2007 Westercon Business Meeting
Meeting Minutes
The Business Meeting of the 60th West Coast
Science Fantasy Conference (Westercon 60)
was held in Room Synergy 5 of the Marriott Hotel,
Ms. Sbarsky, chair of this committee, reported with the assistance of Mr. Yalow. This committee was charged with producing an amendment that would restore the 75-mile exclusion zone around the administering Westercon’s site in such cases when no bids file by the April 15 deadline for appearing on the site selection ballot as specified in section 3.5. The committee asked that its report be postponed until the conclusion of Pending Bylaw Amendments, and this was agreed by unanimous consent.
The following amendment was passed at Westercon 59 and will become part of the Bylaws if ratified at Westercon 60.
Moved, To amend Section 3.6 of the Westercon Bylaws by striking
out and inserting text as shown, for the purpose of proving for
situations where no eligible bids file before January 1st of the year of the
site-selection balloting:
3.6 Provisions When No Valid Eligible Bids
Are Received
If no valid bids are received by the deadline
in section 3.5, If no eligible bids are received by January 1st of the year
of the site-selection balloting, then all sites defined in section 3.1
shall be eligible and the other site location restrictions in this article
shall be suspended.
Comments: This “safety valve” provision allows bids from the zone that is otherwise excluded from bidding to file if no bids from the other zones file on or before January 1 of the year in which the site-selection election is happening. This rule existed in the two-zone rotation system that was changed in 2005 to the current “anti-zone” system; however, due to a drafting error, it was inadvertently stricken when the current wording of section 3.2 was adopted.
Last year, it was noticed that the “safety valve” clause was missing from the bylaws, and inasmuch as no bids from the non-South zones had filed either by January 1 or April 15, while bids from the South zone had, a minor crisis ensued until the site selection administrator was able to make a ruling that allowed the two bids onto the ballot. This ruling was rather convoluted, however, and all parties involved would prefer to see this explicit provision restored to the bylaws.
The previous wording of Section 3.6, with its reference to Section 3.5, was intended for situations when no bids at all had filed by April 15; in which case the final restriction (a 75-mile exclusion zone around the administering site) was suspended. This 75-mile zone no longer exists, and therefore references to situations when no bids at all file by the April 15 ballot deadline no longer have any relevance, because if no bids file by January 1, all sites, including those in the administering zone, become eligible already.
Note that this only suspends site restrictions, and particularly section 3.3. All other requirements for bidding, such as a facility agreement, organizing document, etc. still apply even if the site restrictions are suspended.
Mr. Yalow spoke in favor of ratification. There was no debate against this motion.
This bylaw amendment was ratified by unanimous consent and becomes part of the Westercon Bylaws immediately; it takes effect at the conclusion of Westercon 60.
The meeting then returned to the report of the Oink-Oink Committee. The committee moved the adoption of the following amendment to the Westercon Bylaws.
Secretary’s Note: The
text of this amendment is longer than what was read at the Business Meeting, on
account of post-meeting consultation with the motion’s makers, where it was
noted that the proposed amendment rendered other sections redundant. The
wording below retains the intent of the maker’s motion while cleaning up redundant
language.
Moved,
To amend the Westercon Bylaws by striking out and inserting text
as shown, for the purpose of providing for a 75-mile exclusion zone around the
administering Westercon in all cases except when the selection is made by the
Business Meeting or by LASFS:
1. Amend section 3.3 as follows:
3.3 Regional Exclusion
Zone
No site within the Site Selection Zone
containing the site of the Westercon administering the site-selection election shall
be eligible to bid, except as provided in section 3.6 this section.
If no eligible bids are filed by the January 1st of the year of the site-selection
balloting, then all sites defined in section 3.1 shall be eligible, except
sites within seventy-five (75) miles of the site of the Westercon administering
the site-selection subject to the provisions of section 3.x.
2. Add a new section after existing 3.3:
3.x Local Exclusion Zone
No site within 75 miles of the
Westercon administering the site-selection election shall be eligible to bid,
except as provided in section 3.17.
3. Strike out the second sentence of section 3.5, because its provisions are incorporated into the second sentence of section 3.3:
3.5 Filing Deadline for Ballot
Only those eligible bids whose
filing paperwork required by section 3.4 is in the possession of the
administering Westercon by the April 15th preceding the balloting shall be
listed on the ballot. If no eligible bids are filed by the January 1st of
the year of the site-selection balloting, then all sites defined in section 3.1
shall be eligible, except as provided in section 3.3.
4. Strike out section 3.6, because its provisions are incorporated into the second sentence of section 3.3:
3.6 Provisions When No
Eligible Bids Are Received
If no eligible bids are
received by January 1st of the year of the site-selection balloting, then all sites defined in section 3.1
shall be eligible and the other site location restrictions in this article
shall be suspended.
The Secretary noted that any necessary renumbering and
cross-referencing would be done by the Secretary of the meeting at which this
amendment is ratified. Secretary’s Note:
The Secretary recommends that the Business Meeting instruct the Secretary of
the 2008 Business Meeting to move existing section 3.4 (Filing Requirements) to
follow existing section 3.6. This would place the sections regarding zones and
cascading deadlines in consecutive order, without an intervening section
regarding filing paperwork.
Informal discussion on this amendment followed, and revolved primarily around the various filing deadlines and location restrictions for Westercon sites. The Secretary here attempts to summarize the current situation:
Currently (net of the amendment ratified earlier in this meeting), there are multiple deadlines involving Westercon site selection, with different effects.
