Author: soundersalliance

Constitution Update

Update 10/11/16, 6 am: we’ll be pulling this constitution update and bring an updated update to you in the new year. We have a line in it with unintended consequences, and they are significant. In Article 8, the intention of this line was simply to refer people to a bylaw that has been around for years: The Alliance Council will maintain standards and a procedure to recognize Supporter Groups in the Alliance Council bylaws. But it does more than that – it has consequences outside of anything we knew about or discussed in meetings, and that needs to be addressed now. There is other language that people don’t care for as well – it was written by two very well-respected ECS members who engaged in thoughtful discourse – but if we’re going to back up and address one part we can certainly re-engage in the other.

So yeah, it’s embarrassing. It was a ton of work, and a lot of sets of eyes on it including lots of our own AC Members who are Supporter Group Members. But it’s more important to get it right.

Special thank you to Glenn White who donated a lengthy conversation.

October 7, 2016

By Stephanie Steiner

Our most active work group this business year has been the Constitution group (Martin Buckley, Cameron Collins, and myself), with the focus of getting the Constitution cleaned up and updated for relevance. The version which was ratified in 2011 is available on Sounders website. The working copy, however, has evolved over time since that ratification – and nearly five years is a long time. How the process works: the Alliance Council may vote to update the Articles and operate with the newly voted change under effect. What this means is that some Articles have changed a few times: more tweaks were needed, or someone had another idea. One of our toughest challenges was the restriction of firm windows of time for sending votes out to the Alliance – we have since removed that restriction.

Last year, the focus was on our Bylaws. This year we started at the very beginning, the Preamble, and worked our way through from the very first letter to the end with the objective of correcting every misspelling, typo, and every misused word. Sounds simple, and for the most part it is, but it is tedious work. Cameron Collins and I dove into that during the off-season. With all of those technicalities out of the way, it was time to address the meaning, and intention of words: did everything say and mean what it should say to be relevant? Did our Constitution create a solid foundation upon which to build?

Of note:

An Article creating the Executive Committee was created at the end of 2012. We have been operating with an Executive Committee since the beginning of 2013.
Last year, we finished the GM Vote and Recall negotiations and combed through and finished all but one bylaw.
We updated our Business Year to start just ahead of the Sounders’ Business Year. This doesn’t impact you, but it allows us to get ahead of their print and media deadlines, and be active during the Front Office’s busiest time of the year – it’s some growing up for Council.
The biggest addition is the Article about GM Vote and Recall – all of that information was published last November. It was in outline format then, now it’s in full on legal format like the rest of the Constitution, so it looks different, but it’s the same information.
Not everything changed, but a ton did – much of it is just trimming down unnecessary verbiage. It’s easier to skip to the comments and then read the section if you desire.
The updated Constitution which was approved by your Alliance Council is posted in its entirety, here.

Below you will find a comparison between the working version and the updated version. On Monday, October 10^th, Alliance Members will receive emails with the link to vote to approve the updated Constitution (for your reference, here is the link, but I doubt it’s live until Monday). Voting will be active through October 17th, 2016. Thank you for participating in the democratic system. Only Alliance Members are eligible to vote on our Constitution.

Preamble: We, the united fans and supporters of the Seattle Sounders Football Club, are dedicated to protecting, upholding, and furthering the interests of the greater Sounders community. For this purpose, we join together to create this Alliance, where we shall find strength in our common purpose: the success of the Seattle Sounders FC on the field and in the community.

Comments: No Changes

ARTICLE 1. NAME

The name of this organization shall be the Seattle Sounders Football Club Alliance (hereafter referred to as the “Alliance”).

Comment: No Changes

ARTICLE 2. DURATION

The Alliance shall have perpetual existence.

Comment: No Changes

ARTICLE 3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Prior Working Version:

The aims and objectives of the Alliance shall be:

To speak with a unified voice on behalf of the Sounders community.
To ensure that fans and supporters have an impact on specific matters regarding or affecting the community.
To provide the community with an open forum for all fans to express their opinions about the Club, the MLS, and American soccer.
To be a compass, always striving to guide the Sounders towards triumph on and off the field.
To protect the crest, which is the symbol of our Club, our city and our region—our home.
To serve as the conscience of the Sounders community.
To do any and all lawful activities which may be necessary, useful, or desirable for the furtherance, accomplishment, fostering, or attainment of the foregoing purposes, either directly or indirectly, and either alone or in conjunction or cooperation with others, whether such others be persons or organizations of any kind or nature, such as corporations, firms, associations, trusts, institutions, foundations, or governmental bureaus, departments, or agencies.

2016 Version:

The aims and objectives of the Alliance shall be:

To speak with a unified voice on behalf of the Sounders community.
To ensure that fans and supporters have an impact on specific matters regarding or affecting the community.
To provide the community with an open forum for all fans to express their opinions about the Club, the League, and American soccer.
To be a compass, always striving to guide the Sounders towards triumph on and off the field.
To protect the crest, which is the symbol of our Club, our city and our region—our home.
To serve as the conscience of the Sounders community.
To do any and all lawful activities which may be necessary.

Comments: shortened and eliminated non-essential verbiage from number seven

ARTICLE 4. THE ALLIANCE

Prior Working Version:

4.1 Membership Eligibility. The primary account holder of a season ticket package containing 50% (or more) of the Sounders’ MLS league games is an Alliance Member. If the account has more than one seat, the account holder may designate one additional person for Alliance Membership for each additional seat on the account. This designation is irrevocable and lasts until the end of the season when it was made. Membership in the Alliance may also be purchased; the price shall be $125 a season.

4.2 General Meeting. The Alliance shall hold an annual General Meeting, open to all Alliance Members. This meeting shall be scheduled and planned by the Council; it shall be held between November 25th and December 10th, with the preferred date to be the first Friday in December.

2016 Version:

4.1 Membership Eligibility. The primary account holder of a multi-match ticket package sold through the Club or its commercial ticket selling partner is an Alliance Member. If the account has more than one seat, the account holder may designate one additional person for Alliance Membership for each additional seat on the account. This designation is irrevocable and lasts until the end of the Business Year when it was made. Additional membership criteria above and beyond the criteria laid out in this section may be created and managed by the Alliance Council as laid out in the Bylaws.

4.2 General Meeting. The Alliance shall hold an annual General Meeting, also known as the End of the Year Business Meeting or Annual Business Meeting, open to all Alliance Members. This meeting shall be scheduled and planned by the Council and the Club collectively.

Comments: Eligibility is more inclusive – those who invest in more than one match with our Club or invest in S2 are members in the Alliance. Other criteria moved to bylaws to facilitate annual review if needed. General Meeting dates removed to allow for ease of scheduling at times that make the most sense for the most people to attend as well as known status with regard to the season’s performance and playoff contention.

ARTICLE 5. THE COUNCIL

The Alliance Council (hereafter referred to as either “Council” or “Alliance Council”) is an elected body, which shall serve as the representative of the Alliance and has a responsibility to the community as a whole.

Prior Working Version:

5.1 Eligibility. To serve on the Council a person must be (and remain) a member in good standing of the Alliance (by any method in Article 4), and must be at least 18 years of age at the start of the Council term. Procedures for being elected to the Council shall be established in the Bylaws.

5.2 Term. Council members shall serve a two-year term. The actual dates of this term shall be specified in the Bylaws of the Alliance.

5.3 Business Meetings. The Council shall hold regular business meetings. The first meeting of a term shall be scheduled in February; then business meetings shall be held monthly, with last meeting of the term to be in November. Notice of meetings shall be sent via email to all Council members at least two weeks in advance of a meeting and shall include the agenda for that meeting. The Council may set its own rules regarding visitors or observers to these meetings. Minutes of these meetings shall be kept and posted regularly.

5.4 Ownership Meetings. The Council shall invite the Club ownership to attend, at minimum, the meetings in March, June, and November, and additional meetings as needed. These will be regular business meetings but also include a significant amount of time for discussion between the ownership and Council on any issues that either party deems fit.

2016 Version:

5.1 Eligibility. To serve on the Council a person must be an Alliance member pursuant to section 4.1, and must be at least 18 (eighteen) years of age at the start of the Council Business Year. Council Members shall adhere to any existing Alliance Council Code of Conduct. Procedures for being elected to the Council shall be established in the Bylaws.

5.2 Term. Council members shall serve up to a two (2) year term. The actual dates of this term shall be specified in the Bylaws of the Alliance.

5.3 Business Meetings. The Council shall hold regular business meetings. The first (1st) meeting of a term shall be held in December; then business meetings shall be held monthly, with last meeting of the term to be in November. Notice of meetings shall be sent via electronics means to all Council members at least two (2) weeks in advance of a meeting and shall include the agenda for that meeting. The Council may set its own rules regarding visitors or observers to these meetings. Minutes of these meetings shall be kept and posted regularly.

