NATIONAL MOTORSPORTS PRESS ASSOCIATION
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS
Preamble
Motorsports having taken its place as a major form of sporting
competition and public entertainment in the United States,
this Association recognizes it as a subject of major public
interest. Being comprised of persons so engaged in the dissemination
of information, this Association further recognizes the need
to promote and maintain high standards in that endeavor.
ARTICLE I
Name
The name of the association shall be the National Motorsports
Press Association.
ARTICLE II
Purpose
The purposes of this organization will be to promote quality
motorsports coverage; to serve as a medium of exchange for
ideas; to promote a better understanding of motorsports among
participants, officials and fans, and to recognize and honor
those whose achievements are outstanding in motorsports and
motorsports news coverage.
ARTICLE III
Members
Membership will be limited to persons connected with motorsports
in the United States.
Section 1: Press membership
Press membership is open to individuals who regularly cover
motorsports for daily or weekly newspapers, for television
stations or networks, for radio stations or networks or for
weekly, bi-monthly or monthly publications that specialize
in motorsports.
Any person issued a media annual credential (commonly known
as a "hard
card") by NASCAR, the Indy Racing League, the ChampCar
Open Wheel Racing
Series, the U.S. Auto Club, the National Hot Rod Association,
the International Hot Rod Association, the USAR or any other
national touring motorsports series will be considered eligible
for membership. Any other person seeking membership may be
asked to provide examples of his motorsports coverage before
being accepted as a member. The
Membership-Elections Committee will consider all such applications.
Press membership also may be authorized in special cases upon
recommendation by the board of directors and approval by majority
vote at a regular press members' meeting. Based on his/her
primary duties in covering motorsports, each press member will
be considered a print journalist (i.e., newspaper, magazine
and Internet writers), photojournalist (i.e., photographer
or videographer) or electronic journalist (i.e., television
or radio on-air reporters or producers). Each designation will
hold identical membership rights in the Association.
Press membership may be challenged in writing
to the Membership-Elections Committee by any press member in
good standing. The committee may deny the
challenge or submit it to the press membership for a vote.
Press membership
can be rescinded only by a two-thirds vote of those voting
at a regular
press members' meeting.
A press member may resign at any time and become an associate
member.
Section 2: Associate membership
Associate membership will be open to anyone
interested in the goals of the
National Motorsports Press Association. In all cases of dispute,
associate
memberships will be approved or denied by the board of directors.
Section 3: Corporate membership
Corporate memberships will be open to persons,
companies or corporations
with a financial interest in motorsports. A corporate membership
entitles a
company or corporation to three Associate memberships. In all
cases of
dispute, associate memberships will be approved or denied by
the board of
directors.
Section 4: Membership rights
Only press members will have voting rights
and may hold elective office in
the Association. Associate members may serve on committees
appointed by the
president provided there is no objection from the board of
directors.
ARTICLE IV
Meetings
Section 1: Regular meetings
Regular meetings of the association will
be held at least twice annually and
at such other times as called by the president. The president
will direct
the executive secretary to notify the press membership of the
date and time
of such meetings.
Section 2: Board of directors meetings
The president may call a meeting of the
board at any time, directing the
executive secretary to notify board members of the time and
place of the
meeting. At least five members of the board must be present
or connected
electronically for business to be conducted.
Section 3: Quorum
A call for quorum shall not be necessary
at the two scheduled annual
membership meetings. A quorum for special meetings shall be
constituted by
30 percent of the active press members. If a quorum is not
present at a
special meeting, any proposed action at that meeting must be
submitted to
the press membership in writing for vote by mail. At least
30 percent of
press members must vote in such an election before any such
action is
considered valid.
Section 4: Record of meetings
The secretary/treasurer shall keep a record of all proceedings
at regular or
called meetings of the membership or board of directors. If
the
secretary-treasurer is not present, the officiating member
of the meeting
will designate someone to keep such a record. Summaries of
the record of a
meeting will be prepared and submitted to the executive secretary
by no
later than the next regular meeting. The executive secretary
will provide a
copy of such records to members upon request.
Section 5: Parliamentary authority
The rules contained within the current edition of Robert's
Rules of Order
shall govern this Association in all cases to which they are
applicable and
in which they are not inconsistent with these by-laws and any
special rules
of order adopted by the Association.
