Highlands County Citrus Growers Association Inc

“Voting members. The association shall admit as voting members only persons, natural, corporate or otherwise, who are owners of commercial citrus groves or citrus nurseries located within highlands county, florida, and who have been approved and elected to membership by the board of directors of the association. A person owning a young citrus grove after planting but prior to its reaching a commercially productive condition shall be considered to be engaged in the commercial production of citrus fruit. Any corporate or individual voting member may designate in writing its representative to attend and participate in all activities of the corporation and to cast the vote of that corporate or individual member. The designated representative must be actively engaged in the commercial production of citrus for that corporate or individual member. Associate members. The board of directors may elect associate members of the organization by a majority vote of the directors. Such members pay minimum dues as set by the board of directors and shall be entitled to all of the privileges of voting members except the right to vote or hold office. Suggested criteria for associate members shall include but not be limited to production and marketing managers, representatives from various companies (marketing, fertilizers, herbicides, chemicals, irrigation systems and similar products consumed in the commercial production of citrus), full time employment in citrus related industries, and such other criteria as may be established from time to time by the board of directors.”

“The members elect the board of directors.”

“A draft copy of the 990 is distributed to the board members for review, and the board members discuss any changes that need to be made to the return. If no changes are necessary, the return is approved by the board and then filed with the irs.”

“No association employee or board officer or memeber shall participate in the selection, award, or administration of a purchase or contract with a vendor where the individual has a financial interest. When a conflict of interest is relevant to a matter requiring action by the board, the interested person(s) shall call it to the attention of the board and said person(s) shall not vote on the matter. In addition, the person(s) shall not participate in the final decision or related deliberation regarding the matter under consideration. When there is a doubt as to whether a conflict exists, the matter shall be resolved by vote of the association's board of directors, excluding the person(s) concerning whose situation the doubt has arisen. The official minutes of the association's board of directors meeting shall, if warranted, reflect that the conflict of interest was disclosed and the interested person(s) did not participate in the final discussion or vote and did not vote on the matter. All association employees, board officers, and members are required to annually disclose any potential conflict of interest.”

“A personnel evaluation is performed on the individual. The board discusses the compensation level and compares it to the average salary for that position in the industry. When a salary is decided, the board members take a vote to approve the salary.”

“The governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements are available to the public upon request.”