The following bylaw proposals have been submitted for the June 13 membership meeting.

PROPOSAL: “TICKET” VOTING

WHEREAS for many years, candidates for Local 802’s elected offices were afforded the option of being listed as a ticket in a separate column or row on the election ballot; and

WHEREAS listing candidates as members of a ticket made it easier for many members to choose candidates; and

WHEREAS since the bylaws were amended in 2000 to provide for alphabetical listing of all candidates, whether or not they campaigned as nominees of a ticket, the ballot became more confusing to many members; and

WHEREAS to end unnecessary confusion among voters and to make it easier for them to select their choices, it would be desirable to restore the bylaws’ former provision for identification of candidates by ticket, now, therefore

BE IT RESOLVED that Article VI of Local 802’s Bylaws shall be amended as follows:

Section 2 shall be entitled “Election Ballot,” with its current single paragraph designated as subsection (a) and the following new subsections added:

(b) Any group of six or more candidates shall be designated as a ticket upon the written request of said candidates. Such request must contain the name of the ticket and the signatures of the candidates making the request and must be submitted to the agency conducting the election in accordance with that agency’s rules.

(c) No candidate may appear on more than one ticket.

(d) Candidates listed as a ticket shall be given a column (or row, if the ballot is so arranged by the agency conducting the election) and no other candidate shall appear in that column (or row).

Independent candidates shall be listed separately.

The Local 802 Executive Board has reported this resolution without comment.

Submitted by members Bill Dennison (D05878); Maura Giannini (G06199); Mary Landolfi (M07669); Jay Schaffner (S12225); Andrea Andros (A03418); Russell Anixter (A03797); Abba Bogin (B04021); Bob Cranshaw (C04883 ); Bill Crow (C03645); Natalie Cenovia Cummins (C07648); Dominic Derasse (D05489); Katharine Edmonds (E01583); Ethan Fein (F03757); John Glasel (G03616); Adriana Grace (G07318); Janet Goldbaum (G07338); Scott Healy (H05202); Pasquale Landolfi (L03723 ); Richard Northcutt (N01787); Bill Moriarity (M06867); Jan Mullen (M08482); Jimmy Owens (O00796); Shawn Pelton (P05519); Lenny Pickett (P05089); Donald Rice (R06742 ); Dave Schneck (S09391); Zachary Shnek (S07542); Mark Shuman (S09488); Lee Soper (S09596); Richard Sortomme (S09594); Roy Williams (W04835); Masako Yanagita (Y00333).

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PROPOSAL: FINANCIAL IMPROPRIETIES BY OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES

WHEREAS in January, 2006, the Local’s Executive Board became aware of misuse of the Local 802 credit card by President Lennon; and

WHEREAS it was discovered that for several years President Lennon had been using the credit card for his personal needs, running up a total of more than $10,000 in such expenses; and

WHEREAS balances totaling more than $3000 of these personal expenses had been carried by the union in both 2004 and 2005 and it was not until December, 2005 that the union was fully reimbursed; and

WHEREAS on the advice of Local 802 counsel, the Executive Board engaged an outside attorney to provide advice on the legal implications of the credit card abuse and the steps needed to mitigate the union’s liability from potential action by the Department of Labor; and

WHEREAS said outside attorney made clear in his report to the Executive Board the serious nature of the credit card abuse, noting the Federal laws that may have been violated and advising that such “irresponsible behavior cries out for a serious response from the Executive Board;” and

WHEREAS the Executive Board fined President Lennon one week’s salary, notwithstanding the fact that his actions have cost the union nearly $16,000 to date in legal expenses and will almost certainly prompt a Department of Labor (DOL) audit which could result in additional expenses; and

WHEREAS the money spent by President Lennon and the remedial costs engendered came out of the General Fund financed by Local 802 members’ dues; and

WHEREAS President Lennon, while a member of the supervisory staff, had been warned that such credit card use was prohibited and was therefore fully aware of such prohibition; and

WHEREAS common sense dictates that no officer or employee should charge personal expenses to the Local no matter what their personal credit situation; now

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the following shall be added to Article I, Section 5 of Local 802’s Bylaws as paragraph (ii):

“(ii) In the event that any officer or employee of the Local shall be found to have charged personal expenses to the Local by misusing a credit card or other financial impropriety, the Executive Board shall assess and promptly collect fines and/or penalties from such officer or employee in amounts no less than required to repay the union for all costs incurred as a result of said credit card misuse or other financial improprieties; and, furthermore, the membership shall be informed of such improprieties by the prompt publication in the Official Journal of a full accounting of the aforesaid personal expenses, such accounting to include a complete report of each charge made for personal purposes, and of all costs incurred by the Local in connection with them, during the whole of said officer’s or employee’s employment by the Local.”

