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WSFFA Constitution and Bylaws

Constitution and By Laws

Adopted 1984
Amended 1988, 1990, 1993, & 1994, 1996
Article XI Section I Revised 7/97
Appendix A Revised 10/2/99
Appendix A-1 Revised 03/28/01
Revised 06/5/02



W.S.F.F.A. CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE I

TITLE AND OBJECTIVES

Section 1. This organization shall be known as the Washington State Fire Fighters' Association, Incorporated.

Section 2. The objectives of this Association shall be;

1. The promotion of fire prevention by legislation and the education of firefighters and the general public.

2. The advancement of fire suppression through education and a year-round firefighters training program.

3. To promote, through research and demonstration, the development of better fire fighting equipment.

4. To cultivate a closer fraternal fellowship between the several branches of the fire service throughout the State of Washington.

5. To sponsor periodic conferences to accomplish the objectives of this Association.

ARTICLE II

MEMBERSHIP

Section 1. The Active membership of this Association shall include all members in good standing in all volunteer, part paid, and paid fire departments in the State of Washington, provided that the fire department has paid the annual dues. Active membership shall include all individual firefighters in the State of Washington, provided they have paid the annual dues.

Section 2. Life members shall include the individual charter members and Past Presidents of the Washington State Firefighter's Association.

Section 3. Associate members shall include the State Fire Marshall and his duly appointed assistants, Mayors, City Councilmen, City and Fire District Commissioners, fire apparatus companies, rating bureaus, boards of underwriters, or similar agencies and such other individuals interested in fire prevention or fire suppression as may be elected by the Association. All applications must be approved by the Board of Trustees.

Section 4. Special membership shall include spouses of Active Members and such other persons as may be approved by the Board of Trustees.

Section 5. Honorary Life membership may be granted to any person who has performed an outstanding public service. Honorary Life membership shall be awarded such persons provided that there is a two-thirds majority favorable vote by the members present at the annual meeting.

Section 6. Individual, Associate, Honorary Life, and Special memberships carry all the privileges of active membership except the right to vote, hold office, or the right to speak from the floor except by approval from the chair.

ARTICLE III

OFFICERS AND THEIR ELECTION

Section 1. The officers of this Association shall consist of a President, Vice President, Secretary/Tresurer up to twelve, but no fewer than five trustees' will be elected as provided by the bylaws.

Section 2. All officers shall be elected at the Annual Conference and shall enter upon their official duties at the close of the Conference.

Section 3 The newly elected Trustees, together with the holdover Trustees, and the remaining members of the board shall elect from their number a President, and a Vice President.

Section 4. The newly formed Board of Trustees shall meet and appoint a Secretary and a Treasurer who need not be Trustees. The Secretary/Treasurer shall be voting members of the Board of Trustees only when they are duly elected Trustees. A report of this meeting shall be made to the members of the Association before the close of the Conference.

Section 5. In case of a vacancy in the office of President, the Vice President shall succeed to the office.

Section 6. In case of a vacancy in the office of Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer, the vacancy shall be filled by vote of the members of the Board of Trustees.

Section 8. In case of a vacancy in the office of Trustee, the position shall be filled by an individual representing the same regional association or associations as the vacating trustee and voted on by the Board of Trustees to complete the remaining portion of the term.

ARTICLE IV

DUTIES OF OFFICERS

Section 1. It shall be the duty of the President to preside over all meetings of the Association, to sign all orders duly granted by the Association and the Board of Trustees, and to perform such other duties as are ordinarily performed by a presiding officer or as may be required by the Association. The President shall appoint a Parliamentarian, Sergeant-at-arms, a committee of resolutions, credentials, auditing and any other committees to serve at the annual meeting as shall be required by the Association.

Section 2. It shall be the duty of the VICE PRESIDENT to perform the duties of the President in their absence and to assist the President whenever required.

Section 3. it shall be the duty of the Secretary/Treasurer to keep a complete record of the proceedings of the Association and the Board of Trustees, to keep a record of the members of the Association and to attend to all communications pertaining to the Association, to collect all dues and assessments giving them to the Treasurer, taking his receipt therefore.

Section 5. It shall also be the duty of the Secretary/Treasurer to receive all money due the Association and to keep a complete account of the same, and to make a full and complete report of all moneys received and disbursed at each meeting of the Association.

ARTICLE V

BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND THEIR ELECTION

Section 1. The Board of Trustees shall consist of a President, Vice President, and up to ten other elected Trustees including the immediate Past President, if any.

Section 2. The Immediate Past President also shall remain as a voting member of the Board of Trustees.

Section 3. Each Trustee shall be an active member of the Association or a Life member and shall be elected for a period of three years to succeed those whose terms shall expire.

Section 4. The President shall appoint a Nominations Committee consisting of at least three members of the Association, who shall make a report of their nominations to the Board of Trustees; said report to be made the first day of the Annual Conference. Further nominations may be made from the floor. All nominations must be made by letter. Any letter of nomination submitted to the Nominating Committee prior to their first meeting by any qualified affiliated association or person shall be placed on the ballot. The Vice President, or in their absence, the Presidents' designee will become the chairperson of the Nominating Committee for the coming year. The chairperson of the Nominating Committee shall introduce and have the nominees presented to the assembly. At the business meeting where the elections are to be held, each nominee may give a short (one to two minute) resume.

Section 5. The President shall, on the first day of the Annual Conference, appoint an Election Committee consisting of at least three members, whose duties shall be to arrange and conduct an election of Trustees for the three year term by the membership for the Board of Trustees. This election shall be completed at the last meeting of the Annual Conference. At the completion of the election this committee shall count the ballots and report their findings to the President.

