Revised and submitted to the council for ratification on 5/4/02
NORTHWEST RALLY COUNCIL
Constitution and Bylaws
Section 1: The name of the club shall be Northwest Rally Council, also known as NWRC (hereafter referred to as the Council).
Section 2: The Northwest Rally Council is a non-profit organization.
Section 1: To promote, sanction and obtain insurance coverage for Time-Speed-Distance road rallies in the Pacific Northwest.
Section 1: Membership is open to any organized active motoring or sports car club. Any club may apply for membership in the North West Rally Council by submitting a letter of application to the Council accompanied by a fee of $20.00. The President will accept, reject or refer the application to the existing membership. If rejected, the fee will be returned to the applying club.
Section 2: Member clubs shall be classified as either primary or associate clubs.
Section 3: Each Member Club shall pay annual membership fee of $20.
The Treasurer shall invoice such fee along with the insurance expenses to the clubs. Invoice to be paid within a month of receipt.
Section 4: Primary Memberships will apply to those clubs which have paid dues and conduct NWRC sanctioned rallies. Associate Memberships will apply to those clubs which have paid dues, but do not conduct NWRC sanctioned rallies. Only Primary members will be permitted to vote, although Associate members may propose changes. Associate members may be granted voting privileges by a majority vote of the voting members.
Section 5: Each member club shall provide for the Treasurer and maintain a complete roster of its members. This roster shall list members’ names and addresses and shall not be used except for official NWRC business.
Section 6: Each member club will name a member of their club to be a representative (the rep) to the Council.
Section 7: The representative of each primary club will have one vote.
Section 8: Rep responsibilities will be:
Act as an observer, or appoint an observer, in the preparation of the rep’s own club’s event. If appointed, the observer must be an active rallyist but not need be a member of the sponsoring club.
Make sure that all facets of the rally are technically correct and adhere to the General Instructions and the NWRC Guidelines for Rallymasters. If exceptions are noted, have the rallymaster correct them or refer them to the [NWRC] President for the President’s approval.
Determine that all member clubs will receive pertinent rally information that concerns deviations from the printed NWRC General Instructions and Guidelines for Rallymasters.
Represent the club at all Council meetings.
Act as a liaison between rallyists, clubs and the President.
Immediately following completion of the rep’s club’s sanctioned event, press for speed and accuracy in scoring the event and issuance of the final results to the contestants.
Distribute season standings received from the [Council] statistician to participating club members.
Section 1: The Board of Directors shall consist of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and any other officer the President deems necessary.
Section 2: The President of the Council shall be elected at the annual meeting and assume office at the adjournment of that meeting.
The President shall be an active rallyist.
An active rallyist is one who, in the previous year, has participated in at least half of the Friday Nighters.
The President shall serve a one-year term.
The President shall appoint the following officers to the board: Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and any other officer the President deems necessary.
Section 3: Vice President
Shall be an active rallyist.
Shall act as President in the absence of the [Council] President at any official meeting.
Shall act as rule change coordinator.
Section 4: Secretary
Shall keep the minutes at the annual meeting and any special meeting.
Said minutes to be sent to all club representatives within 15 days of said meeting.
Shall assemble the rule proposals for the subsequent annual meeting or any special meeting.
Shall make available to each club one copy of the NWRC General Instructions at no charge.
Shall ensure that the NWRC General Instructions are posted on the Website. Each club will be responsible for providing copies of the General Instructions for competitors of the rallies they conduct.
Section 5: Treasurer
Shall be in charge of the NWRC checking account, all insurance matters, dues, bills, and other financial items. A strict accounting of all NWRC funds shall be publicized at the annual meeting or upon a written request by any club representative.
Section 6: Statistician
Statistician is an optional appointment by the President.
Shall prepare a set of standings after receipt of results from each Friday Nighter Rally.
The standings shall be posted to the website and shall be displayed at each Friday Nighter after the first weekend, provided results from prior events have been received by the Statistician at least two days prior to the event.
Section 7: A copy of all correspondence concerning the NWRC sent by the Council President or to the Council President by NWRC members, shall be sent to the Vice President. In addition, it is suggested that copies of all correspondence concerning the NWRC originated by the NWRC representatives or officers be sent to the President or Vice President.
