Steve,
I had this conversation when Mark and I first joined the club as I was unsure of its actual status as a "nonprofit", which is actually a legal question.
My understanding, which I believe is probably correct, is that HD4W operates as a nonprofit under the Cal4wheel charter.
For the non-nonprofit experts, that means that while HD4W is not, or at least to my knowledge is not, incorporated on its own, we do have the legal authority to act as any other nonprofit in the state as an associated or chartered Cal4wheel club.
According to the Cal4wheel bylaws, there are a few technical legal issues that clubs are responsible for on their own, but by and large as the clubs income is under the state minimum necessary for independent incorporation status, we are good to go under our charter.

Terry -

Thanks for not taking my concerns and issues with the bylaws personally. I understand where the bylaw revison is coming from and think I see what your vision is for the club. I honestly don't think you have a personal agenda to eliminate inactive or semi-active members. And, I will not battle you about who is busier, who has more obligations, etc... We're all busy and we all have to set priorities. A couple of final comments and a question before tonight's meeting:

1) Terry, you said, "It's easy to turntail and run when things don't go your way, but club membership is finding a compromise and willing to stay with the small thing you don't agree with." I have NO intention of turning tail; I may be forced out if the bylaws are accepted as written, but I will not turntail and give up on the club (although it seems that the club may have given up on me and others like me who are temporarily away from it right now). And yes, I too, expect compromise, both on the part of the leadership team and from the membership, which still includes me.

2) I asked why it is essential to enforce a membership maintenance requirement, and how it will help the club. The consistent response / theme I received is "motivation". Is this REALLY the most effective way to motivate members? The club can't tolerate people being away from it for a while, and coming back to it when they can?

I KNOW what the purpose of the club is; that's why I joined. I didn't join the 4 wheeling club to learn to knit.

A Final Question: How am I hurting the club or offending other members by not participating as often as some?

Jennifer,
Thank you for you reply, I look forward to them! I'm happy that you can see what my vision for the club is and hope others will as well. The comment of turning tail and running was a general statement aimed at no one. The last thing I want is for the bylaws to be approved without push back and then people leave because they don't like them or think they are too harsh! Is this the best way to motivate people, I don't know. At the same time, how do you plan activities for the club if you only see less that 50% attend the meetings & about 5 to 10% attend club runs?
I'm not sure how to answer the last one, I guess when you decide to join a club, you make yourself accountable to the membership to maintain a certain level of commitment or club activity. I believe that we all should be accountable to each other for this. I can tell you this, a minimum wouldn't motivate me. I'm motivated because I like doing things with the people in the club and would like to see our club grow and be active with different events throughout our community & state. Are you hurting the club? I guess the better question is, are you helping the club? I look at things differently than most I guess, helping with the raffle, keeping up to date on conservation & trail closures or other small things that could be brought to the meeting and shared is helping.
When I was coaching my baseball team, I would tell my boys that if we got 9 singles, we could score 6 runs every inning. I feel the same way with this club, if we all did something small that added to the greater, we would have a very active club!
I hope to see you there tonight and I really have enjoyed our discussions.

Terry

Hi all
I agree with Denise & Jen & Steve too. The club is a four wheel drive club, but its members have outside lives. Some have the opportunity to make the runs, others do not. Those that can't make the runs should not be penalized.
As a long time member (since 1981) I have seen the club go through ups and downs in both membership, and activity levels. We are still around and that is my hope - that the club still continue to exist.
Yes, it would be nice to have a larger share of the members go on the runs, but as I said, life happens.
Health issues, having a vehicle that can't do the hard runs, and not having the knowledge to do repairs that might need to be done are my problem.
I don't have a "spare" vehicle to use if mine breaks down, nor do I have the financial ability to "toughen her up" to be able to go on the harder runs.
I still am a part of the club. I've put in a lot of time and effort to help make the club stay alive and healthy.
With the proposed by-laws, I'd be one of the first to go. and that's not something I want to do.
I love this club and enjoy the meetings and what runs I might be able to make. I don't want to have to give all this up just because I can't be a real participant on the runs.
We are a club, and we each have outside influences that determine our ability to participate.
Don't make it so restrictive that we have to forego our membership because we don't fit into the "required participation" box.
Thanks,

I can honestly think of no one who has been as consistantly committed to this club that you Bonnie. It wouldn't by High Desert Four Wheelers without you.

fact; as denise said of bonnie,that is the truth,the whole truth,and nothing but the truth! devoted 110%-do the math my friends,28 years. things like these are why the club is so special.tradition, i am old fashioned and old school i guess,i drove my first jeep in '67,but this club worked its way into my heart seemingly right from the day i joined. that must be the reason why on monday when i got to the meeting with my stickers in hand ready to resign if i would have tried to speak all i would have done is throw up.with a tear in my eye and not really knowing what the hell to do i drove home.

