About Us
South Florida Tamil Sangam, Inc.
A Florida Non profit cultural organization
Suggested Bylaws
Article I- Name
1.1 The name ofthe organization shall be South Florida Tamil Sangam, Inc. herein after called the Tamil Sangam.
Article II- Objectives
2.1 To cultivate, promote, foster and develop the advancement ofthe knowledge of Tamil language , literature, and culture among Tamil speaking families especially children.
2.2 To promote fellowship among all Tamil speaking people and promote harmony and unity in the preservation of Tamil culture, language and literature.
2.3 To preserve and protect the interest and integrity of Tamil culture, and foster the exchange of ideas and understanding between the peoples ofTamil culture and other cultures.
2.4 To organize and participate in Tamil educational, cultural, social and charitable activities.
2.5 To be a non partisan, secular and non political organization
Article III- Office
3.1 The office ofthe Tamil Sangam shall be located at 11201 NW 46" Drive, Coral Springs, FL- 33076. or at any other place as may be decided by the Board ofDirectors.
Article IV- Membership
4.1 The membership of the Tamil Sangam will be open to every one who is desirous of promoting and following its objectives and is residing in South Florida.
4.2 The Board Directors may disapprove the membership of any individual whose objectives are opposed to or not in harmony with the objectives ofthe Tamil Sangam. Such disapproval shall be ratified by the General body either at a special meeting called for that purpose or the next annual general body meeting where the matter will be included in the Agenda for said meeting.
4.3 The membership will be classified as single, family and student . The family membership will consist ofhusband and/or wife and their dependant children under the age oftwenty three. A student member must be a full time student and working towards a degree or
Associate degree or diploma.
4.5 Any member whose activities are not considered to be consistent with the objectives of the Tamil Sangam and are harmfu l or likely to be harmfu l to the best interest and welfare of the Tamil Sangam, may be expelled, on the recommendations of the Board of Directors, by a two-thirds majority of members of Tamil Sangam present and voting in a general body meeting where the matter is included in the Agenda and its inclusion is notified to all the members.
4.6 The annual dues of the Tamil Sangam is $25 per year for family membership, $15 for Single member, and $10 for student member,unless the same are revised by the general body at the recomm endation of the board of directors. A person or a family paying a lumpsum of $250 shall be deemed as life member/s and he/she need not pay any further annual membership fees in his/her life time. The annual dues shall be payable by January
31 of each fiscal year or by any other date as extended by the board of directors. Two reminders in writing with an interval of 15 days between them will be mailed to those who have not paid the annual dues by Jan 31 of the fiscal year. If the dues are not paid within
15 days ofthe second reminder the person concerned shall forfeit his/her membership till
such time all outstanding dues are fully paid. The fiscal year ofthe Tamil Sangam will be
JanuaryI to December 31 of each calendar year.
5.1 The officers ofthe Tamil Sangam shall be the President, a Vice President, a Secretary, a Joint Secretary and a Treasurer.
Article 6 - Board of Directors
6.1 The Board ofDirectors ofthe Tamil Sangam for any fiscal year shall consist ofthe Officers and six other directors no more than two from each County ofDade, Broward and Palm Beach to be elected by the General body.
6.2 The President shall act as the Chairman ofthe Board ofDirector.
6.3 The Board ofdirectors shall lay down policies and manage the Tamil Sangam within the frame work of the articles and by laws ofthe Tamil Sangam.
Article 7 - Election and Term of Office
/71 Each member who is more than eighteen years of age and has been a member for at least three months, or as ofApril 8, 2000, and is in good standing, is eligible to vote.
7.2 Three Returning officers shall be elected by the Board ofDirectors and lay down the procedure and conduct elections to the officers and directors with approval ofthe Board.
7.3 The officers and the six directors shall be elected by the General membership ofthe Tamil
Sangam.
7.4 The term of officers and directors shall be for a period of one year.
7.5 No officer shall be eligible for election to any office for more than two consecutive one year terms.
7.6. In case of retirement, resignation or permanent absence of any Officer or Director, the Board of Directors shall fill in the vacancy for the unexpired portion of the term by appointing any eligible member. Such appointments shall be notified to all Tamil Sangam members in an appropriate manner to be decided by the Board of Directors.