5.4 Ownership Meetings. The Council shall invite the Club ownership to attend Council meetings on a quarterly basis.

Comments: Eligibility reference was clarified, election rules are referenced in the bylaws (weren’t previously mentioned). We changed the dates of the Council’s Business Year so that Council officer elections may be held prior to the start of the Club’s business year: facilitation of best business practices. We eliminated specific months of ownership meetings to create flexibility in the best interest of all: meet when it works for the most people to attend.

ARTICLE 6. OFFICERS OF THE ALLIANCE

Prior Working Version:

6.1 Honorary Chairman. The Alliance Council shall have the option of designating an Honorary Chairman of the Alliance.

6.2 Council President. The Council shall elect, from its membership, a Council President to a term that expires at the end of the business year (January 31). The President shall preside over Council Meetings and General Meetings. The President shall be responsible for distributing Council-determined or Alliance-determined opinions and resolutions to the Alliance, Club, media, and public, but shall not act in a manner contrary to or that contravenes any vote, resolution, opinion statement, or Bylaw of the Alliance Council. The President shall retain full voting rights and privileges on the Council. If President shall at any time no longer be an Alliance Council Member, he or she immediately resigns as President.

6.3 Council Vice President. The Council shall elect, from its membership, a Vice President to a term that expires at the end of Business in the year elected. The Vice President shall preside over Council Meetings and General Meetings if/when President is not available. The Vice President shall assist the President in carrying out the Presidential duties and is limited to the same powers as the President. If Vice President shall at any time no longer be an Alliance Council Member, he or she immediately resigns as Vice President.

6.4 Council Secretary. The Council shall elect, from its membership, a Secretary to a term that expires at the end of Business in the year elected. The Secretary shall keep minutes of Council meetings and shall publish those meetings to the Council, Alliance, and general public. The Secretary shall maintain, and keep current, a record of the Council Constitution, Bylaws, Resolutions, Commendations, and Membership. If Secretary shall at any time no longer be an Alliance Council Member, he or she immediately resigns as Secretary.

6.5 Council Treasurer. The Council may elect, from its membership, a Treasurer to a term that expires at the end of Business in the year elected. The Treasurer shall have the following powers:

6.5.1 Custody of Funds. Charge and custody of, and be responsible for, all funds and securities of the Council, and deposit all such funds in the name of the Council in any banks or other depositories as shall be selected by the Executive Committee;

6.5.2 Receipts. Receive, and give receipt for, monies due and payable to the corporation from any source whatsoever;

6.5.3 Disbursement of Funds. Disburse, or cause to be disbursed, the funds of the corporation as may be directed by the Alliance Council, taking proper vouchers for such disbursements;

6.5.4 Records. Keep and maintain adequate and correct accounts of the Council’s properties and business transactions, including accounts of its assets, liabilities, receipts, disbursements, gains, and losses;

6.5.5 Reports. Render to the Executive Committee and Alliance Council, whenever requested, an account of any or all of Treasurer transactions as treasurer and of the financial condition of the Council;

6.5.6 Certification. Prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify, or cause to be certified, the financial statements to be included in any required reports; and

6.5.7 General Duties. In general, perform all duties incident to the office of treasurer and such other duties as may be required by law, by the Constitution or Bylaws, or which may be assigned to Treasurer from time to time by the Executive Committee.

2016 Version:

6.1 Honorary Chairperson. The Alliance Council shall have the option of designating an Honorary Chairperson of the Alliance.

6.2 Council President. The Council shall elect, from its membership, a Council President to a term that expires at the end of the Business Year. The President shall preside over Council Meetings and General Meetings. The President shall be responsible for setting meeting agendas and distributing Council-determined or Alliance-determined opinions and resolutions to the Alliance, Club, media, and public, but shall not act in a manner contrary to or that contravenes any vote, resolution, opinion statement, or Bylaw of the Alliance Council. The President shall retain full voting rights and privileges on the Council. If President shall at any time no longer be an Alliance Council Member, then the President is considered to have resigned.

6.3 Council Vice President. The Council shall elect, from its membership, a Vice President to a term that expires at the end of the Business Year. The Vice President shall preside over Council Meetings and General Meetings if/when President is not available. The Vice President shall assist the President in carrying out the Presidential duties and is limited to the same powers as the President. If the Vice President shall at any time no longer be an Alliance Council Member, then the Vice President is considered to have resigned.

6.4 Council Secretary. The Council shall elect, from its membership, a Secretary to a term that expires at the end of the Business Year. The Secretary shall keep minutes of Council meetings and shall publish those meetings to the Council, Alliance, and general public. The Secretary shall maintain, and keep current, a record of the Council Constitution, Bylaws, Resolutions, Commendations, and Membership. If the Secretary shall at any time no longer be an Alliance Council Member, then the Secretary is considered to have resigned.

6.5 Council Treasurer. The Council may elect, from its membership, a Treasurer to a term that expires at the end of the Business Year. If the Council Treasurer shall at any time no longer be an Alliance Council Member, then the Treasurer is considered to have resigned. The Treasurer shall have the following powers:

6.5.1 Custody of Funds. Charge and custody of, and be responsible for, all funds and securities of the Alliance, and deposit all such funds in the name of the Alliance in any banks or other depositories as shall be selected by the Executive Committee;

6.5.2 Receipts. Receive, and give receipt for, monies due and payable to the Alliance from any source whatsoever;

6.5.3 Disbursement of Funds. Disburse, or cause to be disbursed, the funds of the Alliance as may be directed by the Alliance Council, taking proper vouchers for such disbursements;

6.5.4 Records. Keep and maintain adequate and correct accounts of the Alliance’s properties and business transactions, including accounts of its assets, liabilities, receipts, disbursements, gains, and losses;

6.5.5 Reports. Render to the Executive Committee and Alliance Council, whenever requested, an account of any or all transactions as Treasurer and of the financial condition of the Alliance;

6.5.6 Certification. Prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify, or cause to be certified, the financial statements to be included in any required reports; and

6.5.7 General Duties. In general, perform all duties incident to the office of treasurer and such other duties as may be required by law, by the Constitution or Bylaws, or which may be assigned to Treasurer from time to time by the Executive Committee.

Comments: Chairman changed to Chairperson. We eliminated specific dates to prevent inconsistencies regarding the Business Year (without specific dates, the Business Year can be changed without a need to update the Constitution). This assigns responsibility for setting the meeting agendas. This creates consistent verbiage regarding voluntary resignation. Eliminates “Council” from reference to funds – Alliance Council funds and Alliance funds are the same thing, as the Council is the body that represents the Alliance (there aren’t other funds), but this eliminates the question: all funds, if there ever are any, would be the ‘of the Alliance.’

ARTICLE 7. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Working Copy:

7.1 General Powers. An Executive Committee of the Alliance Council shall exist to act as a steering committee. The Executive Committee shall have and exercise the authority of the Alliance Council as a whole, subject to such limitations as may be prescribed by the Alliance Council; except that Executive Committee shall never have the authority to: (a) amend, alter or repeal these Bylaws; (b) elect, appoint, or remove any officer of the Alliance Council; (c) amend, alter, or repeal any resolution of the Alliance Council; (d) act in a manner contrary to or that contravenes any vote, resolution, opinion statement, or Bylaw of the Alliance Council. Unless another person is specifically appointed as chairperson of the Executive Committee, the President shall preside at all meetings of the Executive Committee, and may speak and act on behalf of the Executive Committee on any resolutions they pass.
7.1.1 Duties. It shall be the duty of the directors to:

(a) Perform any and all duties imposed on them collectively or individually by the articles of incorporation or by these bylaws;

(b) Create a vision for the Alliance Council as a whole;

(d) Meet at least one (1) time prior to any General Meeting of the Alliance Council;

(e) Transmit information to and advocate on behalf of the Alliance Council with the Front Office of the Seattle Sounders Football Club, including but not limited to the enforcement of issues voted upon by the Council and binding votes and non-binding opinion statements as may be defined by the Bylaws of the Alliance.

7.2 Number. The Executive Committee shall consist of not less than _3_ nor more than _5_ Members at any given time.

7.3 Qualifications. The Executive Committee shall consist of the President and Vice President of the Alliance Council, and as many at-large members as necessary to comply with Paragraph 7.2 of this document.

7.4 Election of Executive Committee Members.

7.4.1 Automatic Membership. The President and Vice President of the Alliance Council shall automatically be Executive Committee Members. They shall serve as an Executive Committee Member for the duration their time in such position.