All right... all right... After having a very long chat with Terry after the meeting last night I think there is some hope for those of us who can't make 8 runs & 4 meetings a year as proposed in the current draft of the bylaws. Terry shared his long-term vision for the club, and frankly, it is one I can get on board with and I hope many of you can, too. Terry, if I may, I will summarize some things you said that swayed me and have given me some hope:

1) There should be minimums of some sort. (I bristled at first, but he explained...)
-- This is to prevent someone from just slapping the sticker on their rig and not being responsible to the club / members /
community.
-- What those minimums are is still up for negotiation. Can it be 1 event & 1 meeting a quarter? Still under
negotiation. Can events such as a clean-up, parade, party or cruise-in count as an event? Still under negotitiation. Can
riding along as a passenger with someone on a run count as attendance at an event? Still under negotiation.

* Important Note: The bylaw committee, including our President, cannot know our needs / wants until we make them known (like we've been doing here). Give them suggestions and ideas about what you are comfortable with and what you would like to see for the club and it's members.

2) High Desert 4 Wheelers IS a social club whose members enjoy 4-wheeling. (yep, Terry said it)
-- We want to get to know one another, hang out, and 4-wheel. The only way to do that is to well, be social. That includes
the cruise-ins, camping trips, meetings, parties, picnics, overnight events, etc....
-- We should represt ourselves in the community. That means maybe we do one of those "Adopt-A-Road" things and have
monthly trash pick-ups. Maybe we present to a group of boy scouts (ahem... maybe girl scouts, too ). Terry is
interested in promoting the club as a 4-Wheel Drive club that not only serves its members, but also it's community. (or,
at least that's what I took away from our conversation).

3) All levels of involvement are welcome at High Desert 4 Wheelers
-- As long as there is some involvement / activity on the part of the member.
-- From the most hard-core rock crawlers to the person who is comfortable driving on fire roads, all are welcome at HD4W.
(Seriously, why wouldn't all be welcome?)

So, while I may not be able to give up an entire Saturday for a run at this time, I might be able to swing 3 hours of trash pick-up on the side of the road. That's not 4-wheelin'. Nope. But, it does several things: 1) It keeps me involved and active with my club. 2) When people drive by and see a group of tricked out rigs with our stickers all over them, and we are picking up trash, that sends a message to our community that we are involved and we care not only about where we 4-wheel, but we also that we care about where we live. And, 3) It is inclusive of all members / rigs / and philosophies.

Sure there are other details that need to be hammered out. But, knowing that the bylaw revision isn't coming from a place of exclusion makes me feel, well, included. So, I will make my thoughts & suggestions known to the bylaw committee, as should all of you, and we'll go from there.

Jen

jennifer is on the money here, as i agree with her thoughts, if that means anything at all. but --- if we must earn credits as we go here then by all means any action, from road work,trail cleanup,picnic,parade,criuse-in,whatever we get together for definately should come with credits toward membership. for what that's worth, thank you / steve

Jennifer, Bonnie & Steve,
Thank you for your feedback lastnight!

Terry

Before anyone considers resigning, let me stress that these bylaws are up to the members to approve. The bylaws committee drafts them, but the members have to approve them, and you do not have to vote for something you don't want or don't think should be in the bylaws.
This is not an autocratic process, this is a membership organization and the members make the rules, no one else.
We are all friends here. I understand its an emotional issue, and the reason it is is because we all care deeply for this club. There is absolutely a solution here that will work for everyone, we just have to find it.
People resigning over bylaws that aren't even voted in yet is something that just should not happen. Membership organizations are democratic bodies, everyone has a voice.