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