7.4.2 At-Large Membership. At-Large Executive Committee Members may be elected at any meeting of the Alliance Council by majority vote. At-Large Executive Committee Members shall serve a term of one year from the beginning of Alliance Council business in any given year. If an At-Large Executive Committee Member shall at any time no longer be an Alliance Council Member, he or she immediately resigns as an Executive Committee Member.

7.5 Term of Office. Unless an Executive Committee Member dies, resigns or is removed, that person shall hold office until a successor is elected and qualifies. If duly elected in accordance with the Constitution and Bylaws, Executive Committee Members can be hold unlimited successive terms.

7.6 Minutes. The Executive Committee shall keep regular minutes of its proceedings, cause them to be filed with any corporate records, and report the same to the Alliance Council at each General Meeting.

7.7 Meetings by Telephone & Electronic Means. Members of the Executive Committee or any committee designated by the Executive Committee may participate in a meeting of such by means of a conference telephone or similar electronic communications on the internet by means of which all persons participating in the meeting can hear each other at the same time. Participation by such means shall constitute presence in person at a meeting.

7.8 Quorum. Half of the number of Executive Committee Members in office shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any Executive Committee meeting.

7.9 Stalemate. In the event of a stalemate vote of the Executive Committee, the then presiding President will be the sole deciding vote.

7.10 Manner of Acting. The act of the majority of the Directors present at a meeting at which there is a quorum shall be the act of the Executive Committee, unless the vote of a greater number is required by this Constitution, the Bylaws, or applicable Washington State law.

7.11 Resignation. Any At-Large Executive Committee Member may resign at any time by delivering written or electronic notice to the President or by giving oral or written notice at any Executive Committee Meeting. Any such resignation shall take effect at the time specified therein, or if the time is not specified, upon delivery thereof and, unless otherwise specified therein, the acceptance of such resignation shall not be necessary to make it effective.

7.12 Removal. At a meeting of the Alliance Council, one or more At-Large Executive Committee Members may be removed from office, by two-thirds of the votes cast at a meeting where Quorum is present.

7.13 Vacancies. Vacancies on the Board shall exist (1) on the death, resignation, or removal of any Director, or (2) whenever the number of authorized Directors is increased. A vacancy in the position of Director may be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of the Alliance Council. A person elected to fill a vacancy on the Executive Committee shall hold office until the next election of the Executive Committee or until said Director’s death, resignation, or removal from office.

2016 Version:

7.1 General Powers. An Executive Committee of the Alliance Council shall exist to act as a steering committee. The Executive Committee shall have and exercise the authority of the Alliance Council as a whole, subject to such limitations as may be prescribed by the Alliance Council; except that Executive Committee shall never have the authority to: (a) amend, alter or repeal these Bylaws; (b) elect, appoint, or remove any officer of the Alliance Council; (c) amend, alter, or repeal any resolution of the Alliance Council; (d) act in a manner contrary to or that contravenes any vote, resolution, opinion statement, or Bylaw of the Alliance Council. Unless another person is specifically appointed as chairperson of the Executive Committee, the President shall preside at all meetings of the Executive Committee, and may speak and act on behalf of the Executive Committee on any resolutions they pass.

7.1.1 Duties. It shall be the duty of the Executive Committee Members to:

(a) Perform any and all duties imposed on them collectively or individually by this Constitution and by these bylaws;

(b) Create a vision for the Alliance Council as a whole;

(d) Meet at least one (1) time prior to any General Meeting of the Alliance Council;

(e) Transmit information to and advocate on behalf of the Alliance Council with the Front Office of the Club, including but not limited to the enforcement of issues voted upon by the Council and binding votes and non-binding opinion statements as may be defined by the Bylaws of the Alliance.

7.2 Number. The Executive Committee shall consist of not less than three (3) nor more than nine (9) Members at any given time.

7.3 Qualifications. The Executive Committee shall consist of the President, Vice President, and Secretary of the Alliance Council, and as many at-large members as necessary to comply with section 7.2 of this document.

7.4 Election of Executive Committee Members.

7.4.1 Automatic Membership. The President, Vice President, and Secretary of the Alliance Council shall automatically be Executive Committee Members.

7.4.2 At-Large Membership. At-Large Executive Committee Members may be elected at any meeting of the Alliance Council by majority vote. If an At-Large Executive Committee Member shall at any time no longer be an Alliance Council Member, the member immediately resigns as an Executive Committee Member.

7.5 Term of Office. Unless an Executive Committee Member dies, resigns or is removed, that person shall hold office until a successor is elected and qualifies. A new Executive Committee shall be elected at the beginning of each Business Year. If duly elected in accordance with the Constitution and Bylaws, Executive Committee Members may hold unlimited successive terms.

7.6 Minutes. The Executive Committee shall keep regular minutes of its proceedings, cause them to be filed with any Council records, and report the same to the Alliance Council.

7.8 Quorum. Half of the number of Executive Committee Members in office shall constitute Quorum for the transaction of business at any Executive Committee meeting.

7.9 Stalemate. In the event of a stalemate vote of the Executive Committee, the then presiding President will be the sole deciding vote.

7.10 Manner of Acting. The act of the majority of the Executive Committee Members present at a meeting at which there is Quorum shall be the act of the Executive Committee, unless the vote of a greater number is required by this Constitution, the Bylaws, or applicable Washington State law.

7.12 Resignation. Any At-Large Executive Committee Member may resign at any time by delivering written or electronic notice to the President or by giving oral or written notice at any Executive Committee Meeting. Any such resignation shall take effect at the time specified therein, or if the time is not specified, upon delivery thereof and, unless otherwise specified therein, the acceptance of such resignation shall not be necessary to make it effective.

7.13 Removal. At a meeting of the Alliance Council, one or more At-Large Executive Committee Members may be removed from office, by two-thirds of the votes cast at a meeting where Quorum is present.

7.14 Vacancies. Vacancies on the Executive Committee shall exist (1) on the death, resignation, or removal of any Executive Committee Member, or (2) whenever the number of authorized Executive Committee Member is increased. A vacancy in the position of Executive Committee Member may be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of the Alliance Council. A person elected to fill a vacancy on the Executive Committee shall hold office until the next election of the Executive Committee or until said Executive Committee Member’s death, resignation, or removal from office.

Comments: We replaced the words ‘Executive Directors’ with ‘Executive Committee,’ and any use of the word ‘director’ with ‘Executive Committee Member’ (we don’t use the word ‘director’ in practice). We increased the maximum number on the Executive Committee – note: not mandated, just trying to make things easier for future Councils which might need it. We added Secretary to automatic membership to the Executive Committee, and we clarified term and election process for the Executive Committee.

ARTICLE 8. SUPPORTER GROUPS

Previous Working Version:

A Supporter Group is a recognized, independent organization made up of passionate supporters of the Sounders.

Because supporter groups have unique requirements, their activities within their designated sections shall not be infringed upon by the Alliance without the approval of the Supporter Group affected.

Supporter Groups have a unique relationship with the Club that exists outside of the Alliance. The Alliance recognizes this and shall not interfere with it. Likewise, the Supporter Groups shall not use that relationship to interfere with the Alliance or its business.

2016 Version:

A Supporter Group is a recognized, independent organization made up of passionate supporters of the Club. The Alliance Council and Supporter Groups have unique relationships with the Club and each shall make good faith efforts to avoid interfering on the business of each other.

The Alliance Council will maintain standards and a procedure to recognize Supporter Groups in the Alliance Council bylaws. This recognition grants privileges as determined by the Club.

Comments: These few sentences (and those in the corresponding bylaw) caused the longest running debate of anything within the Constitution work. There are those who feel that the Council should have nothing to do with Supporter Groups at all. But the counter point is: if we were to eliminate our involvement, then only the Front Office would determine how and when a Supporter Group would be recognized, and there would be no fan involvement in that process.

Before we eliminated the sentences regarding infringing upon activities within seating sections, we verified that those sentences are unnecessary: flags, drums, two-poles, etc. are permissible in certain seating sections and a ticketholder’s affiliation does not matter. These activities are available to those within that section and are not available to those who are not in designated sections. These activities are not granted by the Alliance Council, nor can they be denied by the Alliance Council.

Bylaw 7 is the bylaw referenced, and it outlines a process for Supporter Group recognition and maintains fan involvement in the process – meaning it won’t just be up to the Front Office to decide what groups can become Supporter Groups and how they go about doing so. It’s our process and the Alliance Council will need a group of volunteers each annual session to manage it.

If the Alliance Council were to decline to recognize an existing Supporter Group, the group in question would no longer be listed on the Sounders’ website, and they would lose access to Cascadia away tickets via the Club (they could still buy their own on the open market). Other Supporter Group activities could go on without impact.

