Spring 2016 Saber Tails 67
Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen Club of America
AMERICAN KENNEL CLUB
DELEGATE’S MEETING
DECEMBER 10-11, 2015
Delegate Committee Meetings
Bylaws Committee
Following the introduction of the committee members
and approval of the Sept. 2015 minutes, discussion was
opened on the subject of Term Limits. This amendment
will be voted on at the Delegates’ meeting on Friday,
12-11-15. An amendment to be read on Friday would
permit a Delegate Judge to charge a fee of no more than
$150.00 per assignment in excess of usual expenses. This
will be brought to the floor in March, 2016 for a vote.
There was some discussion about the Bylaws Committee
becoming more involved in hiring significant personel
other than the 4 positions named in the Bylaws. The
Committee requested that the AKC provide them with a
current Organizational Chart to help the Committee and
Delegates understand the workings of AKC. Greater Col-
lins KC has proposed that a member club would be per-
mitted to appoint a “proxy” Delegate should their regular
Delegate become elected to the AKC Board of Directors.
Valuable discussion followed with comments pertinent
to numerous unintended consequences, for example, of
having a “non-Delgate” serving on the Board and dealing
with the issue of two Delegates if/when the Board Mem-
ber steps down or loses his seat. Again, the Committee
is invested in the need to review and over haul the AKC
Bylaws as appropriate. The relevance of a Nominating
Committee in the process of electing Delegates to the
AKC Board of Directors was discussed. One benefit of a
Nominating Committee is that it can offer direction to the
Delegate body regarding the needs of the Board.
Dog Show Rules Committee
The AKC Board has had presentations regarding real
estate options and has decided to remain in two loca-
tions. Discussion continues regarding the territory issues
with nothing to present today. The Committee is hop-
ing to change the mindset of the Delegates to go away
from “territories” and into “venues”. One Delegate raised
an interesting point that should one club block another
club from using its site because of territory rules, the site
owners might consider this “restraint of trade” if other
customers couldn’t use their site. The Committee also
discussed including non-regular classes in the calculation
of Grand Championship points.
The Forum
The 7 candidates running for the AKC Board of Direc-
tors, Class of 2020, participated in a Q&A with most of
the questions coming from those previously submitted
by Delegates to Mr. Jim Crowley, Executive Secretary of
the AKC. In the remaining time, some questions were
presented from the floor. Each candidate, in rotation,
responded to each question presented.
Delegates’ Meeting
The meeting was called to order, and the Chairman intro-
duced the people on the dias. Mr. Jim Crowley read the
names of the Nominating Committee, the names of the
Delegates nominated by the Committee for the 3 posi-
tions on the Board, and the names of the Delegates run-
ning on petition. Candidates include Gretchen Bernardi,
Rita Biddle, Patrcia Cruz, William Feeney, Linda Ayers
Turner Knorr, Karolynne McAteer, and Thomas Powers.
Each of the 7 candidates spoke for 3 minutes.
MrCrowley read the names of the 10 Delegates seated
since the last meeting. New Delegates were introduced,
and the minutes of the Septemer 12, 2015 meeting were
approved. Four clubs were elected into membership of
the American Kennel Club: Bell Vernon Kennel Associa-
tion, Durango Kennel Club, LEAP Agility Club of Central
Massachusetts, and the Pyrenean Shepherd Club of
America.