At the 2024 annual meeting, members had approved a motion to allow making changes to the OPA Constitution and Bylaws through a secure poll sent to current members. After an earlier poll seeking member comments on the proposed changes, a voting poll with several proposed changes was sent to the current membership on 7/6/25 and was available for secure voting until 7/21/25.
All voting was done securely (requiring a member to login and having only one vote) and anonymously (with no record of how or when an individual voted). Our system reports that poll messages to 313 active members on 7/6/25 were all delivered; 80% (251) opened the message; 29% (91) clicked on the link to the poll; and 51 members voted on the proposed changes.
All proposed changes were approved by more than two-thirds of those voting, as required by Article X of the OPA Constitution.
The changes are reflected on the OPA website (https://oregonpoets.org/constitution-bylaws/ ) and prior versions of the changes are reflected in the History of Changes section.
Proposed changes were approved by the following percentages:
100% Constitution-Article IV Administration, Section 2 – which added a secure poll as an option for electing board members.
98% Constitution-Article IV Administration, Section 4 – which removed the stipulation that the board shall be elected in rotations of 3 members each year.
100% Constitution-Article IV Administration, Section 5 – which provided the president with flexibility on how to replace board vacancies, taking advantage of the most recent board elections.
100% Bylaws, Article IV – Nominations and Elections, Section 2 – which was changed to align with the change to Constitution Article IV Section 2, adding a secure poll as an option for electing board members
100% Bylaws, Article IV – Nominations and Elections, Section 3 – which was also changed to align with the change to Constitution Article IV Section 2, adding a secure poll as an option for electing board members. There was also a change specifying when new board members start a term.
92% Constitution-Article IV Administration, Section 1 – which allows for flexibility in the size of the board, changing from 9 to a range of 9 to 12.
Note that for this last one, an accepted change of language from ‘Board of Directors’ to just ’Board’ was ultimately left unchanged after a close reading of “A Guide to Nonprofit Board Service in Oregon” from the Office of the Attorney General. This document starts by speaking to how “The directors of the corporation are ultimately responsible for the management of the affairs of the charity.” And thereafter often uses the term ‘board member’ as in this statement: “As a starting point, every board member should be familiar with the organization’s Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws.”
Therefore, we kept this pattern of language, staying with ‘Board of Directors’ in the Constitution’s first section of Article IV (Administration), then referring to the board and board members elsewhere.
If anyone feels that this reversal from the accepted ‘Board’ back to ‘Board of Directors’ requires a vote by membership, please bring it to the upcoming Annual meeting at the conference in October.
If you’re interested in knowing more about what board member responsibilities are, here’s a link to the Oregon Attorney General’s document.
https://www.doj.state.or.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/guide-nonprofit-board-service.pdfhttps://www.doj.state.or.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/guide-nonprofit-board-service.pdf
Thank you for your continued support for poetry in Oregon.
Best regards,
David Goodrum, OPA President
Oregon Poetry Association
P.O. Box 14582, Portland, OR 97293-4582