Preamble to the Constitution ----------------------------
Maharashtra is one of the western states of India, where Marathi is the predominant and official language. As far as we know, Dr. Khankhoje was the first Maharashtrian from the state of Maharashtra*, India to come to the state of Oregon, USA in 1907. Since then and mostly after 1970, a community of people developed with common interests in the Marathi language, culture, traditions and arts from the state of Maharashtra (hereafter referred to as Maharashtrians). An informal association of Maharashtrians formed to cater to the social, cultural, religious and other needs of the people. “Portland Area Mandal” was formed in 1993, and then was expanded as “Oregon Marathi Mandal” (OMM) in 1995 to include the rest of Oregon.
As the years passed, a need was felt to organize a structure and to define objectives of the Oregon Marathi Mandal (OMM), and hence to create a constitution. The 1997-98 executive committee decided to write formal constitution and the bylaws, and to register the OMM as non-profit organization with the state of Oregon. The members of the general body of the OMM approved the constitution and bylaws.
Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.
Edited – September 2004
Tax ID#: 93-1235915
* At the time known as ‘State of Bombay’
OMM Constitution
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Article 1
1.1 The name of the Organization shall be “Oregon Marathi Mandal”, here after referred to as “OMM”.
Article 2
OMM shall be a nonprofit organization registered in the state of Oregon, U.S.A. and shall have the following objectives:
2.1 To initiate literary, educational and charitable activities, which without limiting the generality thereof include promotion of various activities, such as music, dance and theatre, related to the culture, traditions and the language of the state of Maharashtra, India. These activities could be in coordination with Brihan Maharashtra Mandal of North America.
2.2 To help members of the Maharashtrian community.
2.3 To facilitate instilling Maharashtrian culture, tradition and Marathi language into the younger generation.
2.4 To integrate Maharashtrian community with the Oregon culture and people and to communicate with other Indian organizations, in a constructive way.
2.5 To help local community for charitable purpose.
Bylaws to the Constitution
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Chapter 1: Membership
1.1 Any Maharashtrian or any person interested in Maharashtrian cultural programs is entitled to become a member of the OMM on payment of the membership fee. Types of memberships would be:
Annual Membership – Family and single – Membership duration would be one year as defined in Section 1.2. The definition of family would include member, his or her spouse, their dependent children and parents.
Annual Membership – Student – Membership duration would be one year as defined in Section 1.3 and would be for students enrolled full time at an educational institution.
Patron Membership – Family – Membership duration would be for five consecutive years as defined in Section 1.3. The definition of family would include member, his or her spouse, dependent children and parents. Patron Members and their families will be entitled to free admission for all functions of OMM. Patron Membership could be converted to a Life Membership by payment of additional dues. (Amended as per Amendment 5.8 chapter 5)
Life Membership – Family – Membership duration would be for the life of the members or their spouse. The definition of family would include member, his or her spouse, their dependent children and parents. (Amended as per Amendment 5.8.1 chapter 5)
1.2 All members and their spouses would be voting members. A voting member must be a resident of the states of Oregon or Washington, USA.
1.3 For the purposes of membership and administration a calendar year will start on first Sunday following the festival of Ganesh Chaturthy and will end on Saturday following the Ganesh Chaturthy of the following year (Amended as per Amendment 5.3 in Chapter 5).
1.4 The executive committee will decide on the membership dues for the following year.
Chapter 2: Executive Committee
2.1 The general body of the OMM shall consist of members who have paid their annual dues. The general body shall elect an executive committee to manage all the affairs of OMM as defined by the bylaws of the constitution. The executive committee shall take decisions on all financial matters within the resources of OMM.
2.2 Every year the Ganeshchaturthy meeting shall be called the “annual meeting”, during which Executive Committee for the following year shall be elected. Every voting member can nominate himself or herself to be elected to the Executive Committee. At least fifteen-day notice will be given to seek nominations.
2.3 Executive committee shall elect three officers by a simple majority; a President, a Secretary and a Treasurer.
2.4 Executive committee shall consist of nine members; six elected each year and three officers of the committee from the previous year. At least one member of the executive committee will not be a resident of the metropolitan area of Portland, Oregon. (Amended as per Amendment 5.6 in Chapter 5).
2.5 In case of any vacancy arising in the executive committee, the president will have the authority to appoint any member for the remainder of the tenure of the vacant position.
2.6 Any member of the Executive Committee would not serve on the committee more than two consecutive years. (Ammended in AGM-2020, please see Section 5.13 and 5.15)
Chapter 3: Administration
3.1 All records of the meetings and accounts shall be kept in English.
3.2 The treasurer shall give an income-expenditure report once a year at the annual general body meeting.
3.3 President shall be responsible for the general guidance on the affairs of the OMM, and will preside over the general body and the executive committee meetings. In the absence of the President, the meetings will be conducted by the secretary or in emergency, by a member elected by the simple majority of the members of the committee.
3.4 The Secretary shall maintain all the correspondence and records of the OMM in good order, shall notify the members, the time and place of the meetings, and the time and place of the events arranged by the OMM.
3.5 The Treasurer shall keep an account of the finances of the OMM and submit the necessary information to the revenue services. An income and expenditure report will be given to the general body at the annual meeting.
3.6 The executive committee shall maintain an account for OMM’s name and will have the authority to disburse funds. The treasurer will be in charge of raising funds for membership, charities and unique events. The treasure will disburse incidental expenses up to $500, as approved by the executive committee. Any expenditure beyond $500 will require signatures of at least two officers of the executive committee.
