds great!

This does require a bit of work on our part.  In particular, we need to
rewrite (and certify and file) our corporation bylaws.  Braden, Nick,
and I have started doing this, but we welcome (and encourage, and
desire) input/feedback/suggestions from the group at large.

Here's the plan: we're keeping our development version of the bylaws
online.  If you understand the following words, you can clone from
github at https://github.com/DavisMakerspace/bylaws/ and make suggested
changes.  If none of that was clear, you can read the current proposed
state of the bylaws at:

  https://github.com/DavisMakerspace/bylaws/blob/master/bylaws.txt

In this use case, I'd encourage you to email the group (via this thread)
with comments, questions, and suggestions.

Time is--as it always is--a concern, so I'd love to see things iterate
towards closure sooner than later.  I also want us to all feel we're
doing this right, though, so take your time to read them carefully and
*share any questions or suggestions you have*!

Just to help initiate the conversation, the two major changes I've
proposed are:

1) Total elimination of member status from the bylaws.  The space is now
available to all members of the public without special benefits.  (we
can impose certain restrictions and requirements--such as age, proof of
identity, and certification--but those specifics don't belong in the bylaws)

2) Voting rights have been changed from "Members who are up to date on
their dues" to "any person who has attended at least 2 of the most
recent 3 public meetings".  This, in my opinion, helps ensure a level of
"commitment" to the space while still encouraging and allowing the
entire public community to participate.

Your turn, makers!

-James

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