The push-back: Supporter Groups can heavily populate the Alliance Council with their own members and influence Alliance Council business without any or little repercussion. There is no way to prevent such activity unless 1) Supporter Group membership is limited to the same percentages as what matches the percentage of Alliance membership – this also has repercussions of a very small council, or 2) more non-affiliated Alliance Members become Alliance Council Members and change the distribution of Alliance Council membership.

ARTICLE 9. RATIFICATION & AMENDMENT PROCEDURES

This constitution shall be put forward to the Alliance for ratification by gaining at least two-thirds of all legal votes cast by the Council, with a Quorum as defined by the Bylaws; and it shall be declared ratified if it is approved by at least a two-thirds majority of all legal votes cast by Alliance members.

Amendments to this constitution may be proposed by any Alliance member. Proposed amendments shall be reviewed by the Council and to be approved require a two-thirds vote of all legal votes cast by the Council with a Quorum as defined by the Bylaws; then require a two-thirds vote of all legal votes cast by the Alliance general membership.

Comments: No Changes – but if you want to propose something, come to an Executive Committee member and they’ll help you. Better yet, consider running for Council. Come on, you knew to expect that!

ARTICLE 10. GENERAL MANAGER VOTE & RECALL

New – negotiated in 2015

The Alliance shall have the right to decide on the retention of the Club’s General Manager via an Alliance-wide vote as scheduled by the Club, as outlined in 10.3.

10.1 Objectives. The Alliance Council endeavors to honor the above statement as best serves the interests of the Alliance members, the fan base at large, the growth of the sport, and the Club. The Club retains all authority to recruit, hire and terminate a General Manager. The Alliance Council recognizes and agrees that it is in our mutual interest to attract and retain the best management in order to be the best Club. In all instances, the Club and Alliance shall work together in good faith to (a) effectively and timely communicate all information pertaining to the GM voting and recall process to all Alliance Members, and (b) to maximize the number of votes cast in all Alliance voting processes on the subject of the General Manager.

10.2 Definitions. For purposes of the General Manager Vote and General Manager Recall Vote process, the following definitions will apply:

10.2.1 Major League Soccer. “Major League Soccer, LLC,” Major League Soccer,” “MLS,” and “The League” shall mean the entity currently known as Major League Soccer, LLC and its successors and assigns.

10.2.2 General Manager. “General Manager” or “GM” of the Club shall mean that individual who is an employee of the Club whom is identified and recognized by the League as the senior most soccer decision maker, whom is designated to represent the Club at all league wide competition related committees and meetings. Should a vote for recall succeed, this individual shall, as soon as possible, be removed from representing the Club in this capacity and MLS committee and MLS regular meetings.

10.2.3 Voting Members. “Voting Members” shall have the meaning ascribed to it by the then current Alliance Council Bylaws, as may from time to time be amended.

10.3 General Manager Vote. The GM Vote will take place every four seasons after the hiring of a new Sounders FC General Manager, subject to the provision contained herein.

10.3.1 Time Period to Trigger Vote. For purposes of calculating the time period triggering a GM Vote, the following rule shall apply:

If a GM does not start their tenure in the off- season, July 1^st will be used as the line of delineation for whether that year counts as a season or not. If a GM is hired prior to July 1, then the ensuing GM Vote will be scheduled four (4) years after, including the season in which he/she starts. If hired on after July 1^st, then the GM vote will be scheduled four (4) years after the start of the ensuing MLS season.)

10.3.2 Voting Window. When eligible, a GM Vote will include a voting window that shall be opened on the first day of the last month of the then current MLS season and remain open for a period of not less than four (4) weeks.

10.3.3 Club Support of GM Vote. The Club shall support the GM Vote with the following:

a) That GM Vote shall be administered electronically through the Club’s voting software and the Club shall keep and record all votes. Alliance Council shall formulate the text of the GM Vote, with advice from Club, if requested;

b) The Club and Alliance Council shall mutually agree on the location and opportunity for votes to be cast; and

c) The Club and Alliance Council shall mutually agree on the joint communication sent to all Alliance Members, and the Club shall in its ordinary and customary manner send no less than three (3) emails to the Alliance Member email distribution list communicating the (i) purpose and scope of the GM Vote process; (ii) the methods of voting, including a ‘click through’ button to the voting platform; (iii) time window of voting; and (iv) procedures taken after the voting window is closed.

10.3.4 Validity. At least forty percent (40%) of all Alliance Members must cast votes in order for then GM Vote to be valid.

10.3.5 Alliance Action. Action in the Alliance GM Vote can only be taken by a super majority of not less than sixty-seven percent (67%).

10.3.6 No-Confidence Vote. In the event that the GM Vote results in a vote of no-confidence in the GM, the then-current GM shall be removed in accordance with the definition of GM above.

10.4 General Manager Recall. The GM may be subject to Recall provided that at least two (2) full MLS seasons in their entirety have passed under his/her tenure. A full MLS season shall include any regular season in which the GM is hired before July 1^st of the then current year.

10.4.1 Timing of Recall. When eligible, a GM Recall Vote may take place at any point during the MLS Regular Season.

10.4.2 Procedure. The following procedure shall be used to initiate a GM Recall Vote:

Step 1: Any member of the Alliance may ask the Alliance Council to add the agenda item to certify a bonafide question of competence of the GM at any time. All Alliance Council members will act in good faith to bring a bonafide question of competence of the GM to the next, regularly scheduled Alliance Council meeting.

Step 2: When brought forward, the Alliance Council must reach an agreement that the bonafide question of competence of the GM is valid and in the best interest of the SFC Alliance, Alliance Council and the Club to move forward (“Qualification”). The Alliance Council will not determine the merits of the bonafide question of competence of the GM; instead is tasked with evaluating of whether the claim is valid and setting it as the first item on the Agenda for the next regularly scheduled meeting.

Step 3: If the bonafide question of competence is Qualified, then a Member of the Executive Committee of the Alliance Council will, within two (2) business days, serve an official notice (“Notice”) on the Club to include the following information: (a) the full nature and scope of the bonafide question of competence, which shall include at minimum a concise statement as to the reason for the question of competence, including any specific rationale that formed the basis for the Qualification, or other details that in the exclusive discretion of the Alliance Council, are relevant or necessary to provide the Club in order to reasonably prepare ownership to address the issue; and (b) the date of the next regularly scheduled meeting, upon which the discussion, debate and decision will take place; the Notice shall serve as an invitation to the Club to send ownership or another designee to present a case of retention or otherwise to the Alliance Council. The ownership will be provided no less than sixty (60) minutes on the agenda at the next meeting to present the position of ownership and the Club. Notice will be served on Club’s General Counsel and Club’s Alliance Council Liaison. At the conclusion of discussion and Ownership presentation, the Alliance Council shall vote on whether to proceed to the Alliance Members for Certification, with the following percentages necessary to so proceed:

0-34 Voting Members on Council: 80% must vote, 67% of the votes cast must be in favor of recall

35-50 Voting Members on Council: 75% must vote, 67% of the votes cast must be in favor of recall

51 or greater Voting Members on Council: 70% must vote, 67% of the votes cast must be in favor of recall

If the vote fails to progress at Step 3 (Alliance Council votes against recall), a vote to recall cannot be proposed to Council again for a vote for a minimum of ninety days after the date of the Alliance Council vote to Recall.

Step 4: 20% of all Sounders FC Alliance Members must agree that a GM Recall Vote is necessary to proceed (“Certification”). Certification shall be conducted through an online voting process which shall remain open until the twenty percent (20%) threshold is reached or for 4 weeks.

Club Liaison will provide SFC Council with weekly totals related to the Certification (numbers only, not who voted or how they voted but how many voted and cumulative results of the vote).

If the vote fails to progress at Step 2 (Alliance votes against recall, or not enough votes are cast in favor of a recall within the four weeks), a vote to recall cannot be proposed to Council again for a vote for a minimum of 180 days after the date of the Alliance Council vote to Recall.

10.4.3 Recall Certification. When Certified, a GM Recall Vote will include a voting window which shall remain open for a period of not less than four (4) weeks.

10.4.4 Club Support of Recall. The Club shall support the GM Recall Vote with the following:

a) That GM Vote shall be administered electronically through the Club’s voting software and Club shall keep and record all votes. Alliance Council shall formulate the text of the GM Vote, with advice from Club, if requested.
b) Club will send, in its usual and customary manner three (3) email blasts to all Alliance email accounts which shall include notice of the GM Recall Vote and (i) the purpose and scope of the GM Recall Vote process; (ii) the methods of voting, including a ‘click through’ button to the voting platform; (iii) time window of voting; and (iv) procedures taken after the voting window is closed. One (1) email will be sent when the voting period opens. One (1) email will be sent when the voting period has seven (7) days remaining. One (1) email will be sent when the voting period has twenty-four (24) hours remaining.

