Revised at GBM on November 5, 2006

Where as the need exists for cohesive action on the part of the people of Telugu origin residing in Metro Atlanta, it is hereby resolved that a not-for-profit organization be formed to preserve and propagate the Telugu cultural heritage and maintain the identity of said group of people, to provide a forum for Telugu literary, cultural, educational, social, and charitable interaction among its members.

A not-for-profit organization has been formed and the name of the organization is Telugu Association of Metro Atlanta, hereinafter referred to as TAMA.

TAMA Membership is not transferable and membership dues are not refundable. All members shall have all basic privileges of TAMA membership including the right to contest and vote in TAMA elections. Persons aged 21 years or older, subscribing to the objectives of TAMA and willing to abide by the Constitution and Bylaws of TAMA can become TAMA members as follows:

1. Membership Types: TAMA Membership can be as a "Family Membership" or as a "Single Membership", defined as follows:

a. "Family Membership" shall be defined as husband, wife and their children of 20 years or less.

b. "Single Membership" shall be defined as membership by one individual

3. Annual Member: Any person or family shall be eligible to become an annual member of  TAMA by submitting an application in the prescribed form with the appropriate dues. The annual membership fee shall be $25 for family and $15 for single person.

4. Membership Term: Membership terms for annual members are for one calendar year (i.e., from January 1 to December 31). A member in good standing in a calendar year is one who paid his/her dues before 6:00 P.M. on September 30 of that calendar year. A life member is in good standing as soon as the payment of his/her dues is certified.

5. Membership Dues: The membership dues shall be recommended by the Executive Committee from time to time for the approval by simple majority of the general body. Any revision in the membership dues shall be made only once in a calendar year.

6. Suspension of Membership: Documented activities against the purposes of the organization as defined in Article II shall constitute grounds for suspension of membership. These allegations shall be communicated to the member by the Executive Committee in writing through registered mail. The alleged member shall then be entitled to a hearing by the GBM on such charges. In order to be eligible for aforementioned, the alleged member should request Executive Committee in writing by certified mail to call GBM for such hearing within sixty days from the receipt of above notification. Failure to respond within sixty days shall result in automatic suspension.

7. Voting: Each individual member in good standing shall have one vote. In case of Life or Annual Family memberships, there shall be two votes, one for the head of the family and one for the spouse. In case of divorced or legally separated families, the voting rights shall remain with the original partners unless advised otherwise by them in writing with mutual consent.

Article IV: ORGANIZATION

TAMA organization shall be made up of the General Body and the Executive Committee.

1.General Body: The General Body shall determine the basic philosophy and policies of TAMA. It is empowered to elect, remove and impeach TAMA officers (except as provided in Article VI), amend bylaws, and revoke memberships.

2. Executive Committee: The Executive Committee shall provide the leadership and execute the policies as approved by the General Body and directives provided in the Constitution and Bylaws. It shall set the amount of dues for various memberships. It shall have the authority to act for and on behalf of TAMA. No member of the Executive Committee, individually or jointly, shall borrow money for the association. The president and members of the Executive Committee shall be responsible for one another and shall be jointly responsible to the General Body.

Vice President: The Vice President shall assist the President and fulfill his/her duties in his/her absence and when so acting shall have all the powers of the President. He/she shall perform such other duties as assigned by the President. The Vice President shall be responsible for fundraising activities and food services during TAMA celebrations.

Secretary: The Secretary shall be the custodian of the Seal, Constitution, and Bylaws of the association. He/she shall issue call for meetings of the General Body, the Executive Committee at the directive of the president, assist the president in preparing the agenda before each meeting and prepare the minutes of the meetings. He/she shall perform the official correspondence of the association and all correspondence shall be done as specified in Article XII and through Technology Committee. He/she shall maintain an updated list of all paid members. He/she shall be responsible for the maintenance of records, documents, accurate postal and email addresses, official correspondence of the organization, and reports of any Ad-hoc Committees. He/she shall be responsible to ensure that all reports, documents, and records are kept and filed as required by law. He/she shall be responsible for transferring all the records of TAMA to the incoming Secretary within five days after the end of his/her term.