ARTICLE V
Officers and elections
Section 1: Officers
Officers of this association will be a president,
a vice president and a
secretary/treasurer. These officers will also be voting members
of the board
of directors. The president and vice president will serve one-year
terms.
The secretary/treasurer will serve two-year terms.
Additionally, six members will serve as elected board of
directors members.
Three board members will be elected each year to two-year terms.
One board
member will be elected from among the print journalist members.
Another will
be elected from among photojournalists. The third elected each
year will be
from among the electronic journalists. In the event that a
board member is
unable to complete his term, the president will appoint an
interim director
to serve the remainder of his/her term from within the same
group of the
membership as the one being replaced.
All board members serving at the time this
constitution is adopted will
serve the remainder of their elected terms.
Section 2: Terms of office
No press member may serve more than two consecutive terms
as president, vice
president or secretary/treasurer. No press member may serve
more than three
consecutive terms on the board of directors. No press member
may serve in
any elected capacity for a period of more than six consecutive
years. (For
example, a press member elected to consecutive one-year terms
as president,
then in successive years to two two-year terms on the board
of directors
would not be eligible to serve in elected capacity in the following
year.)
Section 3: Elections
The Membership-Elections Committee will
solicit press members interested in
serving as officers and, at the first regular meeting held
after Aug. 1 of
each calendar year, submit a slate of nominees for each open
office. Press
members may suggest candidates to this committee at any time.
Any press
member may also nominate additional candidates for at the first
meeting
after Aug. 1.
The executive secretary will mail ballots
to press members within 30 days
after nominations are made. The ballots must be returned to
the executive
secretary within 60 days of the nominations. The executive
secretary will
assemble the ballots and present them to the Membership-Elections
committee,
which will count the ballots and notify the membership of the
results with
all possible dispatch. Terms of office begin at the completion
of the vote
count and notification of those elected.
Any press member may ask to see the ballots
cast within 30 days of the close
of voting to verify the count. Any disputes stemming from a
challenge of the
results will be settled by the board of directors as constituted
before the
election in question.
Section 4: Unfilled terms
If an NMPA president does not serve his/her
full term, the vice president
will assume that office and will then appoint, subject to approval
by the
board of directors, a new vice president. If the vice president,
secretary/treasurer or member of the board of directors does
not serve
his/her full term, the president will fill that vacancy by
appointment,
subject to approval by the board of directors.
Any press member may challenge any such
appointment in writing to the
executive secretary. The member submitting the challenge may
nominate
himself/herself or another eligible member to fill the vacancy
in question,
and the executive secretary will within 30 days conduct a special
election
by mail, allowing the full membership to vote for either the
appointed
officer or the challenger's nominee or to write-in another
eligible member.
Disputes over special elections will be adjudicated in the
same manner as
those in a regular election.
Section 5: Executive secretary
The board of directors will be empowered
to retain the services of a
qualified person to serve as executive secretary and to compensate
that
person at a salary to be determined by the board.
The executive secretary will maintain records of the membership
and
meetings, to conduct correspondence and to perform other duties
as directed
by the president and board of directors. The executive secretary
may be an
elected officer of the association.
ARTICLE VI
Committees
Section 1: Hall of Fame Committee
The National Motorsports Press Association
Hall of Fame has been established
to honor individuals who distinguish themselves in the world
of motorsports.
Eligibility for election to the Hall of Fame is established
as follows:
1. A person who has been retired from or
has otherwise departed the position
for which he or she is being honored at least two years as
of June 1 of the
voting year. (For example, a driver who retires but remains
in racing as a
team owner would be eligible two years after retirement from
driving).
2. A person who reaches the age of 65 during
the year prior to June 1 of the
voting year, regardless of whether he or she remains active
in the sport.
3. A person who has been deceased at least one year prior
to June 1 of the
voting year.
4. A person who is considered an "extraordinary" candidate
by the hall
nomination committee. Extraordinary candidates would be those
individuals
whose accomplishments are unusually and overwhelmingly significant.
These
candidates would become eligible for hall election despite
the fact they are
not necessarily qualified under rules 1, 2 or 3.
The vice president will serve as chairperson
of the Hall of Fame Committee
each year. The NMPA president will appoint four additional
members to this
committee. At least four members of this committee must be
NMPA members. The
fifth member will be an at-large selection - it could be an
NMPA member, a
NASCAR official, a current hall of fame member, a speedway
official or
anyone else with a strong knowledge of and interest in motorsports.
The committee will consider all candidates eligible under the
hall
guidelines.
