Department of Georgia Officers 2022-2023
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OFFICIAL CALL
ONE HUNDRED-THIRD ANNUAL DEPARTMENT CONVENTION
THE AMERICAN LEGION, DEPARTMENT OF GEORGIA
In accordance with authority of the Department Constitution, Article V, Section 1, the One Hundred-Third Convention of The American Legion, Department of Georgia, is hereby called to meet at the Sonesta Gwinnett Place Hotel, Duluth, Georgia on June 24, 25, 26, 2022.
The Convention will be conducted according to the rules adopted immediately following opening of the Convention and in conformity with Robert’s Rules of Order (Revised).
The Convention will be called to Order at 8:30 a.m. on June 24th at the Sonesta Gwinnett Place Hotel, Duluth, Georgia.
The Convention is called for the purpose of electing and installing Department Officers for the 2022-2023 Legion year, acting on proposed amendments to the Department Constitution and By-Laws, and transaction of any such other business as may be brought before the Convention in conformity with provisions of the Department Constitution and By-Laws.
Department Officers elected shall be installed as the last order of business of the Convention. They shall assume their functions immediately upon installation.
REPRESENTATION
As provided in the Department Constitution, Article V, Sections 2 and 4, in the Department Convention, each Post shall be entitled to five (5) delegates and one (1) additional delegate for each twenty-five (25) members or major fraction thereof whose current membership dues have been received by the Department Adjutant ten (10) days prior to the meeting of said Convention and to one (1) alternate for each delegate, provided that in no instance, except as provided in Article VII, Section 2, shall such a Post be entitled to a greater number of delegates than fifty (50) together with the corresponding number of alternates. (12:00 Noon, June 13th is the deadline for dues to reach Department Headquarters to count toward delegate strength.)
Each delegate shall be entitled to one vote. The vote of any delegate absent and not represented by an alternate shall be cast by the majority of the delegates present from his Post. Alternates shall have all the privileges of delegates except that of voting.
Delegates and Alternates must be certified to Department Adjutant or Department Credentials Chairman as provided in Article V, Section 3, Department Constitution, before a Post is certified to participate in the Department Convention.
Article VII, Section 2, Department Constitution, provides that all members of the Department Executive Committee shall be delegates to the Department Convention, with vote, which vote shall be exercised with their respective Posts.
Zeste Debro Mark Shreve
Department Adjutant Department Commander
RULES FOR 2022 DEPARTMENT CONVENTION
Your Committee on Rules recommends the adoption of the following Resolution to embody the rules of the 103rd Annual Convention of The American Legion, Department of Georgia.
BE IT RESOLVED that the following special rules govern the proceedings of this Convention.
- Subject to reasonable adjustments at the discretion of the Chair to expedite proceedings of the Convention, the order of business for the Convention on June 24, 25, 26, 2022 as set forth in the official printed Convention Program shall prevail, except that no item of business designated in the approved report of the Convention Rules Committee as “Special Order of Business” shall be changed by the Chair.
- Any delegate seeking recognition for the purpose of addressing the Convention shall rise, approach the nearest microphone, address the presiding officer as “Commander”, and if and when recognized, and before proceeding further, shall give their name and the name of the Post for which he or she is a delegate.
- Debate upon any questions before the Convention shall be limited to forty minutes, twenty minutes to each side, and no delegate shall occupy more than five minutes in speaking upon any single question.
- Not more than one person from any Post shall participate in the debate on a single question, and no person shall speak twice on the same subject. Upon questions recommended for adoption or rejection by constituted Convention committees, the Chairman of a committee favoring such recommendation shall be privileged to close the debate, or to designate some member of the committee to do so.
- Any subject to be considered by this Convention, calling for National Convention action, in which approval would constitute a mandate on the delegates to the National Convention, shall be submitted in the form of a resolution to the appropriate Convention Committee for consideration.
- No resolution shall be considered on the floor unless first submitted in written form through the proper committee and unless it was adopted by a Post at a regular meeting, or by duly convened District Convention, or Executive Committee of such District, or of the Department of Georgia, or is signed and sponsored by a duly accredited delegate to this Convention. The time limit for submitting resolutions to the proper committee expires at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 25th. This rule shall be changed only by unanimous vote of the Convention.
- During the consideration of any resolution or amendment of the Constitution and By-Laws the same may be amended by an alteration or substitution only when the same is offered in writing and does not alter the intent of the subject matter of the original.
- Whenever reports to the Convention have been reduced to writing with sufficient copies for distribution, the rendition of oral reports may be dispensed with at the discretion of the Chair. Reports of Convention committees may be made by any member of such committee upon designation by the chairman thereof. Committee reports shall be confined to not more than fifteen minutes.
- On all questions requiring a record vote, voting shall be by call of Posts in District sequence (according to membership standing as of June 13th) from a roster prepared by the Department Adjutant.
The accredited number of consolidated qualified votes shall be announced from a microphone located on the floor of the Convention auditorium by a spokesman, who shall first announce his name and the number of his Post, and before such vote shall be tallied, a designated monitor on behalf of the Credentials Committee shall verify the listed identity of the person purported to declare such vote. This requirement may be dispensed with in the absence of objection or challenge voiced at the time.
