Amendment No.1
May 1, 2007 | NewsletterProposed by: International Board of Trustees
Amend the WBCCI Constitution, Article VI, “Qualifications of Members,†Section I, (page2) as follows:
After the words… “Airstream, Inc.†and before the words “shall be†by the insertion of the following: “OR A CLASS-A MOTORHOME MANUFACTURED BY THE FOUR WINDS INTERNATIONAL DIVISION OF THOR INDUSTRIES, INC.â€
Article VI Section 1 would then read:
An adult who owns a hard sided recreational vehicle manufactured by Airstream, Inc. OR A CLASS-A MOTORHOME MANUFACTURED BY THE FOUR WINDS INTERNATIONAL DIVISION OF THOR INDUSTRIES, INC., shall be eligible for membership.
AND
The WBCCI Constitution, Article VI, Titled “Qualifications of Members,†Section 2 B, (page2) be amended after the words… “recreational vehicle†and before the words†as defined in this Article†by striking of the following: â€Manufactured by Airstream, Inc.â€
Article VI Section 2 B would then read:
Ownership, except as otherwise provided herein, of a recreational vehicle as defined in this Article, and the payment of annual Unit and International dues to a Unit is prerequisite to retaining membership as a Regular Member.
Rationale: WBCCI is facing a highly probable major decline in membership within the next 3 to 5 years and needs to begin to address this very critical issue now in a positive way. The largest part of the potential membership decline, over this period, will come from the Airstream Inc., decision to stop all production of Class-A motorhomes. This is because our caravanning friends, who currently own Class-A motorhomes and choose or need to continue to do so, represent approximately 20% of the Club membership, and they will be forced to leave our great Club, due to the lack of motorized product, unless we do something about it now. Not only are these members our friends, but also their volunteerism is a giant part of the life-blood of our organization. This is an issue about our friends being able to continue to be members and their tremendous value to our Club and in keeping it alive, not about product.
When the additional loss of the Class-A motorhome members is combined with our “normal†yearly loss rate of -12% over 3 to 5 years this can result in a loss of-33% to -50% of overall membership in the club, crippling the organization. As the organization begins to shrink, dues will escalate sharply to make up for lost revenues, which in turn will most likely cause other members to leave the Club. The loss in member volunteers will mean the loss of most, if not all, large events such as International, Special Event, National and Region Rallies, as well as most Club caravans.
The acceptance of the Four Winds Class-A motorhomes for WBCCI membership permits owners of these RV’s to be a part and contribute to WBCCI as members, continuing to share their mendships and talents. Additionally, passage of this motion will allow those members that choose, as well as need, to own Class-A motorhomes to remain members and help keep the vitality of our Club.
The words “manufactured by Airstream, Inc.†are superfluous in Article VI of Section 2 B, as Section J of Article VI already provides the criteria for the manufacturer of eligible recreational vehicles. This also would make Section 2 consistent with Sections 3 and 4 of this same Article.
The WBCCI Constitution & Bylaws Committee recommends the issue of an “identifier,†for the Four Winds Class-A motorhomes, not be addressed in the WBCCI Constitution i.e. this motion, but in the Bylaws and Policy Section of the Blue Book, page 56.1. Therefore, upon passage of this motion the WBCCI International President will bring forward to the IBT for vote a motion addressing type, size and placement of this Four Winds Class-A motorhome “identifier.†We also recognize that not all members desire to own a brand new motorized product, so acceptance of the motion will be for new, as well as used, Four Winds Class-A motorhomes.