Section 1: The Northwest Rally Council will hold its annual meeting on the first Saturday of December.
Section 2. Special meetings may be called by the President or a majority of the representatives, provided that ten (10) days notice is given to each club, and that an agenda of the business to be discussed is provided at that time.
Section 3: Attendance by 60% of voting member clubs shall constitute a quorum. If a member club mails their vote, it shall be counted as if they were present. For a mail ballot, receiving ballots from 60% of the voting members will be considered a quorum.
Section 4: Majority rule of voting member club representatives voting shall prevail, with the President casting a vote only in case of a tie.
Section 5: Votes on agenda items, as written, may be transmitted by mail or e-mail if received by the President prior to the meeting.
Section 6: A Mail ballot may be called for by the President or by a majority of the representatives provided that 30 days are allowed to respond by each club. For the ballot to be official, the President must receive a quorum of votes. The President will notify the representatives of the outcome within 7 days of the vote deadline. Mail votes can be done by mail or e-mail.
Section 7: Representatives may request a special meeting in lieu of the mail ballot. If 1/3 of the quorum requests such a meeting, the mail ballot would be void.
Section 8: At the any meeting, the Council shall have the right to review membership of any member club, and upon 30 days notice, and after due investigation by the President, revoke membership in the Council of any club for good reason, such as fraudulent behavior, failure to conduct a Friday Nighter that the club volunteered for, or activity counter to the goals of the NWRC. Such action shall require affirmative votes from 2/3 of the representatives of voting clubs at the meeting.
Section 1: The Council shall, at the annual meeting, set the schedule for the new year’s rallies, according to each club’s willingness to conduct said rallies.
Section 2: All events sanctioned by the Council will be insured through the NWRC Insurance Policy.
Section 3: The President may assign a Rally Steward to any event for the purpose of ensuring that the rally is consistent with the standards of the Council. Any club being audited by the Rally Steward will allow a pre-check of their rally, and will fix identified problems and make recommended changes to the rally. The Rally Steward’s authority will be limited to the technical correctness and safety of the course. The Rally Steward will prepare a report for the Council and the sponsoring club outlining the problems found and the solutions recommended. This report will include a statement identifying the problem as technical or safety related.
Section 4: The rally season is to be based on a calendar year, beginning January 1 and ending December 31 of each year.
Section 5: The awards presentation shall be held in conjunction with the last Friday Nighter of the year.
The NWRC Statistician shall buy the trophies and with the President, present them at the awards presentation. Annual awards trophies shall be awarded to at least the highest three (3) places in Novice and SOP class. In the event of ties, the tiebreaker will be most wins, then most seconds, then most thirds, etc. until the tie is broken. If the tie cannot be broken, then duplicate trophies will be awarded.
Section 6: A sanction fee of not less than $10.00 and not greater than $20 per event shall be paid to the NWRC with the insurance payment for each rally. The Council shall set the fee after the cost of insurance is established. This fee is not refundable, nor is it diminishable due to dual sanction.
Section 7: Complete results will be mailed to the Statistician and posted to the Website, postmarked within ten (10) days after each rally.
Section 8: The Novice and SOP Championships will be administered by the Statistician under rules published by the Statistician prior to the season.
Section 1: This constitution may be amended by a majority vote of the voting members.
Section 2: Any member club may propose amendments by submitting the proposed amendment in writing to the President. The President will present the amendment for mail ballot, or place it on the agenda for the annual meeting.
Section 3: The Council may amend, add to or delete from the General Instructions at the annual meeting or at any special meeting.
Section 4: Proposed changes to the General Instructions will be submitted in writing to the Secretary. Changes that are corrections, such as typographical errors will forwarded to the President be put into the form of a mail ballot and mailed to all club representatives within 15 days of receipt. Thirty days later, or when all clubs have voted, all ballots received will be tallied and the results mailed to the representatives of all NWRC clubs.
Other changes to the General Instructions will be collected and presented for vote at the annual meeting. Corrections to the General Instructions shall become effective immediately. Other Changes to the General Instructions will be effective as of the first rally of the New Year.
The Secretary must receive proposed changes to the General Instructions to be voted on at the annual meeting by October 15. These Proposals will be forwarded to the club representatives 30 days prior to the annual meeting.