Below is a revised proposal for the Event Entry bylaw change. As you read it, please keep in mind, the only thing this bylaw change is supposed to do is provide the Entrant who is denied entry a reason as to why they were denied entry. If they were denied entry for what seems to a reasonable person as an unjust reason, like "I just don't like him", the board may see fit to deny sanctioning for the club's holding of the same event the following year. If you were denied entry, wouldn't you like to know why? This does not guarantee anyone entry into any event.

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Article II: Membership - Proposed 2010 Bylaw change regarding Entrant who is denied entry to a sanctioned event

Section 6. (This would be a new section under Article II)

It is the policy of JCNA that all affiliate clubs allow all JCNA members to participate in sanctioned competition events and to compete on an equal basis with all other participants in such events. A local club may only exclude a JCNA member in good standing from participating in a sanctioned competition event as further defined below.

If a local club excludes a JCNA member in good standing from participating in a sanctioned competition event, the Entrant being denied access must, within 2 weeks of the event, notify the President of JCNA in writing (via certified mail or email) of :
(1) the name of the person excluding the Entrant from the event
(2) the reason for being excluded from participating in the event
(3) any supporting documentation or information upon which the decision was made to exclude such person from participation in the event.

Upon receipt, the JCNA President will review the information submitted by the Entrant with the Executive Committee and JCNA Legal Counsel. Thereafter, the Executive Committee will recommend to the full Board of Directors whether it believes good cause existed for the exclusion of the member.

If good cause is found on the clubÔÇÖs part, no further action will be taken. If it is believed that good cause did not exist for the exclusion, then the Board will take such action as deemed appropriate to rectify the situation, by first contacting the club to verify the information and hearing the club's side of the story, which if not satisfactory may lead to including prohibiting the local club from receiving a sanction for the same such event in the same or following year. If the local club disagrees with the determination of the Board and/or the sanction so imposed, it may appeal such action to the AGM delegates at the next schedule AGM.

Local clubs retain the right to exclude any person from participating in any local club event, for any reason, whether a member of JCNA or not. Entrants being denied entrance to a JCNA sanctioned event have the right to know why they are being denied entrance to the event.

Reason: Currently a club has the right to prohibit a JCNA member from attending a sanctioned event. There are no provisions for the Entrant to find out why they were denied entry.

Submitted by SE21-35014J on Sat, 03/06/2010 - 00:51

Steve,
At what point in your NEW Revised Proposal is the Entrant informed of the reason for which he was denied entry to the particular event??
I would think it would be more expediant for the President and Executive Committee to contact the Club in question in order to get their side of the story before presenting the matter to the Board for their decision. If the initial action of the Exec. Committee & the Board is to be made on the reasons presented by the Entrant -those reasons may be skewed or mis-leading, and if not so -and the Board finds them reasonable- then he/she already knows the reason for the "non-admission" and the whole process is un-necessary, as the Entrant KNOWS WHY ENTRY WAS DENIED. (Which is the whole purpose of this Proposal.)

Gerald Ellison, CJC

Submitted by mark1mark@jagu… on Fri, 03/05/2010 - 01:13

Steve,

Much better, IMO. You need a "d" on "schedule" in the last line of the fourth paragraph.

Now my only question is, if this proposal is meant only to apply to sanctioned events, why is it not part of the rules for sanctioned events rather than the By-Laws? If this rule was to apply to all club events, sanctioned or not, then I would agree that it should be in the By-Laws, but as it stands, it is, by definition, a sanctioned event issue and only obliquely a membership issue. After all, being denied entry to a sanctioned event does not effect a person's membership status. But leaving that theoretical argument aside, there seem to be two even stronger practical arguments for the rule to be part of the sanctioned events rules.

First, as part of the By-Laws, no one is ever going to see it. I'm probably one of the few people who have read the By-Laws, and that was only because we recently revamped our club's By-Laws and we wanted to be consistent with JCNA's By-Laws. Other than that I would never have looked at them. If this proposal is made part of the sanctioned-event rules, every rallymaster, slalom organizer, and chief judge would have to be familiar with them. In the last case, if they are made part of the judge's test, every judge will be aware of the rule. Because the judges tend to be the most active members in their respective clubs, pretty much everyone will be aware of the rule if the issue ever arises.

Second, if the rules are part of the sanctioned-events rules committees presentation to the JCNA AGM, they only have to pass with a majority vote to be applied the following year, and a 2/3rds vote for the current year. You need a 2/3rds vote for any By-Law change. If the goal is to get this passed, you're putting all your hopes on getting 2/3rds of the delegates to agree to a By-Law change, but you would only need half for the rule change. You'll have the same effect, if it's part of the event rules or the By-Laws.

I now agree with the revised rule, but feel it is misplaced. For all the reasons above, I would urge you to forward the rule to the three sanctioned-event committees and ask them to include it in their package of rule changes for the 2010 AGM.