Treasurer: The Treasurer and President shall be the only authorized persons to sign the checks individually up to $500. Any check exceeding $500 shall require the signatures of both Treasurer and President. He/she shall be responsible for issuing notice and collection of all dues and deposit the same in such banks or trusts as the Executive Committee may designate. He/she shall maintain an updated list of all paid members. He/she shall operate all accounts as per Article IX. He/she shall have custody of all accounts, receipts, and disbursements. He/she shall submit quarterly financial reports to the Executive Committee and provide this information to the General Body. He/she shall perform such other duties and exercise such other powers incident to the office of Treasurer by law. He/she shall file tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service for the year in office and provide appropriate records for financial audits. He/she shall transfer all records, documents, and accounts to the incoming Treasurer within five days after the end of his/her term.

Cultural Coordinator: The cultural coordinator shall be responsible for preparing guidelines, soliciting and approving cultural items with the consultation of executive committee, contacting and coordinating performers, preparing agenda for cultural events, organizing prize distributions, coordinating audio and stage management activities, and presenting cultural items to the audience. Although cultural coordinator serves as the lead person, the Executive Committee as a whole shall be responsible for the overall planning and implementing of any TAMA function.

Education Coordinator: The education coordinator shall oversee all administrative aspects of "Mana Badi" (basic Telugu language classes) and serve as a liaison between "Mana Badi" and TAMA. He/she shall also be responsible for Telugu Library—i.e., in securing books, cataloguing them, and circulating them to TAMA members in a timely manner.

Literary Coordinator: The literary coordinator shall be responsible for conducting literary meetings, inviting distinguished scholars and artists, soliciting literary articles, editing TAMA magazine and newsletter.

Media Coordinator: The media coordinator shall be responsible for video recording and photographing the TAMA events and occasions of importance as called by the Executive Committee. The media coordinator shall also preserve, catalog and handover the media to the next Media Coordinator.

Technology Coordinator: The technology coordinator shall be responsible for the design, maintenance, enhancements, accuracy and security of the TAMA website and email lists, as authorized by the president and/or secretary. Technology coordinator is responsible for processing emails for day-to-day TAMA operations.

The technology coordinator shall recommend from time to time to the Executive Committee the methods to increase revenue and better communication through web site and e-mails. TAMA members may send any community messages to the TAMA President or Secretary and request them to post it

Meetings: The Executive Committee shall meet at least once in three months. The quorum shall be a majority of the membership. The TAMA Secretary, in consultation with the President, shall prepare the agenda. If three or more of the Executive Committee members request in writing a special meeting of the Committee, the Secretary shall call for a special meeting scheduled to meet within two weeks of the written request. Special meeting agenda shall be limited to the topics mentioned in the written request. In case of any such special meetings, the secretary shall send a minimum of seven days notice to all Executive Committee members.

The Executive Committee shall take appropriate action to fill any vacancies in the Executive Committee, no later than two months of such occurrence. Any such interim vacancies can be filled by seeking nominations from the membership in good standing and filled in by the Executive Committee. Approval of the two-thirds of the serving Executive Committee members shall be required for any such appointment.

Any member of the Executive Committee, who fails to attend three consecutive regularly scheduled meetings without properly informing to the President, shall be terminated without prejudice. Any such vacancies shall be filled as stated in Article V.

Any member of the Executive Committee may be removed or impeached on the grounds incompetence, corruption, favoritism, extortion, or oppression in office, or gross misconduct in a special General Body meeting called for such purpose. Approval of two-third of the membership shall be required for such impeachment/removal.

Article VIII: ELECTION OF OFFICERS

 

1. The officers of the Association shall be elected at the general body meeting of the members of the Association on or before November 30. This meeting shall be chaired by Parliamentarian, who shall be appointed by the President (as provided in Article IV). Parliamentarian must be a member in good standing and not a contestant or nominator of any contestant in the election or a member of the Executive Committee. Members in good standing shall be eligible to vote as stated in Article III.
2. A nominating committee consisting of three members, appointed by the President with the approval of the Executive Committee, shall seek and propose the candidates for election to all the offices. The nominating committee shall not include any member who is either contesting for any position or nominating/seconding any contestant for any position. Nominees for offices shall be members in good standing and must give their consent in writing at the time of the nomination. Nominations may also be made by any member in good standing of the Association by writing to the Nominating Committee before the due date. No one should contest for or serve in more than one position in one year. Nominations must be received and shall be closed two weeks before the election date at 6:00 P.M. The members, who propose or second a candidate for election, must be members in good standing. Nominations can be withdrawn seven days before the election date by duly notifying the nominating committee in writing. The valid nominations, as certified by the Nominating committee, shall be published within 24 hours, after the expiration of the withdrawal date. The candidates can request for a list of members in good standing who can vote at the general body meeting and the executive committee must make such list available within 24 hours of request after October 5. Nominating Committee shall solicit floor nominations on the day of election only in the event no prior nominations are received for any of the positions.
3. The parliamentarian with the help of nominating committee shall be responsible for conducting the elections. To ensure fair election process, the voting shall be conducted by a secret balloting whenever there is a contest.
4. Nomination Procedures: Following certification procedures shall be followed by the Nominations Committee. The activities of the Nominating Committee will be coordinated by the Chairperson. Activities of this committee shall be conducted in utmost professional and confidential manner to safeguard the interests of the organization and the contestants. List of contestants will be made public only at the closing of the nomination period. Published list will include certified final contestants only. To certify the validity of the nomination, this committee shall:

