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Bylaws of New Mexico Mensa  - Revised Oct 2008

Article I. Name and Purpose
1. The name of this organization shall be New Mexico Mensa.

2. New Mexico Mensa is a local group of American Mensa, Ltd., and is subject to the Constitution of Mensa, the Bylaws of American Mensa, Ltd., and the resolutions adopted by the American Mensa Committee. American Mensa, Ltd. is herein abbreviated as "AML" and the American Mensa Committee as "AMC".

Article II. Membership
1. Membership of New Mexico Mensa shall be open to all members of AML in good standing in the geographic areas assigned to New Mexico Mensa by the AMC or as otherwise assigned by AML.

2. Mensa members in good standing who are not also members of New Mexico Mensa are welcome to participate in the social activities of the local group at the discretion of the host or hostess. The National Ombudsman, his surrogate, and members of the American Mensa Committee shall be permitted to participate in the business affairs of the local group in the discharge of their official duties.

3. New Mexico Mensa shall observe the preferences of members for data suppression and publication as filed with AML, when publishing a local group roster or membership directory/register.

Article III. Officers & Duties
1. New Mexico Mensa’s governing body, which conducts the business of the group, shall be an Executive Committee which comprises the three elected officers (Local Secretary, Assistant Local Secretary, and Treasurer) plus two appointed officers (Membership Officer and Editor). All voting officers must be current members in good standing of New Mexico Mensa, and all officers must be current members in good standing of AML. “Officer” is defined as anyone given a title with specific responsibilities. The appointed officers other than the Membership Officer and Editor are non-voting members of the Executive Committee. The term of all officers and committees shall not exceed the official term of office except for those officers (mediators or arbitrators) or Committees (such as RG) whose functions extend past the term of office in the execution of their duties..

2. The Local Secretary (LocSec) shall be the chief executive officer of New Mexico Mensa and the liaison with other local groups and with AML. He or she shall be charged with being the chief point of contact between AML and the local group. By agreeing to be LocSec, the LocSec agrees to pass along information to and from the group in a timely fashion. The LocSec shall notify AML and the RVC for the local group within two weeks of any changes in the membership of the Executive Committee or other officers. The LocSec shall also be responsible for making sure that the minutes of the Executive Committee meetings are kept.

3. The Assistant Local Secretary shall assist the LocSec, preside over and take minutes of meetings in the absence of the LocSec, and immediately and automatically succeed to the office of LocSec if that office becomes vacant.

4. The Treasurer shall be responsible for financial matters of the local group, including the finances of the local group newsletter, and shall submit to the Executive Committee for their review quarterly statements from banks or other institutions where the group’s money is deposited and a semi-annual financial report which shall also be published in the local group newsletter. The financial reports shall contain schedules of income, expenses and balances for all funds under the control of the local group, including RG, scholarship and other special funds. The Treasurer's Report shall also include a listing of all equipment owned by the local group, if any. He shall also assure that an annual independent financial review of all statements from banks and any other institutions where the group’s money was held during the review period shall be made by someone not involved in the issuing or collecting of the group’s money. Such review shall take place within one month after the end of each fiscal year. The financial year coincides with the election year. All accounts maintained by the Treasurer must be in the name of New Mexico Mensa and shall have more than one signatory so that funds can be accessed in the absence of the Treasurer.

5. The Membership Officer shall assist with publicity, public relations, membership information and recruitment programs.

6. The Editor shall be responsible for the production of New Mexico Mensa's newsletter and may, with the consent of the Executive Committee, appoint a Publisher. The newsletter must be published at least quarterly, in a printed version unless members specifically request otherwise. The Editor shall publish notices of meetings and programs, required ballots, results of business meetings and elections, amendments to the bylaws, related discussions and ballots,  the semi-annual financial reports and any materials submitted for publication by the local or national ombudsman that relates to his official duties. It should be noted that the Executive Committee of New Mexico Mensa, not the editor, is the publisher of record,  and as such has final say over what may/may not be published in the newsletter.