- A recorded vote by roll calls on questions, other than the election of officers, shall only be sustained upon a demand from the floor, supported by the Chairman of the Delegation of not less than twenty-five Posts, containing a combined voting strength of not less than 300.
- Nomination of Department Officers for 2022-2023, as provided for the Department Constitution and By-Laws, shall be a special order of business for Friday, June 24th at 12:00 Noon and any candidate to be considered by the Convention must be nominated at that time for the office for which he or she will be presented for voting upon. Nominating speeches shall be limited to three minutes and seconding speeches to two minutes each. Only one seconding speech will be allowed in support of any nominee. Nomination shall be by roll call of the Districts.
- Acceptance speeches by candidates nominated for a Department office shall be limited to five minutes.
- A special order of business is hereby designated for the election of 2022-2023 Department Officers on Saturday, June 25th, not earlier than 12:00 Noon and not later than 12:30 p.m. Voting on Department Officers shall be the same as prescribed for any recorded vote.
- The nominee for any office, who receives a majority of the votes eligible to be cast therefore, as verified by the Convention Credentials Committee, shall be declared elected. In the event no person receives a majority on any ballot, the recipient of the lowest number of votes shall be dropped from subsequent ballots in succession, and voting shall be repeated until a majority is attained. In the case of the Department Junior Vice Commanders, the five receiving the highest number of votes will be declared elected. Each Post must cast the total number of votes to which it is entitled.
- Officers shall be elected in the following order: Commander, Senior Vice Commander, five (5) Junior Vice Commanders, Treasurer. In this Order
- The initial report of the Constitution and By-Laws Revision Committee must be submitted to the Convention prior to 11:30 a.m. on Friday, June 24th, as a special order of business.
- These rules may be changed only by a vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the authorized delegates present.
- When any question arises, which is not provided in the foregoing rules, the same shall be controlled by Robert’s Rules of Order (Revised)
This the 24th day of June 2022
Chairman ___________________________________
Vickie Smith-Dikes
Member ____________________________________
Bob Stites
Member ____________________________________
Ed Kent
2021 National Convention Safety and Physical Distancing Directives
(As of 5/12/2021- Subject to Change)
Ahead of convention, regardless of our state or community’s guidance and rules, The American Legion will follow the official guidance, precautions, and rules from our convention host city.
We all must play a pivotal role to ensure we can meet in Phoenix and to create a safe national convention experience for all who can attend. We can certainly be flexible, have patience, and put safety of our members first this year in order to meet.
The following are guidelines for you to please adhere to during convention in Phoenix to protect yourself, fellow American Legion Family members and others. Adherence to these guidelines will help allow The American Legion to host the national convention in Phoenix.
Face covering. Wear protective masks or face coverings at all times – unless actively eating or drinking – and wear them the right way with it covering your nose and mouth. Additionally, do not touch or adjust masks in public; make sure it is always clean, in good shape and worn the right side out; and do not borrow a mask or loan a used mask to someone else.
Masks must be worn on the convention stage and only remove when at the lectern speaking.
Masks will be required while riding the bus for transportation from hotels to the Phoenix Convention Center.
Food & Beverage. If not actively drinking or eating masks must be worn. Bring your hydroflasks, water bottles. Refillable water stations will be available at the center.
Social distance. Maintain at least six feet of social distance from others.
Greetings. Hold off on the hugs, kisses and handshakes. Instead, do fist bumps, elbow bumps, waves, salutes and tips of the hat.
Hands. Follow the CDC guidelines and wash hands for 20 seconds with hot water and soap.
Symptoms. Don’t ignore symptoms associated with COVID-19. If you have experienced any COVID-19 symptoms within 14 days of the convention – or tested positive within 14 days of departure – we need you to stay home.
Temp checks. Temperatures will be taken each day for all attendees who enter the Phoenix Convention Center, and common preliminary COVID-19 questions will be asked. If an attendee’s temperature registers at 100.4 or higher, the attendee will sit in a control area for 10 minutes. A second temperature screening will be administered after the wait time is over. If the temp remains at 100.4 or higher, the attendee cannot obtain entry into the convention center unless they receive a negative COVID-19 rapid test.
Liability waiver. All attendees of the American Legion National Convention must sign a liability waiver to attend – the City of Phoenix accepts no liability and declines to indemnify anyone electing to attend the event. The waiver is in the process of being developed. Convention dignitaries also will be required to sign this waiver before attending.
Pre-register. Convention walk-ins will not be permitted this year. Those interested in attending must register in advance with their respective American Legion department.
Exhibit Hall numbers. There will be a max number of people to be in the Exhibit Hall at one time. This number will be determined closer to August.
Meeting rooms. Information on meeting rooms will not be released until Aug. 1 in case changes must be made for COVID-19 distancing requirements.
Handouts. To reduce touch points, all “handouts” should be digital via QR codes, etc.
Private event. The national convention is considered a private event and not opened to public.
NOTICE: Convention event cancellations
The convention parade has been canceled due to physical distancing measures. The Band Contest also has been canceled.