   1. Verify the membership of the nominee for the term being solicited

   2. Verify the membership of the "nominated by" and "seconded by" persons

   3. Personally call and verify the contents of the form with:

   a. Nominee

   b. Nominated by person

   c. Seconded by person

TAMA (Telugu Association of Metro Atlanta)

Position Contesting for: ____________________________________________

Name of the Candidate: ____________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________

Phone Number: ____________________________________________

Email: ____________________________________________

I here by pledge that I am interested in serving Telugu Association of Metro Atlanta (TAMA) as a member of the Executive Committee.

Signature of the nominee: _______________________________________________

**********************************************

Proposed by: _____________________________________

Phone Number: ________________________ Email: __________________________________

Signature: __________________________ Date Proposed: ________________________

Seconded by: _____________________________________

Phone Number: ________________________ Email: __________________________________

Signature: __________________________ Date Proposed: ________________________

Please send nominations to Nominating Committee by following two methods. Nominations must be received between the following dates: Date 1 to Date 2.

1. 1. By postal mail:

Email: xxxxxxxxxx

1. 2. By E-mail: Please submit the information requested in this form by e-mail to all 3 nominating committee members.

Nominating Committee - Chair Email: xxxxxxxxxx

Nominating Committee Member 1 Email: xxxxxxxxxx

Nominating Committee Member 2 Email: xxxxxxxxxx

Article IX: TAMA FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS

TAMA shall maintain separate funds for specific purposes. All financial records shall be maintained as required by IRS.

General Operations Account Annual membership fees, advertisement revenue, food revenue, movie collections, and miscellaneous income shall be deposited in the General Operations Account. The funds from this account alone should be used to organize events and incur any administrative and organizational expenses TAMA needed from time to time.

Endowment Account This account consists of all the funds received towards Life Membership Fee and any other special income received. Also any surplus amount exceeding $6,500 that is available in the General Fund account at the end of fiscal year shall be transferred into this account. The withdrawal of funds from this account to meet any general/operational expenses of TAMA requires the approval of general body. However, the Treasurer, with the approval of the TAMA executive committee, may invest these funds in a C.D. account from time to time to earn a higher interest than a regular bank account. The TAMA executive committee shall have the powers, only in case of emergencies, to withdraw any interest that is earned on this account, to meet TAMA operational expenses. Such amount shall not exceed $500 and only one such withdrawal shall be permitted without the approval of the General Body.

Charitable Trust Account TAMA, being a community organization, realizes that it has a responsibility to help and rise to the occasion when a tragedy strikes a family/person or community. On such occasions the Executive Committee has the power to raise funds to support such causes. All donations and special income derived through the special efforts shall be deposited in this account and such funds may be utilized for the cause in the manner that the Executive Committee agrees.

Audit of the accounts President, with the approval of the Executive Committee, shall appoint a three- member audit committee and name one of them as chairperson of the committee to audit the accounts every fiscal year. Such committee shall be in place by the end of November of every fiscal year. Only TAMA members in good standing shall be eligible to participate in the committee. However, the audit committee shall be permitted to obtain any professional help from an accountant to complete the assigned task. The committee shall verify all the accounts operated by TAMA and submit a report to the Executive Committee by January 5^th of the following year and Executive Committee must make the report available to all the membership during the Sankranthi function.

TAMA shall celebrate at least three festivals in a calendar year: Sankranthi, Ugadi and Deepawali. Any additional festivals may be celebrated if the majority of the Executive Committee members are in agreement.

