Western Reserve Herb Society

“Members of the organization - the membership classifications for wrhs are active, sustaining, honorary, and prospective. Active members have the right to vote at any meeting of members at which they are present. They have a right to information disseminated by the unit, the right to hold office and serve on the board and committees of the unit and all other rights provided by the ohio revised code. Sustaining, honorary and prospective members are non-voting. Sustaining members are entitled to all privileges of membership in the unit except voting, holding office, serving on standing committees in any official capacity, and mentoring new members. Honorary members do not have the right to vote but have a right to the floor, no payment of dues, and receipt of publications available to other members. Every prospective member is provided by the membership committee with a copy of the bylaws of the unit and a packet of information about the unit (containing a history of the unit, a description of its current projects, its overall goals, and the degree of involvement expected of each prospective member). Prospective members are also provided with access to the member section of the unit's website.”

“Powers of the members - the board consists of the unit chair/president, vice chair, recording secretary, treasurer, garden chair, public relations chair, the ways and means chair and the past unit chair (in an ex officio, non-voting capacity). After being nominated by the nominating committee, the officers are elected at the annual meeting of members by a majority vote of the active members present, provided there is a quorum of forty percent (40%) of the total number of active members. All officers take office immediately upon election. The garden chair, public relations chair and ways and means chair are nominated by the nominating committee and approved by the unit chair/president in january of each year. The nominating committee consists of three active members who have been active members for at least 5 years. The chair is selected by the board in june of each year and the other two members of the nominating committee are selected by the members at the june unit meeting each year.”

“Decisions reserved for the members - active members have the right to vote at any meeting of members at which they are present. Each active member present at a meeting has one (1) vote. Except as otherwise provided in the bylaws, all matters submitted to a meeting of members are determined by a majority vote of the active members present, provided there is a quorum. A quorum is forty percent (40%) of the total number of active members. A majority vote of the active members is required to select honorary members, elect officers, approve the anual budget, approve non-budgeted expenditures between $500-$5000, and approve or amend policies. A two-thirds vote of the active members is required to change the dues, approve non-budgeted expenditures in excess of $5000, approve any proposal for a change that might affect the overall style, design, character, or structure of the western reserve herb society garden, whether paid for by the western reserve herb society or another source, and amend the bylaws. All other action required to be approved by the unit's active members is governed by the requirements of the ohio revised code.”

“Review of form 990 - the treasurer and the finance committee review form 990 with the assistance of the outside accounting firm.”

“Monitoring and enforcement of conflict policy - the organization requires all officers and directors to annually disclose any conflicts of interest with respect to dealings with wrhs. If a conflict arises, the person with the conflict is not permitted to participate in the discussion of the matter or to vote. The decision of whether to proceed with the proposed transaction is made by the people who are independent of the person with the conflict. Such decisions must be made in the best interests of the organization.”

“Availability of documents - the organization does not make its governing documents, conflict of interest policy or financial statements available to the general public.”