The Rotary International Web Site has gone slow again. The reason is that 532 representatives of Rotary Districts from around the world have convened in Chicago for the triennial Council on Legislation, the meeting at which Rotary International decides on changes to its policies and constitutions. The reason is that in the 532 Districts, more than 1 million Rotarians are watching as the votes are taken on the proposed resolutions.
So far, they have agreed a $1 per year increase in the dues each Rotarian pays, starting from 1 July 2014. The reaction from many members in the Rotary Club of Northwick Park, accustomed to more stringent times in the UK economy, will probably be a sigh of relief that it is not more.
Other changes include the dropping of “New Generations” in favour of “Youth Service” – a measure that will clarify what is going on in a way that Non-Rotarians can now understand. The limit of e-clubs per District (2) has been removed, and the establishment of Satellite Meetings of a Rotary Club rather than a single meeting has been adopted.
Rotarians are required to spend time with each other, and the ‘attendance rule’ was introduced to enforce that. The rules are now changed to include time spent working on Rotary Club Projects as time spent together, effectively setting aside the rule on attending Rotary Club Meetings.
The attempt to change the weekly meeting frequency to fortnightly or monthly were defeated as was the attempt to increase the number of meetings that can be cancelled in a year.
Details of the Voting can be found at: COL Unofficial Voting Counts