Article XI: AD-HOC COMMITTEES

TAMA President, in consultation with the Executive Committee, is empowered to establish ad-hoc committees to accomplish such tasks and operations as to realize the objectives of the association, to investigate specific problems, procedures and matters of interest, and to make recommendations to the executive committee. In no event shall an ad-hoc committee, except for the audit committee, exist beyond the end of the term of the Executive Committee that establishes it.

Realizing that technology has vital role to play in promoting organizational activities, TAMA shall establish a website, and email list. TAMA has sole proprietary rights to both the website and email list. No individual, inclusive of Executive Committee member owns any personal rights/ownership to these items. The Executive Committee shall maintain website and emails in a dignified manner. No member of the Executive Committee shall use them for: (a) personal glory; (b) airing grievances and internal conflicts; (c) accusations, badmouthing, profanity, insults, derogatory/demeaning remarks, etc.; or (d) any other purposes that are detrimental to TAMA image and principles.

Generally when there is a difference of opinion among the members of the executive committee, the majority opinion shall be the binding. However, if a member perceives himself/herself to have been constantly harassed or deprived of his/her ability to serve the organization, the following procedure is to be adopted:

a. When an executive committee member(s) could not resolve the differences within the committee, any member involved should make a written request to the President to form a three-member ad-hoc committee and name one of them as the chairperson for an appeal process within 10 days of receiving notice. All parties to the grievance shall submit in writing that they will abide by the recommendation of such committee. The accuser side and the accused side can each suggest one TAMA member in good standing but not a member of the Executive Committee to the president for inclusion in the ad-hoc committee. The third person shall be by the President with the authorization of those Executive Committee members, who are not parties to the grievance.

b. The committee Chair shall then correspond with all the committee members involved and solicit all supporting documentation from each of them and distributes it to other committee members for review.

c. The committee shall then meet to discuss the materials reviewed and initiate its deliberations. The committee, at this time, may chose to conduct interviews with one or more members involved, individually or combined, to gather additional relevant information.

d. The committee shall prepare a complete report and submit it with its recommendations to the President, which shall be no later than 30 days from date of formation of the committee.

e. President shall inform the committee’s recommendation(s) to all parties involved and implement it/them within 24 hours of receiving the report.

f. The committee’s recommendation(s) on the issues involved shall be the binding agreement for the Executive Committee.

g. If the president himself/herself is the subject of dispute, this function should be performed by the Vice-president.

The following rules and regulations shall conclusively bind TAMA and all persons acting for or on behalf of it:

No part of the net earnings of TAMA shall be distributed to its members, officers, or other private persons, except that the organization shall be authorized and empowered to pay actual out-of-pocket expenses incurred by any member in furtherance of the objectives set forth herein.

No part of the activities of TAMA shall be the carrying on of propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the organization shall not participate in or intervene in any political campaign including the publication or distribution of statements on behalf of any candidate for public office.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of the Constitution and Bylaws, TAMA shall not carry on any activities not permitted by an organization:

1. (a) Exempt from federal income tax under Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue Law, or
2. (b) That can accept tax-deductible contributions under Section 170 (c) (2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue Law.

Office holders of TAMA shall avoid conflicts of interest in carrying out their responsibilities.

The Executive Committee members shall not be held personally liable for any actions and decisions taken on behalf of the association.

The TAMA members listing (mailing address, e-mail address, and phone number) shall be used for distribution of TAMA related information only.

The TAMA members listing (mailing address, e-mail address and phone number), equipment, individual software, web pages developed during the year; photographs taken during the programs (performed by the professional artists), etc. are the association’s property. No one should sell, trade or exchange or utilize in any other manner for personal or third-party gains without obtaining the permission of the general body.

Article XVI: DISSOLUTION

In the event of dissolution, the Executive Committee shall, after paying or making provision for the payment of all the liabilities of the association, dispose off all the assets of the association exclusively for the purposes of the association in such manner, or to such association or associations organized and operated exclusively for charitable, educational or scientific purposes as shall at the time qualify as an exempt association under section 501(c) (3) and 170 (C) (2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 or Federal, State, or Local government for exclusive public purpose.

The constitution may be amended in a GBM with appropriate quorum as defined in "Article IV - 1) General Body". In this GBM where the agenda specifically calls for the amendments, the constitution may be amended with the approval of the 75% or more of the attending membership. The amendments and the time and place for the meeting shall be notified to all members at least 30 days in advance. All amendments shall be submitted in writing to the President to enable him/her to circulate 30 days in advance. Only those members present at meeting shall be eligible to vote.