7.7 An Officer or Director may be removed by the Board of Directors if he/she is absent from three consecutive meetings of the Board or functions organized by the Tamil Sangam.
.7.8 Nomination for the officers and the six directors shall be received by the Returning Officers prior to election meeting. Nominations shall also be received from the floor at the meeting.
,1.9 Nominees for the Office of President and Vice President shall be members of the Tamil
Sangam at least for two years preceding the date of election, or as of April 8, 2000.
7.10 A family shall have two votes one for each spouse to be cast in person on any matter to be decided at any meeting, including election of officers and directors of the Tamil Sangam. No postal or proxy ballot is permissible.
7.11 The voting may be by a show of hands or a secret ballot as may be decided by the
Returning officers.
7.12 The election of the officers shall be declared first and thereafter the remaining six directors of the Board.
7.13 Only one member of a family shall be eligible to hold any office for a given term.
7.14 Any member shall be eligible to contest for only one office/director for a given term.
8.1 President
Article 8 - Duties of officers
8.1.1 The President shall call and preside at all meetings of the General body and the Board of
Directors of the Tamil Sangam.
8.1.2 He/she shall present a report of Tamil Sangam's activities during the year at the annual general body meeting.
8.1.3 He/she shall appoint, with prior approval of the Board, the members of all the Committees
of the Board.
8.1.4 He/she shall execute all documents in the name of and on behalf of the Tamil Sangam.
8.1.5 He/she shall ensure that all accounts, reports, statements, minutes and other papers are properly kept and filed in accordance with these bylaws and any State and Federal laws.
8.1.6 He/she shall make arrangements to carry out the duties of the Vice President, Secretary, Joint Secretary and/or Treasurer during their absence.
8.1. 7 He/she shall enforce the bylaws, perform all duties incidental to his office and such other duties as may be imposed on him by the Board ofDirectors as deemed necessary under these bylaws.
8.2 Vice President
8.2.1 The Vice President shall perform all of the duties ofthe President during his/her absence
, and any other duties that may assigned to him/her by the Board ofDirectors.
8.3 Secretary
8.3.1 The Secretary shall carry out his/her duties under the direction ofthe Board.
8.3.2 He/she shall be responsible for recording and maintaining of minutes of all meetings ofthe
Board of Directors and the General Body.
8.3.3 He/she shall sign and receive all correspondence on behalf ofthe Board ofDirectors and report them to the Board at its next meeting unless it requires emergency action.
8.3.4 He/she shall send notices of all general and special meetings ofthe General membership and any special events ofthe Tamil Sangam.
8.3.5 He/she shall file any reports or statements or any other documents required by the Local
Government, County, State and Federal laws.
8.3.6 He/she shall have the custody of all records, documents, minutes and papers ofthe Tamil Sangam and maintain them properly and securely. He/she shall maintain an up-to-date list of all members of the Tamil Sangam.
8.3. 7 He/she shall perform such other duties as may be assigned to him/her by the Board of
Directors within the framework ofthese bylaws.
8.4 Joint Secretary
8.4.1 He/she shall perform all the duties ofthe Secretary in his/her absence or retirement or
removal and such other duties as ma y be assigned to him/h er by the Board of Directors.
8.5 Treasurer
8.5.1 The Treasurer shall make, countersign and endorse in the name of Tamil Sangam all checks, notes and other orders for the payment of money as authorized by the Board of Directors.
8.5.2 He/she shall have charge and custody of all funds received on behalf of the Tamil Sangam and shall deposit such funds in the name of the Tamil Sangam in such Banks as may be authorized by the Board of Directors. Funds shall be deposited with in five days of its receipt and a receipt issued to the contributor of such funds.
8.5.3 He/she shall maintain account books, records ofreceipts, disbursement and other financial transactions made on behalf of the Tamil Sangam in the manner prescribed by the Board of Directors.
8.5.4 He/she shall present an up-to-date report on the accounts of the Tamil Sangam at the meetings of the Board of Directors and present an annual accounts to the general body at its Annual meeting or at such other time as may be required by the Board of Directors.