7. The Publisher, if appointed, shall assist the Editor in the publication and distribution of the newsletter and in the preparation and submission of any postal forms that might be required.

8. The Executive Committee shall appoint a Mediator for disputes within the local group and an Arbitrator available to serve as a representative to a Regional Hearings Committee. The Mediator and Arbitrator may be the same or distinct persons. The Mediator may not be a member of the Executive Committee. The terms of office for the Mediator and Arbitrator shall be the same as that of other officers except as detailed in Article III.1.

9. Other appointed positions of New Mexico Mensa may include, but are not limited to, Area Coordinators for outlying groups of members, a Webmaster, a Program Director, and Coordinators for other activities as deemed necessary such as an RG Committee who shall be given the normal responsibilities associated with such an activity.

10. The term of office of elected officers shall be one year from July 1st to June 30th, or until installation of a properly qualified successor, except in the case of resignation,  removal from office or succession to LocSec as provided in Article III .

11. The term of office for all appointed officers expires at the end of the term of office of the current elected officers. Appointees are appointed by the Local Secretary (or, in the case of the Publisher, the Editor) with the approval of the Executive Committee and may be removed from office by majority vote of the Executive Committee unless otherwise stated herein.

12. Any voting officer (elected or appointed) may be removed from office for three consecutive unexcused absences at business meetings, by a majority vote of the remaining voting members of the Executive Committee. Excusal authority is also a majority vote of the remaining voting members.

13. All officers except the Editor shall turn over all files,  equipment and materials pertaining to their offices to either their successor(s), to the current Local Secretary, or to another member of the Executive Committee no later than four weeks after leaving office unless otherwise stated herein. The outgoing Editor must turn over all files in good order to the incoming Editor no later than 15 days after the outgoing Editor leaves office.

14. Elected members of the Executive Committee may be removed from office for cause by unanimous vote of all other voting members of the Executive Committee or by recall election. A recall election may be called by a petition citing the reason for such action, and signed by 10% of the membership of the local group as listed on the most recent membership roster provided by AML. The balloting provisions of a regular election shall apply except that a recall election must be held within 60 days of presentation of a properly qualified petition at either a regular or special meeting of the Executive Committee, and the dates set forth in Article V shall be adjusted appropriately.

15. The Executive Committee shall select a replacement for any Executive Committee member, other than the LocSec, who resigns, or who is removed or recalled or becomes LocSec in accordance with Article III.3. A replacement for an elected officer shall be considered to be an elected officer whose term of office ends with the next regular election. A simple majority of all voting members of the Executive Committee constitutes a quorum to transact business.

Article IV. Meetings
1. Membership meetings or activities may be held at such times as may be appropriate. A regularly scheduled meeting of the Executive Committee must be held at least once a quarter. Notice of meetings and activities shall be published in the newsletter, or otherwise sent to each member.

2. Special Executive Committee meetings may be called at any time by the Local Secretary or by the Executive Committee and shall be called upon receipt of a petition signed by 10% of the membership of the local group, using the most recent membership roster provided by AML as a measure of membership count. The date, time, place and purpose of the special meeting shall be announced or reported in the local group newsletter (or by direct mail). No other business than that indicated in the notice calling the meeting may be acted on.

3. All  Executive Committee meetings shall be held within the geographical limits of the group as assigned by the AMC.

Article V. Elections
1. No member of the Election Committee may be a voting member of the Executive Committee or a candidate in the upcoming election.

2. No later than December 1st of each year, the Executive Committee shall appoint an Election Committee of at least three members which shall, no later than the deadline for the February issue of the local group newsletter, compile nominations for one or more candidates for each  elected position on the Executive Committee. The membership of the local group shall be notified of these nominations in the February issue of the local group newsletter or by mail posted no later than March 1st.

