It never fails that the traffic light is programmed to stop traffic just as I approach. Maybe that is why we call it a stop light; even though it allows traffic to progress as often as it requires me to stop and wait for those who are not going my way. The reality is that when the traffic light is out of order or ignored traffic comes to a halt and only makes sporadic progress as everyone fights their way through the intersection.

The same concept could be applied to the rules that govern organizations; the constitution and by-laws. Our Rotary club has both of these sets of rules. The problem is that not everyone is paying attention to them and to a certain extent the by-laws are not functioning properly. The result is similar to the out of order traffic light.

Our Club Constitution is provided by Rotary International and it seems to be working just fine. Our club by-laws are based on the ones provided by, and recommended by, Rotary International.  The customization that has been applied by some members of our club is causing a few problems. That comment is not intended as an indictment of the intentions of those who made the effort to make our by-laws unique to our club.

A great example can be found in the simple definition of what kind of membership is allowed in the Rotary Club of Arcadia. Our Club Constitution says, “This club shall have two kinds of membership, namely: active and honorary.”  Our club by-laws say that we have regular and honorary. The word regular is not the same as active. It seems like such a small matter, but our Club Constitution requires us to have by-laws that are not inconsistent with our club constitution.  Interestingly, some would tell us that two kinds of membership are simply the minimum number and we can have active, honorary and regular. We have even introduced the idea of adding emeritus to the mix. But the constitution does not say we shall have two, or more, kinds of membership.

So we should amend or replace our by-laws to read active and honorary. No less is required to maintain our self proclaimed status as the greatest Rotary club in the world.