10.4.5 Press Release. The Club will, in its exclusive discretion and control prepare a press release in its usual and customary manner identifying the GM Recall process. All content will be controlled by Club, however, where possible, input and/or quotations from Alliance Council will be included.

10.4.6 Validity. At least forty percent (40%) of all Alliance Members must cast votes in order for then GM Recall Vote to be valid.

10.4.7 Alliance Council Action. Action in the Alliance GM Recall Vote can only be taken by a super majority of not less than sixty-seven percent (67%).

10.4.8 Successful Recall. In the event that the GM Recall Vote results in a vote of recall of the GM, the then-current GM shall be removed in accordance from all activities pursuant to the definition of GM above.

10.4.9 Restriction on Multiple Recalls. If the vote fails to progress at Step 3 (Alliance votes against recall, or not enough votes are cast in favor of a recall within the four weeks), a vote to recall cannot be proposed to Council again for a vote for a minimum of 180 days after the date of the Alliance Council vote to Recall.

10.5 Weighted Vote. Both the GM Vote and the GM Recall Vote will be a weighted vote, meaning an Alliance Member with four seats will have four votes attached their account. If this account has not designated, then all undesignated seats will have votes cast in the same direction as the primary account holder.

Comments: This was negotiated in 2015 and announced at the annual business meeting in November. It was posted the morning after that meeting, you can read it here. The new version is in legal format (vs. the previous post in outline format), but the content is the same with one exception: in 2016, we added a definition of “M.L.S.” to include anything that could come after it. Meaning: if we ever change leagues, or if the name of the league should ever change, this agreement still stands – we don’t have to start over.

Recall math – because maths r confusing: everything having to do with GM Vote or Recall is weighted voting – so to make it easier, let’s just say we have 40,000 season tickets sold – that makes 40,000 votes possible (we’re close to that number in 2016). If the Alliance Council votes to send a recall vote to the Alliance, that means 20% of the Alliance must agree that a recall vote is necessary: (40,000 x .20 =8,000 weighted* votes) to stimulate an actual recall vote. During an actual recall vote: of those 40,000 possible votes, 40% must be cast for the vote to be valid or it fails automatically (40,000 x .40 =16,000). Of those votes, 67% must support recall for the General Manager to be recalled (16,000 x .67 = 10,720). This is as close as we could possibly get to the original statements of “if 20% of the people want the guy out, then he’s out…” that were made – but statements like that are impossible to pin down. This has a process that can be verified, measured, and is enforceable.

Additionally, a few people love to say that the GM rules previously were “every four years.” That’s not actually what the Charter says – the Charter says, “as scheduled by the Club, but not sooner than every four years.” That’s not the same thing at all. What we have negotiated and presented here is solid and specific.

*Weighted votes: If an Alliance Member has four seats on their account, and hasn’t designated any votes – the one vote is worth four. If the Alliance Member has designated all three of the other seats and assigned votes, than those three people get to vote on their own – the account holder’s vote is worth one vote, and all of those designees are Alliance Members.

ARTICLE 11. BYLAWS

Bylaws of the Alliance may be adopted by the Alliance Council at any regular meeting, or any special meeting called for that purpose, so long as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of these Articles.

Comment: This was previously a different number, but that’s the only change.

Meetings

Chalk Talk: September 17th, 2016

Post author By soundersalliance
Post date September 20, 2016
1 Comment on Chalk Talk: September 17th, 2016

photo from SoundersFC.com

By Stephanie Steiner

September 20th, 2016

On September 17th, immediately following our victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps, Sounders FC hosted a Chalk Talk with fans to discuss Club direction, challenges, and (surprisingly) took live questions from the audience. This conversation is the result of the Council’s repeated requests to make Garth Lagerwey, General Manager and President of Soccer, more accessible to our Alliance Members. We are very pleased that the Club heard us and made this event possible. We sincerely hope this can become something that happens multiple times each year.

I have been getting my backside kicked getting escrow closed (silly me, I thought that was the hard part), and now that I have the keys, I also have a new definition of urgent. So I simply did not get a write-up of the event done as quickly as I’d hoped. Today, Dave Clark got a great one posted at Sounder at Heart, and I highly recommend you read it here.

photo by Daniel Roe

Tags Alliance, Chalk Talk, Seattle Sounders, Stephanie Steiner

Meetings

Meeting Recap: September 2016

Post author By soundersalliance
Post date September 16, 2016

Photo by Taylor Graham

By Karl Picard

This month was not your typical Alliance Council meeting. For the first time in my service we had a current player visit the meeting (we get former players like Taylor Graham and Roger Levesque to speak with us occasionally). Stephanie worked a surprise for us into the agenda – more on that later.

First the business part: The first was beginning the planning for the end of year business meeting that the Alliance Council helps to run. Kristina Vaughn has managed this project for the last couple of years. We want to improve attendance and make it more valuable to the fans. If you have ideas feel free to let us know (ssfcalliance@gmail.com). For now we are working on timing, location, and overall format.

Next up was the Scarf Designs that will lead to the Scarf Vote. This project has also been Kristina’s for the last couple of years. Design submissions are now open (started on 9/8) and will continue through 9/22. Be sure to get your ideas in, as you could be part of the Sounders legacy. The voting from the Alliance will be 9/28 – 10/5 and the official announcement is scheduled from the 10/12 game. The vote for the scarf will also include the Alliance vote on the changes to the Constitution that the Council has finalized.

Finally, you have a chance to meet your Alliance Council reps and those that are looking to get your votes. Be sure to come to The NINETY before the game on October 12^th.

Now back to the beginning: Stephanie (in August) updated us on some really inappropriate communications that have come to the Council email this season – people insistent about meeting players, harassment, even a threat. We thought the “presentation” in the agenda was a follow up to that bit on when communication got “unexpected,” but the unexpected part was Cristian Roldan coming down the stairs behind her. She worked with Mikaela Purvis and Taylor on that for a while and kept it a surprise for us for all the work we’ve done on the Constitution.

It was great to talk with Cristian about things soccer related, his teammates, about coming to the Sounders, and playing himself in FIFA. He took an hour answering questions and asking them as well. Some of the highlights:

He joked that his brother would call himself better, so he needed to say he’s better than his brother (who is currently at the UW) but would love to play along side him for the Sounders.
He said hands down Chad Marshall is the funniest player on the team, especially on Thursdays when he puts on Stefan Frei’s clothes. He’s such a big guy he stretches them out and then Stef has to wear baggy clothes afterward.
He said Ozzie has been the player he’s learned the most from this season, also mentioned that Friberg was another source of knowledge.
When asked about the draft and dropping to the Sounders, he said he was the happiest guy and even noted the fist bump gif online by Lagerwey and Schmid.
He said he likes to play himself in FIFA and at forward so he can score goals.
About his first goal: he kind of blacked out about it. He thinks that Brad Evans might have celebrated more. Even though they practice that play, it was the best flick from Brad he’d ever gotten – it was perfect.
And for me maybe the most important answer he gave was around advice he’d give to young players: When asked what he’d say to the seven to ten-year-olds out there, he said school was really important, they need to be sure to keep their grades up and focus on school. He said he was barely recruited in high school and was lucky some highlight tapes got in the right hands – but that he wanted kids to know it was his grades that got him into the University of Washington.

It was really a fun night, we got some work items addressed, got to have some great conversation with Roldan, and we are ready for the push to the playoffs. If you are an Alliance Member (Season Ticket Holder), be sure to vote for Alliance Council members so we can continue to work for you. ‘Til next time.

Be sure to get in touch with us on Twitter, Facebook, or the comments section here on the Blog.

Tags Alliance Council, Cristian Roldan, Karl Picard, Kristina Vaughn, Scarf Vote, Seattle Sounders, Stephanie Steiner

Meetings

Meeting Minutes: August 2016

Post author By soundersalliance
Post date September 14, 2016

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC ALLIANCE COUNCIL

MEETING MINUTES

August 2, 2016 – 7:00 PM – The NINETY

Present (11 of 21): Martin Buckley, Cameron Collins, Craig Dillon, Eric Flatness, Angelica Germani, Jerry Neil, Jeff Randle, Stephanie Steiner, Brendan Vaughn, Kristina Vaughn, and Steve Wilson.

Via telephone (0): None

Absent (10): Samuel Chesneau (NV), Paul Cox, Michael Dollard, Bill Kaczaraba, Thom Kephart, Roberta King, Jeremy Monsivais, Karl Picard, Brian Prouty (NV), and Daniel Roe.

