Bylaws - Sandhill - 1982

Shared by Sandhill Farm
Tags: Government, Consensus, Income Sharing

Bylaws
01-01-1982
Sandhill


Bylaws SH-A

Article I. Membership

Paragraph 1. Classes of membership
There are three classes of membership: provisional, full, and child.
A. Provisional membership.
When an adult first joins the community, co becomes a provisional member. A provisional member has rights and responsibilities equal to those of a full member, except the community reserves the right to make specific limitations in individual cases.
B. Full membership.
A full member is any provisional member who has donated all of cos property to the community and who is granted that status by the concensual agreement of the community's members. Provisional members will generally be expected to have been with the community for at least two years before considering becoming full members.
C. Child members
A person who is born into community or who joins the community prior to being considered an adult is a child member. The decision on when a child member becomes an adult is at the discretion of the child and the community's current adult population. To the extent possible, child members are encouraged to take an active part in community affairs, and adult members are expected to treat seriously the opinions of child members. However, children are not guaranteed equal say in community decisions.

Paragraph 2. Admission.
The community will establish an explicit procedure for admission of new members. Legal minors (as defined by the state of Missouri) will not be admitted for membership unless accompanied by their parent(s) or legal guardian(s), or with their express approval.

Paragraph 3. Expulsion.
A member cannot be expelled form the community unless the following conditions are met:
A. The remaining adult members have reached consensus agreement to expel the individual(s) in question.
B. There is a meeting at which the individual(s) is (are) notified of the behavior(s) upon which the expulsion decision is based.
C. The individual(s) has (have) been given a reasonable length of time after the aforementioned meeting in which in which to change cos (their) objectionable behavior(s).
D. After the aforementioned reasonable length of time has passed, the remaining adult members are still in consensus agreement that the individual(s) should be expelled.

Article 2. Economics

Paragraph 1. Work
All members are expected to contribute a reasonable amount of work toward group efforts, relative to an individual's ability to work. It is expected that this will be measured in terms of effort and not in terms of output. Moreover, where some members possess skills which the community relies on and that other members do not possess, the skilled members are expected to make a reasonable effort to teach their skills to interested unskilled members.

Paragraph 2. Income and expenses
All money earned by individuals once they are members is considered group income and goes into a common treasury. This includes not only wages but also interest or rent earned from money or other property held privately, with the following two exceptions:
A. Provisional and child members will be allowed to keep income from gifts, inheritance, or royalties from works produced prior to becoming a member; and
B. Child members will be allowed to have a trust, or its equivalent, established for them by people from outside the community without any interest from them being considered group income.
In return the group assumes responsibility for meeting all individual needs for food, clothing, shelter, medical expenses, and education.

Paragraph 3. Property
When an individual becomes a provisional member, co is not required or expected to relinquish ownership of any property to the group. However, the group does reserve the right to limit the use of private property. It is expected that provisional members will generally make possessions such as tools, vehicles, cooking utensils, and literature available for group use, but there is no requirement that they do so. In the particular case of vehicles, members must either choose to make them available to the group or to not operate them at all. If the group does make use of private property, it is under no obligation to maintain or replace such property relative to the wear resulting from its use, unless agreement to do so has been made ahead of time. Full members must relinquish ownership of all property to the group.

Article 3. Government
All major decision-making will be done by consensus. The group may delegate decision-making on minor matters at its discretion.

Article 4. Amendments
Any amendment to these bylaws must be make by consensus.

Article 5. Definitions

Paragraph 1.
The term "co" will be used in place of "he" or "she" , or "him" or "her"; the term "cos" will be used in place of "his or hers"

Paragraph 2.
The terms "community" and "group" will be used interchangeably to mean the whole membership of Sandhill Farm.

The bylaws were approved by the membership of Sandhill Farm. ************, 1982,
Laird A. Schaub,
vice-president