3. The Election Committee shall be responsible for conducting the election, receiving and counting the ballots, and certifying the results. The Election Committee shall determine, and cause to be published, those election rules and regulations not covered by these bylaws. The balloting method shall be designed to maintain voter anonymity.

4. No later than March 15th, additional nominations may be made by petition signed by ten (10) members of the local group and delivered to the Chairman of the Election Committee.

5. Any elected position which is unchallenged shall be considered as elected and no voting on this position shall be required. 

6. Ballots, if any, shall be printed in the April  issue of the local group newsletter or mailed to all members of the local group, but in either case posted no later than April 1st. The mail ballots must be returned to the Chairman of the Election Committee and received no later than June 1st. Ballots received after that date shall not be counted. A plurality of valid votes cast for each office shall constitute election. Votes which are tied shall be determined by the Chairman of the Election Committee by a flip of a coin. The Chairman of the Election Committee will certify the results of the election to the Local Secretary and shall have the election results published in the August issue of the local group newsletter.

7. Any challenges to the election must be made in writing to the Chairman of the Election Committee and received by June 15th. Any such challenges must be ruled on by June 30th. Any actions by the Executive Committee while a challenge is pending are not affected by the outcome of any such challenge.

8. The outgoing LocSec shall notify AML and the RVC of the local group of the results of the election within two weeks of the election.

Article VI. Amendments
Amendments to these bylaws may be proposed by the Executive Committee or by a written petition signed by twenty (20) members of the local group and received by a voting member of the Executive Committee. Such proposals shall be submitted to the AMC for its approval to ballot, following which they shall be published in the next issue of the local group newsletter. A mail ballot sent to every member of New Mexico Mensa shall appear in the issue of the local group newsletter that follows publication of the proposal. Balloting deadline shall be no less than 90 days following the first publication of the proposed amendment(s) in the local group newsletter. To become effective, an amendment to these bylaws shall require an affirmative vote of the majority of those casting valid ballots, as well as the final approval of the American Mensa Committee, and filing of revised bylaws with the Bylaws Committee. The AMC Bylaws Committee will tell New Mexico Mensa the effective date of the bylaws as amended.

Article VII. Events

1.    Whenever an event or meeting is held in a member’s home, the host of the event may bar a member or a member’s guest from attending unless the event includes an Executive Committee meeting. No reason need be given.

2.    Members may not be barred from Executive Committee meeting portions of any event. However, they may be removed if the Executive Committee members present consider their behavior to be a detriment to cordial discussion/interaction.

3.    Although certain events may be referred to by some members as Special Interest Groups (SIGs), such designation does not differentiate these events from any other events.

4.    Local group events are intended for current members of Mensa, their spouses or significant others and their family members and guests. Guests must be accompanied by the member. These additional restrictions also apply:

4a. Prospective members may attend up to three events during a one year period if they       have RSVP’d to the Program Director and sufficient space exists to accommodate them.

4b. Lapsed members, if they were a part of a previous multifamily member plan with at least one family member remaining a Mensa member, may always attend events unless barred by the host.

4c. Spouses of deceased long-term members may attend events with the permission of the Program Director. They may receive a newsletter if they pay the normal subscription rate.

4d. To encourage renewal, lapsed non-multifamily members may attend up to one event per year as the specific guest of a current member who must accompany the guest.

Article VIII. Mensa Logo & Name
American Mensa, Ltd. (AML) has granted a royalty free, non-exclusive license to New Mexico Mensa for the use of the mark "Mensa" and a logo, consisting of a globe over a stylized "M" within a border, in connection with the non-commercial uses of New Mexico Mensa. AML retains full ownership of the mark and logo and all statutory and common law rights in the mark and logo.

Article IX. Parliamentary Procedure & Rules of Order
1. The rules contained in Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised, latest edition, shall govern New Mexico Mensa in all cases to which they are applicable and not inconsistent with these Bylaws.

2. Rules of Order for the Executive Committee and for those matters concerning New Mexico Mensa which are not specified in these Bylaws may be adopted by the Executive Committee.