Dear Editor,

The Blanco Historic Cemetery Association has improved by leaps and bounds over the past several years in its attempts to become a more professional and caring organization towards its interment members. One of the greatest achievements of the Blanco Historic Cemetery Association is that it completed the composition of a new constitution and by-laws in March 2010 to replace the original constitution and by-laws which had been lost.

Recently it has been brought to my attention, as a member or stakeholder of this association, that the newly elected and assigned board members plan to revise the March 2010 constitution and by-laws. The one great freedom that we as individuals have as members or stakeholders of any association, organization, or corporation in this great country of ours is the right to vote. Yet this right was stripped from us as members under the March 2010 constitution and by-laws by not allowing proxy voting.

This audacious act of excluding proxy voting has excluded members who are elderly, handicapped, or currently reside a distance away from Blanco and cannot attend voting. The newly proposed constitution further strips our rights as members in two steps.

The first step is by allowing the board of directors the right to dismiss other board members without any reason or vote by the members. Thus, this end result would be a dictatorship and not a board of directors comprised of a democratic nature.

The second step is to conduct meetings closed to its members. It has been my experience as a member of many organizations, associations, and corporations that no good ever comes from a closed meeting to its members. Some examples can be seen in Enron with the siphoning of money from its members or more recently, American Airlines having to lay-off employees because of mismanagement. The Blanco Historic Cemetery Association has never had closed meetings in the past and why should it start now?

The Blanco Historic Cemetery Association board of directors are having a special meeting on February 25, 2012, to vote in the newly proposed constitution and by-laws. You can view the new constitution and by-laws on the building door at the cemetery or online at www.blancoguide.com/bhc/. If you are a member or a potential future member you may want to attend this meeting because you too can be affected if this new constitution passes.

Sincerely,

Marshall Bayless

A concerned member of the Blanco Historic Cemetery Association