We are about to undertake the writing of new bylaws for the society that
governs our museum. Two board members are the committee and I have been
directed to draft new bylaws for them to review.

I have our existing bylaws, sample bylaws, guidelines for museum
trustees, governance websites, a couple of books of parliamentary
procedure... but I'd welcome some words of experience.

1- How many directors on the board? We started with 5 thirty years ago,
officially have 11 now, but sort of have 14 because of some ambiguity in
the wording of our bylaws. The local population is about 2,500 (yes, two
thousand five hundred) and membership in the society has rarely exceeded
50 people. In reviewing old minutes, it looks like 7 to 9 was good and
after that they had trouble getting everyone out to monthly meetings.

2 - Do you allow proxy voting, either at general meetings or at board
meetings? If yes, is there a limit on how many proxy votes one
individual can "bring" to the meeting and if Sally (a board member)
comes to the meeting with a proxy vote does she count as 1 person or 2
for quorum purposes?

3 - Dealing with a fractious board or board members who seem intent on
thwarting the work of the society (that won't land me in prison).

Many thanks in advance

--
Lauraine Armstrong
Curator of Collections

Northern Life Museum   tel: 867-872-2859
PO Box 420    fax: 867-872-5808
Fort Smith NT X0E 0P0
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"If people concentrated on the really important things in life - there'd
be a shortage of fishing poles." Doug Larson

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).