Next meeting: Tuesday, September 6, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.
————————————————————————–
I. Call to order – Stephanie Steiner

II. Roll – Cameron Collins: 10 of 21 Present

III. July Minutes – Approved by President Stephanie Steiner

IV. Old Business

a) Introduction of Steve Wilson → Steve Wilson is our newest Alliance Council member, attending his second meeting. Steve comes up from Olympia and works for the State. He is excited to be on the Council.

b) Constitution & Bylaws

→ Bylaw 4: Election rules for Council – Second reading

Cleaning up language so that the references to dates follow those that have already been made to our new Business Year. The new dates will be on our Alliance Council calendar and we hope to have the Sounders place them on their website.

Proposed Amendments: Change language that says “prior to” to “on or before” and change “years” in paragraph 4 & 5 to “Business Years.”

Vote to Amend Bylaw 4 seconded and passes unanimously 11-0. Vote to pass Bylaw 4, as amended, seconded and passes unanimously 11-0.

→ Bylaw 3: Introducing Topics for Voting – Second reading

Introduced a new method for bringing up topics for the Alliance Council to discuss. 3.2 and 3.3 switched places.

Proposed Amendments: Proposal to add ‘or executive committee’ after the words vote by the Council.

Vote to amend Bylaw 3 seconded and passes unanimously 11-0. Vote to pass Bylaw 4, as amended, seconded and passes unanimously 11-0.

→ Bylaw 8 & Article 7

New Amendment to add a line in the Article stating that Alliance Council will maintain standards and procedures for recognition.

Does this bylaw need to exist? One of the issues is that this article doesn’t have teeth. But by eliminating it, we would then give up the ability to control who becomes a supporter group to the Club, and there is no fan involvement in the process. Many feel it is good to not give up control. The reason Stephanie is against limiting supporter group participation in the AC is that when people care enough to get elected, they are more likely to be involved and work. We had previously removed the language for withdrawing recognition in the Bylaw because there was no process.

Does this language change anything? What about moving the Bylaw language to the Article? One concern about moving it to Articles is that it could blow up the entire constitution vote if people take it the wrong way.

Motion to table discussion of Bylaw 8 is seconded and passes. Motion to discuss Article 7 is seconded and passes unanimously.

Proposed Amendments to Article 7: Change the language of the 2^nd sentence to: “The Alliance Council and Supporter Groups have separate and unique relationships with the Club, and each shall make a good faith effort to avoid interfering in the business of the other.” “Or withdraw” eliminated from Article 8. And add “This Recognition grants privileges as determined by the Club.” at the end.

Motion to vote on amending Article 8 is seconded. Passes with 9 in favor, 1 against, and 1 abstention. Vote to pass Article 8, as amended, is seconded and passes with 9 in favor and 2 against.

Vote proposed to continue working past 9 PM is seconded and passes unanimously.

c) Resolution to Recognize Drew Carey – Second Reading

Presented at last meeting. Motion to vote on is seconded and Resolution passes unanimously 11-0.

V. New Business

a) Update from Kit Work Group: Kit group has been discussing whether we should have something on the Neck tape or Neck hit. Alliance Council gets to choose one to design. Group favored the neck hit (back of the neck). Alliance Council also gets to place something on the jock tag.

b) Attendance Updates: Nick Gibson has already been voluntarily removed from the Alliance Council through the accumulation of absences. Sam Chesneau has gone to non-voting status due to absence accumulation. He said he was on the phone for the third meeting, but the Secretary listed him as absent, and no one was aware of his presence. He may challenge the minutes if he wishes to change that. That opportunity was explained and provided to him. Brian Prouty is also currently at non-voting status. Both Sam and Brian have 60 days from their last missed meeting to respond or they voluntarily resign from Council.

c) End of The Year Business Meeting Update: EOTY group and the front office are currently discussing dates for the event.

VI. Adjourn

Motion to adjourn is seconded, and passes unanimously.

* For purposes of this document NV shall refer to Non-Voting Status.

Uncategorized

Seattle Times Chose this AWESOME Picture as the Photo of the Day

Post author By soundersalliance
Post date August 22, 2016
No Comments on Seattle Times Chose this AWESOME Picture as the Photo of the Day

By Stephanie Steiner

August 22nd, 2016

It’s not uncommon for Sounders FC fans to lament the lack of media coverage the team receives – but this weekend was amazing. Sunday morning’s Seattle Times started with an in depth article about (interim) Head Coach Brian Schmetzer – interim is in parentheses because I hate saying it. Matt Pentz did a great job of covering the man and his deep background and passion for our club.

It was a beautiful thing to see this image make Photo of the Day. Maybe someday my Sounders will be listed higher than general sports videos on the Times website, but for today, I’ll be happy with progress.

Tags Seattle Sounders, Seattle Times, Stephanie Steiner

Meetings

Meeting Recap: July 2016

photo by Karl Picard

By Karl Picard

July 22,2016

The July meeting was in the Sounders offices as The NINETY was being used. With 20 people in attendance the room was quite warm for the 3 hour meeting (extended to get a bunch of old business done). We started off with a visit from Mikaela Purvis (Director of Fan Relations) to go over the renewal process and notifications the Club was planning to send out over the next month and half. The highlights of the presentation were:

We discussed the Save the Date email which you should have received this week
An additional email will be sent around Aug 1st with the full information about the renewal process
This year’s auto-renewal: you won’t have to interact with Ticketmaster, Sounders are taking over that area. You’ll still use the Ticketmaster login but the look and feels will all be Sounders based
You will be able to update delivery address, personal info, parking options, and credit card details
Accounts that opted for auto-renewal will have an option to verify their info, you don’t have to but you can change the payment plan and other items. Sept 1st will be the first time they process payments, the amount will depend on your payment plan
For those who didn’t sign up for auto-renew, it will be a similar process as last year, with invoices available on August 1 and you will need to process your renewal either online through Ticketmaster, over the phone or at the match on 8/14 or 8/21 prior to the September 1 deadline.
All Alliance Members are automatically opted into the relocation process, Sounders FC just needs to process your renewal first in order to be eligible
Within the invoice for auto-renewal will be your opportunity to opt-in to a different ticket type other than mobile
Payments are the first business day of each month. The options are full payment on 9/1, 50/50 or the 6 month plan
To better help Alliance Members with the bag changes Century Link will implement, those with packages of ½ season or more will get a clear bag, one per seat
Additional renewal events are being discussed for the month of August so stay tuned.

Council members were asked for feedback and we provided some in the areas that seemed confusing. Overall the renewal process seemed much improved from an informational standpoint from last year.

Next we got some updates from our work groups. The big stuff was the progress made on the Constitution, Articles, and Bylaws. These were dealing with everything from Council election rules to GM stuff to proposing Alliance-wide votes or Alliance Council statements. All of this work will need to be finalized in the coming weeks so we can get it out for an Alliance-wide ratification this fall. Once approved, we’ll have all the changes the Council has worked on for as long as I have been a member in place.

Then it was onto making some changes to how the Council operates. Moving away from the working groups (or at least for the initial efforts, they might still be used in some cases) to a structured schedule of Strategy Sessions with the Club. This would allow us to focus in on areas where the Council can better engage the Front Office/Club and have the right people to get some real progress on issues/topics. The ultimate goal of this change is to have the Alliance Council take action and better represent the Alliance.

Another topic was regarding the nomination of Honorary Chairperson of the Alliance Council. We may get to a point where we designate one annually, so we discussed ensuring Drew Carey is always recognized as the first Honorary Chairperson and the owner who brought us the whole idea of the Alliance.

One final personal note outside of the meeting recap, the Alliance Council is working hard to help improve the overall fan experience. This year has been suboptimal, to say the least, in many aspects. There are lots of cries for the Council to do something, and trust me we are working on it. With really only 20 people working for you in a volunteer effort there is only so much we can do. We get lots of folks on social media calling on us to get something done, if you want something done: join and help. These developments that were acknowledged in the Club’s email were the result of a continued and cooperative effort between us and the Fan Relations Team. We are grateful for the open lines of communication between us.

Alliance Member Improvements 2016 MidYear

Tags Alliance Council, GM Vote, Karl Picard

Meetings

Meeting Minutes: July 2016

Post author By soundersalliance
Post date July 21, 2016

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC ALLIANCE COUNCIL

MEETING MINUTES

July 12, 2016 – 6:00 PM – Sounders Conference Room

Present (20 of 21): Martin Buckley, Samuel Chesneau (NV), Cameron Collins, Paul Cox, Craig Dillon, Michael Dollard, Eric Flatness, Angelica Germani, Bill Kaczaraba, Thom Kephart, Roberta King, Jeremy Monsivais, Jerry Neil, Karl Picard, Jeff Randle, Daniel Roe, Stephanie Steiner, Brendan Vaughn, Kristina Vaughn, and Steve Wilson.
Via telephone (0): None

Absent (1): Brian Prouty (NV)

Next meeting: Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.