The Hall of Fame Committee chairperson shall
designate one committee member
to serve as a liaison between the committee and current hall
of fame members
to determine if any "old-timers" (defined for eligibility
purposes as anyone
who was involved in the sport 25 or more years ago) should
be included on
the ballot.
The Hall of Fame Committee shall be in charge of determining
if any "extraordinary" candidates are eligible
for the ballot. The Hall of Fame
Committee members must agree unanimously before an extraordinary
candidate's
name is placed on the ballot.
The committee will nominate at least two
and no more than five individuals
for hall induction and submit that list to the president and
executive
secretary for each year's voting. Press members may vote for
none, some or
all of the nominees. The ballot also will include space for
write-in
candidates. Any candidate who receives votes on at least 65
percent of the
ballots cast will be elected. In the event that no nominee
receives votes on
65 percent of the ballots, the leading candidate (or candidates,
in the
event of a tie) will be elected.
Ballots will be distributed to the membership,
with the deadline for
returning ballots set for 30 days after ballots are distributed.
With the
assistance of the president, the executive secretary will announce
the
ballot results within 30 days of that deadline. The news release
will
include the percentage of ballots (not actual count) each candidate
receives.
Section 2: Membership-Elections Committee
The Membership-Elections Committee each
year will be comprised of the three
members of the board of directors serving the first year of
their two-year
terms. This committee will nominate a slate of officers for
the next
election, count the ballots from all regular and special elections
and
publish the results to the membership and rule on all membership
applications.
Section 3: Finance-Audit Committee
The Finance-Audit Committee each year will
be comprised of the three members
of the board of directors serving the second year of their
two-year terms.
The Finance-Audit Committee will oversee the financial operations
of the
NMPA and will be consulted by the president and the executive
secretary on
all expenditures over $500, aside from those regularly incurred
(such as
convention and Hall of Fame banquet costs paid each year).
The Finance-Audit Committee will meet each September, at which
time its
members will review with the executive secretary and the secretary/treasurer
the organization's finances from the previous fiscal year,
which ends each
Aug. 31. Issues and/or concerns raised by this audit will be
discussed with
the membership at the next regular meeting.
Section 4: Other committees
Committees on any other matter, standing
or special, may be appointed by the
president provided there is no objection from the board of
directors.
ARTICLE VII
Finances
Section 1: Dues
Annual dues will be set by the board of
directors, with the approval of the
membership. Dues will be payable on Sept. 15 each year and
will be collected
after invoice from the executive secretary. The executive secretary
will
turn over all funds to the elected secretary/treasurer for
deposit in a
recognized banking institution.
Section 2: Disbursements
The secretary/treasurer will make all disbursements
by check with the
exception of incidental expenses for items such as postage
and stationery.
Section 3: Contributions
All contributions to the NMPA will become
part of the general treasury. The
Association membership reserves the right to decline any contributions.
ARTICLE VIII
Contest
The annual NMPA awards contest will be open
to all press members, which will
conducted under rules as approved by the board of directors
and supplied to
press members as part of the call for contest entries mailed
to each press
member. Judging will be done qualified judges as approved by
the board of
directors.
No monetary awards from the NMPA will be
given as part of this contest.
Donations to charities may be made in an award winner's name
upon approval
by the board of directors.
ARTICLE IX:
Dissolution of corporation
In event of dissolution or final liquidation, whether voluntary
or otherwise, the assets of the corporation shall be used to
retire all outstanding debts of the corporation.
Any remaining assets would then be turned over to one or more
organizations organized or operated for similar purposes that
are themselves exempt organizations as described in Section
501 (C3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954; or the corresponding
provisions of any prior or future Internal Revenue Code.
ARTICLE X
Changes, revisions or additions to this Constitution
Upon approval, this Constitution replaces any and all previous
versions
and/or revisions of the Constitution of the Association.
No policies, rules or procedures set forth in this Constitution
knowingly violate any stipulations under which the Association
is established or operated according to federal, state or local
laws governing its existence.
Any press member in good standing may propose changes, revisions
or additions to this Constitution. Such proposals must be made
in writing to the president or the executive secretary no later
than 10 days before a scheduled regular meeting in order to
be considered at that meeting.
Proposed changes or additions must be presented and discussed
at a regular meeting and may be voted upon at that same meeting.
A two-thirds majority vote of those in attendance will be required
to approve changes or additions to this Constitution.
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