8.5.5 He/she shall perform all duties incident to his office and such other duties as may be
assigned to him/her by the Board of Directors within the framework of these bylaws.
Article 9 - Committees
9.1.1 The Board of Directors of the Tamil Sangam may constitute Committees consisting of members of the Tamil Sangam to carry out the objectives of the Tamil Sangam such as Drama Committee, Education Committee, Music Committee, Arts Committee etc. The composition of these committees and duties shall be decided by the Board of Directors.
9 .1.2 The report on the activities of the committees shall be included in the annual report presented to the members at the annual general body meeting.
Article 10 - Meetings
10.1 Annual meeting of the Tamil Sangam
10.1.1 The Annual meeting of the general membership of the Tamil Sangam shall be held every year in the month of November, the actual date to be decided by the Board of Directors. Special meetings of the general body may be called any time by the Board of Directors or at the request of20% ofthe general membership of the Tamil Sangam.
10.1.2 Notice of annual meeting and special meeting with the Agenda for the meeting
shall be sent at least two weeks prior to the date of the meeting to all members of the
Tamil Sangamon record.
10.1.3 Ann ual report on the activities of the Sangam during the year and the annual accounts of the Tamil Sangam, both in writing, shall be presented to the members at the annual meeting of the general membership.
10.2 Meetings of the Board of Directors
10.2.1 The Board ofDirectors shall meet at least four times a year.
10.2.2 Agenda and the Notice ofthe meeting ofthe Board of Directors shall be prepared by the Secretary with the approval ofthe President and shall be sent to all the members of the Board ofDirectors in accordance with the procedures laid down by the Board of Directors.
10.2.3 The President or a majority ofthe members ofthe Board ofDirectors shall call a meeting ofthe Board of Directors.
10.3 Quorum
10.3.1 25 members of the Tamil Sangam shall constitute the quorum for the meeting of the general membership.
10.3.2 A majority ofits members shall constitute a quorum for the meeting ofthe Board of
Directors.
10.4 Decisions of General Body and Board of Directors
10.4.1 All decisions ofthe General Body and the [Board ofDirectors shall be in the form of a resolution passed by a majority ofmembers present and voting at the meeting in which a decision is taken. No postal or proxy voting will be allowed for any reason whatsoever.
10.5 Roberts Rules of Order
10.5.1 Any questions or disputes regarding the conduct of meetings ofthe general membership or the Board ofDirectors or the Committees shall be resolved in accordance the Robert's Rules of Order.
Article 11.- Audit of Accounts
1.1 The annual accounts shall be audited by an independent person authorized by the Board of Directors and the results of such audit report presented to the members at the annual meeting along with a report of any corrective action taken or to be taken by the Board of Directors to set right the deficiencies and defects.
Article 12-Emergency Powers
12.1 The Board of Directors may take any emergency action that may be required to be taken
to comply with State, County or Federal laws or a finan cial emergency, which may not be consistent with these bylaws, but must report the sam e to its members either through a letter or by callin g a special meeting of the general membership.
Article 13 - Publications
13.1 The Tamil Sangam may publish a quarterly news bulletin to be called Tamilosai which shall be the official organ and property of the Tamil Sangam. No articles or advertisements of a political nature shall be published in the news bulletin. An editorial committee consisting of Editor, AssociateEditor and three sub editors and the President and the Vice president of the Tamil Sangam shall be responsible for publishing the news bulletin.
Article 14 - Acquisition and Disposition of Assets
14.1 Any purchase of personal property by the Tamil Sangam costing more than One thousand US dollars and any sale of such assets of the Tamil Sangam whose book value as determined by a Certified Public Accountant is more than One thousand US Dollars shall require the majority vote of general membership at a meeting where the sale or purchase is specifically included in the agenda and due notice of the same is given to all members in accordance with these bylaws.
14.2 Any purchase or sale ofreal property to be acquired or sold by Tamil Sangam shall require the majority vote of general membership at a meeting where the sale or purchase is specifically included in the agenda and due notice of the same is given to all members in accordance with these bylaws.