Voting Twice Per Year
mechanism has been proposed to ensure Committee Members are involved and available whenever necessary. • Committee Reports – Some members questioned how Committee reports would be written [who would hold which responsibilities with Committee Member rotations]. While this would require a change, a mechanism has been proposed to ensure Committee Members are involved and responsible when applicable. • Open Hearings – The FG suggested splitting Open Hearings into two sessions, one for Voting Items and another for all other agenda items. Some members questioned how the meeting agenda would look and how the meeting itself would function. The FG drafted a mock agenda to demonstrate an example of the flow and rough timelines for a meeting [without extending the meeting beyond the traditional Thursday gavel closing]. • Length of Time for an Item on an Agenda – The FG proposed limiting time for agenda items that “do not pass, but do not fail.” Many members preferred to focus on a time restriction for Developing Items instead of the aforementioned. The FG amended the proposal to address Developing Items only, which will no longer require a bylaw change rather it will now require a policy change. • Increased Cost for Members – Some NCWM members only attend the Annual Meeting [due to voting] but do not attend the Interim Meeting. This change would urge these members to attend another meeting [and incur the related travel costs]. The Interim Meeting would also be extended for one additional day with increased registration fees, which would result in an increase in travel expense [for one additional day] for everyone in attendance. Statistics provided in Publication 16 show that the attendance difference [between the Interim and Annual Meetings] is marginal and there appears to be sufficient attendance at each current meeting [Interim and Annual] to have a quorum present for voting, should this proposal pass. It is important to understand this proposal will not
Dr. Matthew Curran- Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
The NCWM Board of Directors (BOD) has invested considerable time discussing avenues to keep our organization responsive and relevant in a fast, ever- changing marketplace. One of the ideas borne from these discussions is to restructure the NCWM Bylaws, thus enabling voting twice per year [as opposed to just once per year]. The rationale behind this idea is that it would streamline the pathway for an idea to be incorporated into the Handbooks, thus enhancing the NCWM’s responsiveness to changes in the marketplace. The BOD believes it would ultimately provide regulators with codes in a more efficient manner and in turn, allow the industry to begin using technology sooner. However, a significant change such as this does not happen without extensive analysis of potential impacts. In response to this idea, the BOD formed a Focus Group (FG) to analyze the concept and vet it with the NCWM Membership. To this end, the FG has held numerous forum discussions with national and regional members to provide information, receive feedback, and work through any challenges. Following these numerous discussions, the FG has outlined multiple topics from the feedback received and provided specific answers and potential solutions to the questions and challenges posed. The key topics identified by members are summarized in the following sections and detailed in the 2023 version of Publication 16. • Committee Member Rotations – Some members questioned how Committee Member rotations would occur under the proposed voting structure. While this would require a change, a
NCWM-News 16
2023 Issue 2
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