BAM’s Board of Directors – Role and Elections

The Board of Directors’ role is to oversee BAM’s management and affairs. Its goal is to ensure the best possible experience for all members, and a safe and welcoming environment for all swimmers ages 18 and over.

BAM’s officers (President, Vice President, Corporate Secretary and Treasurer) are all automatically members of the Board. In addition to BAM’s officers, the Board can have up to 5 additional members, which we refer to as directors “at large.”

Prior to its annual meeting, the Board determines the number of director roles it needs to fill, either because a director’s term has expired, or because the Board is increasing the number of at large directors. At the Board’s annual meeting, the Board nominates and elects directors to fill vacancies for at large positions. This procedure comes from Section IV.03 of BAM’s Bylaws.

This year (2022), we will be filling 3 at large positions, so there will be a total of 5 directors on the Board.

Because the Bylaws establish a procedure for electing officers, and those officers automatically become members of the Board, the officer directors are not elected at the Board meeting. Instead, as explained below, the Board only nominates and establishes a slate of officer candidates at its meeting, and this slate must be approved by members in attendance at the annual member meeting.

The BAM Bylaws provide that a director term is 1 year, and that a director can be elected to multiple terms.


BAM’s Officers – Positions, Roles and Elections
BAM’s officers manage BAM’s day-to-day affairs, such as finances, and report directly to the entire Board. There are currently 4 officer roles established by Section V.01 BAM’s Bylaws: President, Vice President, Corporate Secretary, and Treasurer.

According to Section V.02 of the Bylaws, to become an officer, a member must be nominated by a director, and then approved by the Board for a particular office. After a member has been nominated and approved by the Board for all four offices, the Board proposes the entire “slate” of candidates for the members to approve at the annual member meeting. The members will either vote to accept or reject the entire slate. If the slate is not accepted by a majority of the members in attendance at the annual member meeting, then the Board will repeat the above process until a slate is accepted by a majority of the members. Through this, BAM members have direct approval over who will serve in at least 4 Board positions because BAM’s officers automatically serve as directors.

Like directors, officers also hold their office for 1-year terms and may be elected to successive terms.

Although someone must be nominated by a director before he or she can be approved as a candidate on the “slate” of officers, the Board accepts nominations from the members for any person interested in being considered for an officer role. A member may nominate themselves or another person.

To nominate someone to serve as an officer, please email your nomination, with a written statement about your nominee and why you believe he or she would make a great officer, to info@bamswimming.org, and what officer role you believe he or she should fill. The nomination must be received at least 2 weeks before the annual member meeting to allow the Board to consider the nomination as part of its process establishing a slate of candidates. A nominee may be nominated for more than one officer role.

Annual Member Meeting
The annual meeting should ordinarily occur in July of each year. This timeframe is established in Section III.06 of the Bylaws. While the meeting was historically held in November, the Board sought to change this in 2022 to comply with the BAM Bylaws. To give the Board time to clarify BAM’s election processes, this year the annual member meeting was postponed.

The Bylaws require BAM to give its members 14 days advance notice of the annual meeting. 

Voting
Members must be in have paid their dues to vote at the annual meeting. Only members in attendance at the annual meeting may vote. The BAM Bylaws do not allow electronic voting or proxy voting for members. However, BAM Members may attend the annual meeting remotely. The voting takes place by a show of hands or verbally. Attending the annual meeting, either in person or remotely, is important because it allows members to hear and participate in discussion before voting on important matters for BAM’s future.

BAM Bylaws
Version 7. Last updated, 2015 

Relevant Bylaw Sections:
Section III.06 – Annual Membership Meeting
Section IV.01 – Number of Directors 
Section IV.02 – Membership of the Board
Section IV.03 – Election and Term of Directors
Section IV.04 – Board Authority (including officer selection)
Section V.01 – Officer Roles and Qualifications
Section V.02 – Officer Nomination and Election
Section V.03 – Officer Terms