I. Call to order – Stephanie Steiner

II. Roll – Cameron Collins: 20 of 21 Present

III. Season Tickets Renewal – Mikaela Purvis

Renewals will launch on August 1. There are three types of accounts for renewal: those who are auto-renewed, those who opted out of renewal, and those that are new Season Ticket Holders and will be walked through the auto-renewal process. The decision was made to go with more information, rather than “fun,” so that the fans can make an educated decision. Each account will have its own personalized URL for the primary account holder to visit. Most things will go through this website, although Ticketmaster will still be used for processing credit cards to ensure secure transactions. S2 tickets will be include in this process, and the payment plans will be 1) all at once, 2) two payments, or 3) 6 equal payments taken on the first business day of each month.

→ Question: Will tickets be in the app again or will there be other options? They are currently looking in to other options besides only having tickets available in the app. Tickets will still be able to be printed through Ticketmaster either way.

IV. June Minutes – Approved

V. Old Business

a) Constitution and Bylaws Updates

Article 5

→ Proposed change: Changing it to “shall serve up to a two (2) year term” so that it makes clear it isn’t exactly two years, because you could be elected mid-year. Your term would end at the end of the second council business year where you are a member.

Motion to vote. Seconded. Passes Unanimously 17-0.

Article 11: General Manager Vote and Recall – Second Reading

→ Proposed Change: Formatted into legal format for the Constitution. Added definitions for league so that this would still apply if the league were to change.

Motion to vote. Seconded. Passes unanimously 17-0.

Article 8 & Bylaw 7: Supporter Groups

Motion to table Bylaw 7. Seconded. Passes 18-1.

→ Proposed change: Updated it to be less complicated because a lot of the language was vague. Eliminated any confusing text to make it short and sweet.

Discussion on the history of why supporter groups are listed in the Constitution. Several members are very passionate that it needs to be in here to prevent interference. Some discussion on what does interference mean and what enforcement does the Club grant to the Alliance Council. AC involvement with Supporter Groups revolved around Cascadia tickets historically.

Motion to table Article 8. Seconded. Passes unanimously 20-0.

Bylaw 5: Creating and Amending Bylaws – Third reading

→ Proposed change: Completely alters the bylaw with a new set of rules. A four step process that uses the Executive Committee to create a process that anyone can use, even non-council members.

Motion to vote. Seconded. Passes unanimously 20-0.

Bylaw 11 – Third reading

Amended to create a separate category for special meetings and give the ability to reschedule meetings.

→ Proposed change: Amendment to delete reference to times in the special meeting. Seconded. Passes unanimously. Passes 18-0 with one abstention.

Vote on the whole bylaw. Passes 19-0.

b) Resolutions Updates: Paul Cox on Supporters Liaison Officer – Second reading

Comments on Resolution:

→ It feels like we are asking for a lot, but maybe we could make a work group.

→ It feels like the Club has not talked to us about much. This could be a step in that direction.

→ We have to push the Club and make them work in partnership with us.

→ Concern that if there is someone in the office that they should go to instead, that they will go to that person, and then it will train the club not to come to AC. That person would end up spending more time with supporter groups.

→ Agrees with comment that this could hurt the AC and worries about telling them how to do their business. They aren’t customer service focused and we aren’t sure it will make that change.

→ Having worked at Amazon, there is an empty chair at all Amazon meetings that is meant to represent the customer. The Club needs to change their culture to serve the fans.

Motion to table. Seconded. Passes unanimously.

VI. New Business

a) Bylaws

→ Bylaw 4: Elections rules for Council – First reading

Request for an amendment to the language to say we need to “create and maintain” a website with the Sounders and to strike July 1 that was accidentally left in the clean version.

→ Bylaw 3: Method for introducing topics for a binding vote or a non-binding opinion statement – First reading

Introduced new language that mimics bylaw 5 on how to propose things and eliminates any sentence that references it.

b) Work Group Updates

→ GM Vote and Recall: Work is complete. Only thing left to do is to work on the Charter itself and propose writing a new, updated charter.

→ Constitution & Bylaws: The changes already voted upon just need to be updated in to the working copy of the constitution.

→ Visibility: Active on social media. Not much beyond that. Having a meet and greet with AC and the fans that allows for voting and introductions. Come up with a survey for our group of Ninety vs North Courtyard.

→ Alliance Members Giveaways: We’ve talked about ideas for potentially an alternative to a scarf. Given the cost of merchandise, it is hard to find something valuable that would replace a scarf. A new possibility exists of giving Alliance Members the option to opt out of a scarf and donate the cost to a charitable arm of the Club (the Rave Foundation). They are investigating whether this would be a good option.

→ Kits: AC Members gave some input. We have some possible neck tape and jock tag design opportunities like in the past.

→ Outreach: Met with Mikaela to discuss what the AC can do for outreach. One important thing that came out of it was to reiterate that the club needs to have more outreach to the Latino community.

→ Seating Expectations: No update at present. Need more volunteers for the group. Jeremy joins the seating expectations committee.

→ Women’s Clothing: No update. Somewhat dependent upon jerseys.

→ Scarf Vote: A lot of discussion is on the back-burner until ticket renewal goes live. But back and forth on the vote and concerns about how it was run last year and getting “screen time” in the stadium.

c) Proposal from AC President & the Club – Stephanie Steiner

Proposal to set it up so the first hour of most meeting is a strategy session with the Front Office on one topic. Different topic at each meeting. One concern from club is that we will NOT be voting on business of club. The Club will be proposing the calendar and it will start this year.

→ One worry from AC→ we could be seen even more as a focus group, we’ll have to make sure the FO staffers do not come in with ideas already firm and try to sell them to us.

→ One pro: We will have more people involved in more conversations and the ability to work ahead of the FO’s deadlines.

d) Alliance Resolution on Recognition of Drew Carey

Since we have the ability to select the honorary chairperson, as stated in the Constitution, this resolution would recognize Drew Carey as the original chairperson in any Alliance statement or resolution relating to the chairperson so that there is a distinction in the event that we begin naming a new one annually.

VII. Adjourn

Motion to adjourn is seconded, and passes.

* For purposes of this document NV shall refer to Non-Voting Status.

Uncategorized

Respect and Gratitude

By Stephanie Steiner

July 21, 2016

Years ago, I was in an Alliance Council meeting with Sounders FC front office members and their adidas™ representative at the time (I don’t remember his name). One of the topics of conversation was disdain for the women’s jerseys. He talked about how poorly women’s attire sold and listed that as the main reason their company didn’t have a huge interest in investing heavily in women’s jerseys or other attire. Our response was pretty much along the lines of “Wait, wait, wait! We’re Sounders fans – do you know who you’re talking to? We buy a lot of stuff.” He was really diplomatic, but he never wavered from his message: Sounders women’s jerseys don’t sell either. We had a limited conversation about why women don’t buy them, and he gracefully gave us the opportunity to engage further.

Earlier this year, after seeing that two MLS clubs had released women’s jerseys which were more representative of what an athlete would wear on the pitch, we re-engaged in this conversation. I posted a blog about it here. Sounders FO personnel and owners were very open to making changes, and I’m not even sure they were ever made aware of more authentic options.

Today, I am proud and honored. I have learned that adidas™ and Sounders FC were able to make changes even this far into the production schedule. The 2017 offering will include a women’s jersey with a more authentic neckline and cut. Making such a change happen after the jerseys were this far into the production cycle is no small feat, and speaks greatly to the respect that Sounders FC has for us and the concern we brought forward. Alliance Council can’t fix everything, and there are days when I feel like we’ll never be able to fix enough – but this is one that women have complained about for years. Some of the clearest explanations came in social media replies as the original blog was forwarded and posted: “I’m tired of having to buy clothes to wear under my clothes,” and “Show me a team that ever entered the pitch dressed like that.”

Ladies, you’ve been heard.

Tags Alliance Council, Democracy in Sports, Seattle Sounders, Stephanie Steiner

Meetings

Meeting Minutes: June 2016

Post author By soundersalliance
Post date June 29, 2016

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC ALLIANCE COUNCIL

MEETING MINUTES

June 7, 2016 – 7:00 PM – Sounders Conference Room

Present (13 of 20): Martin Buckley, Cameron Collins, Paul Cox, Craig Dillon, Eric Flatness, Bill Kaczaraba, Roberta King, Thom Kephart, Jeremy Monsivais, Jerry Neil, Stephanie Steiner, Brendan Vaughn, and Kristina Vaughn.

