The Puget Sound Aquarium Society

Purpose

The Puget Sound Aquarium Society (PSAS) is a non-profit organization committed to the preservation of the world's reefs through maintaining a sustainable hobby.
We feel that this is possible through the education of our members on animal husbandry and strongly encourage coral propagation and aqua culturing of reef animals in the home environment.

Mission Statement

Our mission is to provide saltwater hobbyists an open topic forum where they can learn, share experiences and disseminate knowledge in relation to the hobby.
We encourage members to help preserve the world's reefs through sustainable propagation and promote this practice through education and events that encourage the sharing of home propagated reef species.

Operating Principles

The PSAS is a non-profit organization that raises funds through membership fees, drawings and donations to provide Members with monthly activities related to the hobby of saltwater aquarium keeping.
Under no circumstances may any part of the income of this organization be used to the benefit of any Officer, or Member.
Under dissolution of this organization, the Board of Directors shall, after paying or making provision for the payment of all of the liabilities of the organization,
donate the assets of the organization to the Seattle Aquarium Society.

Membership

The membership year of the (PUGET SOUND AQUARIUM SOCIETY) shall be the third Saturday of September of the year through the third Friday of September of the following year.
Membership in this organization shall be open to anyone who completes the proper application and payment of membership dues.
Neither membership in, nor services provided by the organization will be denied to anyone on the basis of race,
color, religion, national origin, physical or mental handicap, age, sex, sexual preference, ancestry, or medical condition.
Proper application for membership and the amount of the membership dues shall be established by the Board of Directors of this organization.

The membership dues will be based on the following types of memberships:
Full year membership
Half Year membership (after 7th month of membership year - Third Friday of March
Quarter year membership (after 10th month of membership year - Third Friday of June)

A membership includes the individual listed on the application and immediate family members.

The Membership dues shall be decided by the Board of Directors on an annual basis. Current membership dues will be stated on the organizations website http://www.thepsas.org.
No refund of membership dues shall be paid if the Member resigns from the organization.
The PUGET SOUND AQUARIUM SOCIETY reserves the right to revoke the membership of any Member due to conduct considered grossly detrimental to this organization.
This action is deemed extraordinary and shall be carried out in the following manner:
1. Testimony of detrimental conduct must be submitted in writing and signed by at least three Members of the organization (who are not also members of the Board of Directors)
for review by the Board of Directors.
2. The Board of Directors will review the complaint and will only revoke the membership if they are in unanimous agreement of the validity of the complaint
and are in unanimous agreement that the conduct is grossly detrimental to the club.

Meetings

General membership and Board of Directors meetings shall be held as determined by the Board of Directors.
General membership meetings will typically be on the Third Saturday of the month.

Officers and Elections

Elected Officers of the (PUGET SOUND AQUARIUM SOCIETY) shall consist of the following and shall be elected every one (1) year:
President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Membership Chair.
Other members may join the board and may have titles such as Event Coordinator and Official Helper.

Nominations for officers shall take place in the month of May of the membership year.
Only Members in good standing who have attended at least 2 (two) meetings in the current membership year are eligible for nomination for office for the following membership year.
Elections shall take place in the month of June of the membership year.
The President or Chairperson will ascertain from the Secretary and Treasurer that all those nominated are qualified to run for office in accordance with the guidelines of this organization.
All elections shall be decided by a simple majority.
The newly elected officers shall assume office on July 1st of the same year.
The previous Board of Directors shall turn over the records and property of the club to the new Board of Directors by this date.
Only Members in good standing are entitled to vote at the annual elections.
In the event of a vacancy in any elected office for any reason, the President shall appoint a qualified Member in good standing to fill the vacancy for the unexpired term.
It shall be necessary for the appointee to be approved by a majority vote, by secret ballot, of the Board or Directors.
Should the vacancy be that of President, the entire Board of Directors shall, by secret ballot, appoint a successor for the unexpired term of office.

Board of Directors

The duly elected Officers comprise the PUGET SOUND AQUARIUM SOCIETY Board of Directors.
Each member of the Board of Directors and other members appointed by the Board of Directors shall have equal vote in the business of the organization.
However, in the case of a tie, the President shall have the power of one and one-half (1 ½) votes.
The Board should strive to reach consensus on all decisions, but if consensus cannot be reached, decisions will be made by a simple majority vote.
Major business decisions require a quorum of three (3) current Board of Director members involved in the voting
but shall be communicated to all current Board of Director members prior to voting and all members of the Board of Directors have the right to vote, but may decline to do so.
It shall be the function of the Board of Directors to transact all business of the organization and make reports of financial activity available to the General Membership upon request.
It shall be required that all members of the Board of Directors attend all meetings, unless unable to do so for genuine reasons,
and they will conduct themselves at all times in a manner befitting membership in the organization.

The Board of Directors, by a 2/3rds vote, can expel any member from the Board of Directors for the following reasons:
1. Conduct at a function of the organization or while representing the organization in any manner that is unbecoming of a member of the Board of Directors
2. Malfeasance in office

President

The President shall preside at all meetings at which he is present and, shall exercise general supervision over the affairs and activities of the organization.
It shall be the responsibility of the President to personally check the reports, activities and progress of all committees.

Vice-President

In the absence of the President, the Vice-President shall assume the duties of the President.

Treasurer

The Treasurer shall receive all the organization's funds and keep them in a bank or repository selected and approved by the Board of Directors.
Accurate records shall be kept of all monetary transactions.
Two members of the Board of Directors will be designated and chosen by the Board of Directors to be authorized to sign checks on the organization's funds,
these members typically will be the President and Treasurer, but other members may be chosen in the event of a vacancy of one or both of these positions.
The Treasurer or other designated member of the Board of Directors shall present a periodic, not to be less than quarterly, financial report to the Board of Directors
showing the previous period's expenditures and a summary report will be made available to Members upon request.
The Treasurer shall also be responsible for the accounting of all club property.
All records shall be kept for a minimum of 7 years and shall be transferred to the new Board of Directors by July 1st of the membership year.

Secretary

The Secretary shall be responsible for the keeping of the minutes of all meetings of the organization and of the Board of Directors.
The Secretary shall post these minutes as record of the business activities to an online PSAS Board of Directors forum, currently located at http://www.thepsas.org.

Membership Chair

The Membership Chair shall be responsible for the duties assigned to him/her/them by the President.

Amendments

All proposed amendments to this Charter must be approved by three active members of the Board of Directors for recommendation.
The recommendations of the Board of Directors shall be presented to the Members of the organization at an online forum (currently http://www.thepsas.org)
for consideration and at the end of the consideration period of two (2) weeks, voting will be for two (2) weeks by the Members of the organization.
The amendment, if approved by a 2/3rd majority vote of the Members of the organization, will be made to this charter.