Your in-person vote on June 20 is needed
It’s time to amend our bylaws and we need your help, as members, to vote to make those changes on June 20.
Since they were adopted in 1955, the Connecticut Horticultural Society’s Constitution and Bylaws have been amended seven times to reflect the strategic vision, direction, mission, and operation of the organization.
The last amendment to our bylaws were in May of 2005, and there have been large changes in the world since then. Technology, the pandemic, and our increasingly busy schedules are some of the factors that have contributed to the way we run our organization. Our constitution and bylaws need to now reflect that.
As a member of CT Hort, your input is key. In order to vote in the changes needed to amend the bylaws, we must have an in-person quorum at our June 20 meeting at First Church Middletown at 190 Court Street in Middletown. We will need a vote of 55 votes to approve these changes, and to reiterate, the votes must be in person. We hope you will join us then for another important reason: our speaker, Sam Hoadley, also promises to offer a great presentation on “Knockout Natives.”
Here are the changes that have been made to the existing constitution and bylaws. The underlined passages indicate the actual change.
CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE I – NAME
Change: Reference to the organization is more uniquely identified at CT Hort.
This Society shall be called the Connecticut Horticultural Society and referred to as CT Hort to align with the website cthort.org.
BYLAWS
Change: Membership categories have been updated to reflect the options currently offered.
Article 1.3: Membership Categories. Membership can include Honorary, Individual, Senior Individual, Family, Senior Family, Sustaining, Garden Club, Business, Business Benefactor and Student. Organizations and Businesses may appoint a single delegate with the right to vote at regular meetings and be eligible to hold office.
Article 1.3.1: Honorary Membership. Honorary members shall be elected by the Society upon the recommendation of the Board of Directors. This shall be an exceptional category designated for members who have been active for decades, and have made a significant contribution to the Society.
Change: Term limits have been removed due to difficult nature of finding volunteers to hold these positions.
Article 2.3: Tenure of Officers. The President and Vice President shall serve not more than two consecutive terms, but each may be reelected after an interval of one year. It is considered desirable that each of them shall have previously served as a Director. Positions of Secretary and Treasurer shall not be subject to term limits.
Change: Process has been revised to add the option to vote for Constitution and Bylaw revisions electronically. This is also stated in Article 5.2.
Article 3.2: Number and Election. The Board of Directors shall be members in good standing and shall consist of all duly elected officers and nine other members at large, for a total of fourteen (14) members. The Board of Directors shall be elected at the annual meeting. An election may also be taken through the use of electronic voting that records unique voters and their vote.
Change: Process has been revised to add the option to electronically vote to accept the incoming Board of Directors.
Article 3.8: Meetings. Meetings of the Board of Directors shall be called by the President or upon written request of three Directors. The Board shall meet a minimum of six times a year. Virtual Board meetings are considered acceptable.
Change: The list of Committees has been updated to reflect those currently in existence.
Article 6.1: There shall be the following committees of the Society: Program, Finance, Tours, Scholarships and Grants, Hospitality, Auction, Education, Symposium, and others as needed. The members of the committees shall be appointed at the discretion of the committee Chair, except as set forth in Sections 6.3 and 6.5 below.
Change: Process has been revised to add the option to vote for Constitution and Bylaw revisions electronically.
Article 9.1: This Constitution and Bylaws may be amended only by a two- thirds vote of members present at any regular membership meeting at which a quorum is present, provided the proposed amendment shall have been read at two preceding meetings, and notice that action will be taken has been given to all members in the call for the meeting. This Constitution and Bylaws may also be amended by notifying members of the proposed revisions via electronic communication, providing a link to the revised document, and capturing their unique vote to approve/disapprove the changes.
THE CONNECTICUT HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY ENDOWMENT SPENDING AND INVESTMENT POLICY STATEMENTS
Spending Policy
The Connecticut Horticultural Society (CT Hort) will use income from its endowment to support the educational and outreach programs of the Society. This support will supplement the income received from dues and other revenue-generating activities. Over time, it is assumed that the budgeted annual support from the endowment will be no more than 4% of the 20 tracking quarter average of the endowment value as of the May 31st immediately preceding the budget year. Anticipated endowment support needs will be communicated to the Connecticut Horticultural Society Investment Advisor at the completion of the annual budget.
Asset Allocation
Because of the small size of the endowment, it is assumed that CT Hort will use commingled investment vehicles offered by financial institutions, i.e., banks or mutual fund organizations, and will not invest directly in the securities of individual companies.
To achieve the Society’s real return objective, it is assumed that between 60-70% of assets will be invested in equities and between 30-40% in fixed income securities.