3.7 Annual budget for any given year will not deplete the beginning balance in the OMM account by more than 20%. (Please see Ammendment 5.9)
3.8 The other members of the executive committee will help with the general affairs of the OMM and assist the above-mentioned officers.
3.9 The executive committee shall appoint member or members of the committee to form sub-committees to coordinate ad-hoc cultural, fundraising and charity events.
3.10 The governing body shall decide the registered address of the OMM.
Chapter 4: Advisory Council
(Amended as per Amendment 5.7 in Chapter 5)
4.1 The General Body will nominate to the Advisory Council, 3 members of Oregon Marathi Mandal, who are in good standing orders of the rules and regulations of OMM, who have been in this community for 5 years or longer and know the essentials for current and future functioning of OMM. The tenure of each member should be 5 years, unless the General body determines otherwise, during or after the completion of the Tenure of any member.
4.2 The members of the advisory council will suggest, advise and guide the Executive Committee, regarding the overall functioning of OMM, if and when felt necessary, by any member of the Advisory Council. The Advisory Council cannot make any binding rules, regulations or suggestions regarding the day-to-day functioning of the OMM by the Executive Committee
Chapter 5: Amendments
5.1 The constitution or bylaws may be amended or a new one added, by mail or in a meeting, only by a two-thirds majority of all voting members, in a quorum not less than 25% of all the members.
5.2 In the event of the liquidation, dissolution, or termination of the corporation, any assets and property remaining after payment of creditors and necessary expenses of liquidation, dissolution or termination shall be distributed to an organization organized for a public or charitable purpose, a religious corporation, the United States, or to an organization which is recognized as exempt within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code, or shall be distributed to the federal government, or to a state or local government, for a public purpose in the manner determined by the Board of Directors (OMM executive committee).
5.3 For the purposes of membership and administration, a calendar year will start on August 1st of every year and will end on 7/31 of the following year.
5.4 During the functioning of OMM, there may be one-time, incidental or special situations such as allocation of resources for which a prompt decision will be needed. In such cases, with regard to the situation and where the resources do not pertain to finances, the President can take appropriate decision in consultation with the Treasurer and the Secretary, provided that: a) either the Treasurer or the Secretary agrees with the decision. b) the decision is conveyed to the full committee at the earliest opportunity.
5.5 Due to practical difficulties of scheduling a cultural program during the beginning of the committee year, it is recommended that each committee arrange the first program for the next year. In doing so, the committee should use the same criteria as they would consider for a program that they would arrange for themselves as part of their cultural calendar.
5.6 The following sentence from Chapter 2, 2.4 will be removed- “At least one member of the executive committee will not be a resident of the metropolitan area of Portland, Oregon”
5.7 Amendment to Chapter 4: Remove the provision of Advisory Council (AC) as defined in chapter 4.1. This would result in dissolving any existing AC or election of any future AC as passage of this amendment.
5.8 The paragraph from chapter 1 section 1.1 regarding life memberships will be amended to –
Life Membership – Family – Membership duration would be for the life of the members or their spouses. The definition of family would include member, his or her spouse, their dependent children and parents residing with them. Life Members and their families will be entitled to free admission for all functions of OMM. Any new Life Members (and their families) joining from year 2006-2007 onwards will not be entitled to free admission for OMM functions. The paragraphs from chapter 1 section 1.1 regarding Patron memberships will be amended to –
Patron Membership – Family – OMM will stop issuing any new Patron membership from the year 2006-2007 onwards.
5.8.1 Ammendment to section 5.8. (Approved AGM-2019.) REMOVE ONLY these statements from section 5.8- Life Members and their families will be entitled to free admission for all functions of OMM. Any new Life Members (and their families) joining from year 2006-2007 onwards will not be entitled to free admission for OMM functions.
5.9 Ammendement to Section 3.7- Annual budget for any given year will not deplete the beginning balance in the OMM account by more than 30%.
5.10 (Ammendment approved AGM-2019) In case of need, OMM EC is entitled to seek external professional services such as legal services, CPAs. This service will be paid through available OMM funds. Section 5.9 rules (30% depletion) will not apply for this expense.
5.11 (Ammendment approved AGM-2019)
5.11.1 In the event that 50% of EC resigns at the same time, the remaining EC team should consider re-election for the entire EC within the next 30 days. The office bearers (in case they are still in EC) will have to step down and re-election must happen.
5.11.2 Until the new committe is elected, the current EC should continue working as per their assigned responsibilities
5.12 (Ammendment approved AGM-2019) OMM treasurer should publish detailed OMM finances to all OMM members once every quarter. The method of communication can be “email” or if requested by mail within 30 days of whem finances were emailed.
5.13 (Ammendment approved AGM-2020) Chapter 2 Section 2.6 to be ammended to: Any member of the Executive Committee would not serve on the committee more than two consecutive years other than some unprecedented circumstances.
5.14 (Ammendment approved AGM-2020) Due to COVID-19 pandemic during calendar year 2019-2020, the 2019-2020 Executive Committee term shall be extended till 2021. Current Executive members would not serve on the committee for more than three consecutive years.
5.15 (Ammendment approved AGM-2024) After serving in the Executive Committee for two consecutive years, any member of the Executive Committee or Office Bearer may continue for a third consecutive year, if approved by a vote during AGM. However, no Executive Committee Member or Office Bearer would serve on the committee for more than three consecutive years.