January 1 of administering year: Prior to this date, only bids from sites in zones other than the zone hosting the current Westercon (“hosting zone”) are eligible. If any bids file before this date, then sites in the hosting zone are “frozen out” and are ineligible to file at any time this year. If no bids file by this date, then bids from the hosting zone (except sites within 75 miles of the administering site) become eligible.
April
15 of the administering year: Bids must file with the administering
Westercon on or before this date (and be eligible) in order to appear on the
ballot. If no bids file by this date, then any site defined in section 3.1
(substantially Western North American and
Close of site-selection voting: Bids must file by this time in order to be eligible to win the election. Any bid that does not file by this deadline would be considered an ineligible bid under section 3.16. If no valid bids file by the close of balloting, then the provisions of section 3.17 regarding there being “no qualified bidding committee” would apply, and the selection would be thrown to the Business Meeting, which could either select any site (with only the section 3.1 restriction in place) by a three-fourths vote or by majority vote decide that it is deadlocked, in which case the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, Inc. is called upon to make a selection within six weeks.
A “valid bid” is one that filed with the administering Westercon by the appropriate deadline and was eligible as a bid per the location restrictions codified in the Bylaws. A bid that is otherwise technically correct – that is, contains the information required in section 3.4 -- but is for an ineligible site is not valid.
This amendment will impose a 75-mile exclusion zone around
the administering Westercon in all cases except when the Business Meeting or
LASFS selects the site (a “section 3.17 emergency”). This would apply not only
to bids from the same region (which are eligible if no bids file before January
1) but also to “nearby” bids on the region boundaries. An examination of the
cities near the boundaries shows few credible conflicts – even
Any bid filed after April 15 must run as a write-in candidate. If no bids file by April 15, then no bids will appear on that year’s ballot and any candidates would be write-ins. Should this amendment be ratified, bids for sites within 75 miles of the administering site would be ineligible, even if no bids file by April 15; however, should no eligible bid win the election, the Business Meeting or LASFS could still award a Westercon to a “local” site because of the provisions of section 3.17.
The revised “ballot calendar” is included below. Note that in all cases except a 3.17 emergency, sites within 75 miles of the administering site are frozen out, although this is not explicitly listed in the calendar.
January 1 of administering year: Prior to this date, only bids from sites in zones other than the zone hosting the current Westercon (“hosting zone”) are eligible. If any bids file before this date, then sites in the hosting zone are “frozen out” and are ineligible to file at any time this year. If no bids file by this date, then bids from the hosting zone (except sites within 75 miles of the administering site) become eligible.
April
15 of the administering year: Bids must file with the administering
Westercon on or before this date (and be eligible) in order to appear on the
ballot. If no bids file by this date, then any site defined in section 3.1
(substantially Western North American and
Close of site-selection voting: Bids must file by this time in order to be eligible to win the election. Any bid that does not file by this deadline would be considered an ineligible bid under section 3.16. If no valid bids file by the close of balloting, then the provisions of section 3.17 regarding there being “no qualified bidding committee” would apply, and the selection would be thrown to the Business Meeting, which could either select any site in the Westercon region by a three-fourths vote or by majority vote decide that it is deadlocked, in which case the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, Inc. is called upon to make a selection within six weeks.
Mr. Daugherty proposed that if no bid files by May 30, the 75-mile restriction would go away. There was some discussion of how to specifically word this proposal.
Mr. Breidbart moved to postpone Mr. Daugherty’s amendment indefinitely (the intent here being to determine if there was sufficient interest in refining the proposal to warrant continuing the discussion on it). After further discussion, the Previous Question was moved on the motion to postpone indefinitely, and by a 2/3 vote, passed, closing debate on the motion to postpone indefinitely. The motion to postpone indefinitely passed, effectively killing Mr. Daugherty’s motion.
After further informal discussion, the report of the committee (the bylaw amendment) was adopted on a vote by show of hands, and will be passed on to Westercon 61 for ratification.
Bylaws amendments passed by the Westercon 60 Business Meeting will be passed on to next year’s Westercon for ratification.
There was no new business other than that generated by committee reports.
The Chair announced that unless there was a specific need to do so, there would be no Site Selection business meeting. (Under the Westercon Bylaws, the results of the site-selection election need not be formally reported to the Business Meeting and can be simply announced by other means unless a Site Selection business meeting is required.)
Secretary’s Note: A Site Selection business meeting proved not to be required. The results of the site-selection election were subsequently announced by the administrator, Mr. Green, as follows, with all votes cast at the convention unless otherwise noted.
Write-ins:
AhwaneeCon: 30
IditaCon: 3
Hollister: 1
Both: 1
None of the Above: 1
Total With Preference: 114 (4 pre-con, 112 at-con)
No Preference: 2
Total Ballots: 116 (4 pre-con, 114 at-con)
Needed to Elect (majority of ballots with preference): 58
The meeting adjourned at 12:02 PM.
Kevin Standlee
Secretary
Westercon 60
Business Meeting
The following people signed the attendance list or were observed to be present at the meeting:
David-Glenn Anderson, Judith Bemis, Kent Bloom, Seth
Breidbart, James Stanley Daugherty, Linda Deneroff, Ed Green, Lisa Hayes, Mike
Higashi, Rick Kovalcik, Richard Lau, Walt Main, Tony Parker, Sharon Sbarsky,
Eric P. Scott, Michael Siladi, Kevin Standlee, Ray Van De Walker, "Linda
"Kitty" VonBraskat-Crowe,