Section 6. Procedures for the election of the Board of Trustees shall be evaluated on a yearly basis by the Nominations and Elections Committee(s).

ARTICLE VI

DUTIES OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Section 1. The Board of Trustees shall meet at the call of the President or upon the petition of any four Trustees of the Association and shall conduct all business of the Association during the interim between the annual meetings, submitting a report of its activities to the Association for approval at the Annual Conference.

Section 2. The Board of Trustees shall annually review and set the salary of the Secretary.

Section 3. The Board of Trustees shall provide for the membership a book or pamphlet containing the minutes of the Association's annual and board meetings.

Section 4. The Board of Trustees shall have full power to make all necessary arrangements, set the registration fee to be collected at the Annual Conference. All moneys collected for the Association shall be paid to the Association Treasurer.

Section 5. All Board of Trustee members shall automatically be members of the Executive Board of the Washington State Fire Service Historical Museum.

Section 6. Any Board of Trustee member failing to attend a majority of the meetings of the Board of Trustees during the year without an acceptable excuse as decided by the Board of Trustees shall be disqualified and the balance of the term of such Trustee shall be filled as provided in Article III.

ARTICLE VII

MEETINGS

Section 1. The annual meeting of this Association shall be held at a time and place designated by the Board of Trustees.

Section 2. Delegates at the Annual Conference shall consist of all active and life members who attend the Conference. Dues paid as provided in Article II, Section 1 entitles all active members as well as life members all rights and privileges in the Association.

Section 3. Delegates at the Annual Conference shall be entitled to no more than one vote per delegate. All votes cast must be by the duly registered delegate in person.

ARTICLE IX

FUNDS AND FISCAL PERIOD

Section 1. There are hereby created the following funds for carrying out the functions of this Association.

A. The General Fund, to which all sums not otherwise allocated shall be credited.

B. The Legislative Fund, to which is allocated up to 20% from the annual dues of Active, Individual, and Associate members.

Section 2. The fiscal year for this Association shall run from January 1 through December 31 of each year.

ARTICLE X

APPENDIXES

Section 1. Any appendixes attached to this Constitution or By-laws shall be subject to change by action of the Board of Trustees.

ARTICLE XI

AMENDMENTS

Section 1. The Board of Trustees may amend the by-laws at any regular or special meeting prior to which proper notic was given.

WSFFA BY-LAWS

1. All fire departments, regional firefighter associations and or active firefighters in the State of Washington shall be eligible for membership in this Association

2. All fire departments, regional firefighter associations and or active firefighters in the State of Washington desiring to become members of this Association shall make application in writing to the Secretary of this Association and specifiy the name of the department, regional, or individual name, city or fire district.

3. Honorary Life members shall be added to the rolls of this Association as provided in Article II Section 5 of this Constitution by recommendation of any department, regional association or delegate and action taken shall be by motion and voted on by the Association.

4. The members of the Board of Trustees, when in actual service for the Association, shall receive actual expenses for such service subject to the approval of the Board.

5. The Secretary/Treasurer of this Association shall give bond in the sum of not less than $ 10,000 each to be approved by the Board of Trustees condition to faithfully perform their duties and to account for funds of the Association coming into their hands, premium of said bonds to be paid by the Association.

6. Money in each of the working funds named in Article IX may be invested as considered appropriate by the Treasurer upon approval of the Board of Trustees.

ANNUAL MEETING

1. Call to order

2. Roll call of officers

3. Reading minutes

4. Treasurer's report

5. Committee reports

6. Election of Trustees

7. Unfinished business

8. Conference reports

9. New business

10. Good of the order

11. Adjournment

RULES OF ORDER

1. The current edition of Robert's Rules of Order shall govern this Association in the conduct of its business, unless otherwise modified by the Constitution and By-laws.

2. Every person, before speaking on any question, shall address the chair giving their name and the department to which they belong.

3. Where two persons rise at once, the presiding officer shall name the one to speak first, giving preference to the person speaking for the first time on the question.

4. No delegate shall interrupt another in their remarks except to call to a point of order.

5. A motion shall not be opened for discussion until it has been properly seconded and stated from the chair.

6. Voting shall be by voice, but any member may require a roll call of the delegates.

APPENDIX A

The following shall be the dues or fees assessed for members of this Association:

1. Active fire departments and fire protection districts:

Under 5000 population$75.00
5000 and less than 25,000 population$95.00
Over 25,000$150.00

2. Individual active$20.00

3. Regional FF assoc.$65.00

4. Associate member$60.00

APPENDIX B

Committees shall consist of, but not be limited to the following:

Internal Policies & Procedures

Financial

Publication

Legislation

Scholarship

Merit & Lifesaving Award

Publicity & Growth

Museum

Conference & Meetings

Historical

Drill Ground Competition

Scholastic Competition

The Scholastic Competition Committee shall be chaired by the Conference Supervisor and shall include a representative of Fire Service Training and one member of the Board of Trustees.

It shall be the duty of the Competition Committees to establish rules and oversee the running of all competitions of the WSFFA These would include but not be limited to, conference examination, hose evolution, and make and break. The decisions of these committees shall be final.

Revision Date Revision Approved

3/28/01Bylaw article III Section 1July 1999

3/28/01Bylaw article V Section 1July 1999

3/28/01Bylaw Appendix A May 1999
Increase membership dues

6/5/02Change all Secretary and Treasurer July 2001
to Secretary/Treasurer

6/5/02Take out Widows and Orphans July 2000
from Bylaws
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