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Resolution shall become effective immediately upon its adoption and shall be applied to the restoration of funds expended by the Local as a result of President Lennon’s misuse of the Local 802 credit card during his current term of office.

The Local 802 Executive Board has reported this resolution without comment.

Submitted by members Bill Dennison (D05878); Maura Giannini (G06199); Mary Landolfi (M07669); Jay Schaffner (S12225); Andrea Andros (A03418); Russell Anixter (A03797); Abba Bogin (B04021); Bob Cranshaw (C04883); Natalie Cenovia Cummins (C07648); Dominic Derasse (D05489); Katharine Edmonds (E01583); Ethan Fein (F03757); John Glasel (G03616); Adriana Grace (G07318); Janet Goldbaum (G07338); Scott Healy (H05202); Pasquale Landolfi (L03723); Richard Northcutt (N01787); Bill Moriarity (M06867); Jan Mullen (M08482); Jimmy Owens (O00796); Shawn Pelton (P05519); Lenny Pickett (P05089); Donald Rice (R06742); Dave Schneck (S09391); Zachary Shnek (S07542); Mark Shuman (S09488); Lee Soper (S09596); Richard Sortomme (S09594); Roy Williams (W04835); Masako Yanagita (Y00333).

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PROPOSAL: ALLEGRO PUBLICATION

WHEREAS The purpose and content of Local 802’s official Journal, “Allegro,” is to inform the membership of the activities of the local, provide “all proceedings of the Executive Board,” communicate official notices and provide factual information that is of benefit to the members; and

WHEREAS previous Local 802 presidents had relied upon an editorial board composed of the other officers and key staff members to determine the official journal’s contents; and

WHEREAS under President Lennon the editorial board has been effectively dissolved and the journal’s contents are under the sole control of President Lennon who has usurped the power to write, edit and publish the official Journal and in so doing has consistently missed printers’ deadlines, resulting in additional costs to the Local of several thousand dollars over the last two years; and

WHEREAS the President’s “monthly report” has contained biased and factually questionable content particularly with regard to the settlement of the dispute with Radio City Music Hall and certain charges against two elected officers and has often become extremely lengthy; and

WHEREAS although Article I, Section 1 (f) of the Bylaws directs the President to “make a monthly report” in “Allegro,” neither the Local’s Constitution and Bylaws nor its Executive Board, acting pursuant to Article I, Section 5 (a) of said Bylaws, has authorized the President to solely determine content, write, edit, and/or publish the official Journal; now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED that Article I, Section 1 (f) of Local 802’s Bylaws be amended by adding, after the words, “make a monthly report in the official Journal,” the phrase “of no more than 800 words,” and

WHEREAS Article I, Section 2, paragraph (f) of the Local’s Bylaws gives the Recording Vice-President the responsibility of publishing and mailing the official Journal; now, therefore

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Article I, Section 2, of the Local’s Bylaws, entitled “Duties of the Recording Vice-President,” shall be clarified by amending paragraph (f) to read as follows:

“(f) supervise the writing, editing, printing and mailing of the official Journal, and shall send a copy thereof to each member in good standing. Minutes of all proceedings of the Executive Board shall be published in the official Journal within 60 days. The official Journal shall be published 11 times yearly, with only one issue published during the summer months and designated the ‘July-August’ issue. The Recording Vice-President shall also have supervision of the Local’s Web Site and shall ensure that its content is accurate and up-to-date.”

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that any ruling of the Executive Board or provision of these Bylaws that contravenes or contradicts the purpose and intent of the foregoing shall be nullified, deleted or amended so as to conform with said purpose and intent; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that this amendment shall be effective immediately upon its adoption.

The Local 802 Executive Board has reported this resolution unfavorably.

Submitted by members Maura Giannini (G06199); Mary Landolfi (M07669); Jay Schaffner (S12225); Andrea Andros (A03418); Russell Anixter (A03797); Roger Blanc (B08645); Abba Bogin (B04021); Bob Cranshaw (C04883); Bill Crow (C03645); Natalie Cenovia Cummins (C07648); Dominic Derasse (D05489); Katharine Edmonds (E01583); Ethan Fein (F03757); John Glasel (G03616); Adriana Grace (G07318); Janet Goldbaum (G07338); Scott Healy (H05202); Pasquale Landolfi (L03723); Richard Northcutt (N01787); Bill Moriarity (M06867); Jan Mullen (M08482); Jimmy Owens (O00796); Shawn Pelton (P05519); Lenny Pickett (P05089); Donald Rice (R06742); Dave Schneck (S09391); Zachary Shnek (S07542); Richard Sortomme (S09594); Roy Williams (W04835); Masako Yanagita (Y00333).