Via telephone (0): None

Absent (7): Samuel Chesneau, Michael Dollard, Angelica Germani, Karl Picard, Brian Prouty, Jeff Randle, and Daniel Roe.

Next meeting: Tuesday, July 12, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.

I. Call to order – Stephanie Steiner

II. Roll – Cameron Collins: 13 of 20 Present

III. Old Business

A. Constitution & Bylaws Updates. In an effort to complete all the required changes so that the Constitution can go out for an Alliance-Wide vote at the same time as the scarf vote, the Council is tackling the remaining Article updates.

→ Article 3: Cleaned up the language plus updated MLS to “The League” so that the Constitution would still apply even if the MLS becomes a new league. Second reading. Passes Unanimously.

→ Article 7: Takes all references using language of the business world and updates to proper language for the council and correcting grammar. Second reading.

Proposed Amendments: 7.4.2 – Strike sentence referencing one year.

7.5 – New language proposed to say: “The Term for an Executive Committee Member shall be from election until a new executive committee is elected at the beginning of the next alliance council business year, unless a member dies, resigns, or is removed from office.”

The Amendments are seconded. Pass unanimously.

Article 7 passes unanimously as amended.
→ Article 6: Clarified language for each of the officer positions.

Discussion ensued concerning whether we should be referencing “Alliance money” or “Alliance Council money” in the provisions relating to the treasurer. To whom does the money, if it were to exist, belong?

Proposed Amendment to 6.5: Change reference to “Alliance Council” to “Alliance.” Seconded. Passes Unanimously.

Article 6 passes unanimously as amended.

→ Article 5: Update to language in 5.1 Council Eligibility and 5.3 Business Meetings. Aligns the Council business year to be the same as the Club’s year, with the first meeting of the year taking place in December. Second reading.

Proposed Amendment to 5.1: Add “Alliance Council” prior to the words code of conduct to make clear that this would be an internal code of conduct and was not referencing the league’s code of conduct. Seconded. Passes unanimously.

Proposed Amendment to 5.3: Change the language that reads “scheduled in December” to “held in December.” Seconded. Passes Unanimously.

Article 5 passes unanimously as amended.

→ Article 4 & Bylaw 11: Updates language in 4.1 Alliance Eligibility and creates a bylaw 11 so as to allow the council to amend language relating to Alliance membership.

Proposed Amendment to 4.1: update the language of “season ticket package” to “multi-match ticket package.” Seconded. Passes unanimously with one member out of the room.

Article 4 passes unanimously as amended, with one member out of the room. Bylaw 11 passes unanimously with one member out of the room.

→ Bylaw 8: Replaces mistake in language referencing the “Executive Council” with proper language referencing “Executive Committee.”

Proposed Amendment: Change language stating that each committee “shall present” at each Council meeting to “may present.” Seconded. Passes unanimously.

Bylaw 8 passes unanimously as amended.

→ Bylaw 10: New bylaw giving the Council President the ability to call special meetinfs and to cancel or reschedule meetings when necessary.

Discussion occurred on whether notice should be required for a meeting to be call. Discussion on whether we need to do this so we can reschedule the July meeting, as it falls on a match day.

Proposed Amendment: Add a 3-day notice requirement before a special meeting can be called. Amendment withdrawn.

Motion to table this discussion until the next Council meeting. Seconded. Fails by a 5-6 vote.

Council looks to the Constitutional Article relating to meetings. We currently have the ability to change meetings by a council vote.

Proposal to table this discussion until the next Council meeting. Seconded. Passes 10-1.
→ Bylaw 9: Eliminated words and updated language for clarity

Proposed Amendment: Strike 9.1.1 because it is repetitive and the language exists elsewhere. Seconded. Passes 8-0 with 3 abstentions.

Proposed Amendment: Proposal to change the language such that eligibility will be stated in the positive, rather than discussing the negative. New language would read, “All Council Members, except those who have missed fifty percent (50%) or more of the preceding meetings of that council year (by the Members’ fourth eligible meeting or later) or who have missed the previous three (3) meetings consecutively, are eligible to attend meetings with owners.” Seconded. Passes 10-0 with one abstention.

Proposed Amendment: Proposal to streamline the language in 9.2.3, as it is covered elsewhere, by striking “Meetings with Ownership/Senior Management &” from the title and “attend meetings with ownership and/or senior management, or” from the body of the section. Seconded. Passes 10-0 with one abstention.

Proposed Amendment: Proposal to move the language of 9.1.4 to 9.1, then removing section 9.1.4. Seconded. Passes 10-0 with one abstention.

Bylaw 9 passes unanimously as amended with one abstention.

Motion to table old business and move on to new business due to time constraints. The time was already 9pm and there was new business to discuss. Seconded. Passes 10-1.
IV. New Business

A. Supporter Liaison Officer Resolution from Paul Cox

Paul Cox put forth a resolution calling for the Sounders to hire a Supporter Liaison Officer to speak on behalf of the fans in the Front Office. Now that the club is separate from the Seahawks, there is nobody talking to the fans in advance to see what the fan response will be. The people in the Front Office are so busy. The way big clubs handle this is that they have a liaison officer for the fans. It is written in to the documents as recommended in UEFA.

Questions:

How many MLS teams have this? Zero.

How many Premier League clubs have one? Almost all of them. Each club is encouraged to have one, but it is not necessarily enforced by UEFA.

What’s the difference on what we have with the Sounders currently, where multiple people are responsive, and having one person do it? In Europe, they have realized the way we are doing things in the USA currently doesn’t work. So they have moved towards this type of program.

Comments from members of the AC:

→ This is a cultural issue in this front office and it is up at the Bart level. Suggesting we create a separate role does not change the culture that Bart is implementing.

→ The club has said that the Alliance Council would have this role. If this exists, does this hurt the Council’s power? Should we be asserting this power for ourselves? If this position were to exist, could this position answer directly to the Council?

→ Should we call them to the carpet and use this power ourselves?
Motion to table further discussion until the next meeting. Seconded. Passes Unanimously.

B. Moving the July Council Meeting

Our July meeting falls upon the friendly date. Should we reschedule to July 12 or July 19? July 12 passes unanimously.

V. Adjourn

Motion to adjourn because we are twenty-five minutes over time proposed, is seconded, and passes.

Meetings

Meeting Minutes: May 2016

Post author By soundersalliance
Post date June 28, 2016

May 3, 2016 – 7:00 PM – The NINETY

Present (16 of 21): Samuel Chesneau, Cameron Collins, Paul Cox, Craig Dillon, Michael Dollard, Eric Flatness, Bill Kaczaraba, Roberta King, Angelica Germani, Thom Kephart, Jeremy Monsivais, Jerry Neil, Karl Picard, Daniel Roe, Stephanie Steiner, and Kristina Vaughn.

Via telephone (2): Brian Prouty and Jeff Randle.

Absent (3): Martin Buckley, Nick Gibson, and Brendan Vaughn.

Next meeting: Tuesday, June 7, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.

I. Call to order – Stephanie Steiner (Executive Committee President)

II. Roll – Cameron Collins: 16 of 21 Present

III. April Minutes – Stephanie Steiner Made official.

IV. New Business

A. Constitution Updates

→ Gender Neutrality: Updated all his or hers in every one to “member” or “councilmember” as previously voted upon. Made Bylaw 9 change from they or themselves. Question about previous plan to ask groups what would be appropriate We found a way to structure it so that it was not necessary to refer to any specific pronoun when speaking of an individual on council, so input was not necessary.

→ Article 3: MLS to League; #7: shorten sentence. Article 3 clarifies the Aims and Objectives of the Alliance. Is the League specific enough? Council feels yes. Further edits just to clean up superfluous language.

→ Article 4: Changing the definition of who is a member of the alliance. Suggestion: from 50% to any commercial season ticket package. Further membership criteria is then established in a new bylaw.

→ Article 5: Cleaned up language to reference a bylaw and took out all the language about ownership meetings so that the Article is easier to read and understand. deleted text here. BUSINESS YEAR? Proposal to change it to starting in December instead of February. Questions on how that changes? What happens to votes? Request that this be tabled so that it can be discussed at the next meeting. Seconded and passes.

→ Article 6: Clarifying language for 6.2: President and 6.5: Treasurer Article 6 edits are to clarify the language to set the agenda. Removes dates from Business year in case changes are made. 6.5 added language about treasurer that existed with the other officers. 6.2 says end of Business Year. Make 6.3 and 6.4 and 6.5 the same. Other capitalization needed throughout.

→ Article 7: Changes to verbiage to so it says executive committee or executive committee members, rather than board and directors. Sets a new maximum number of people on the executive committee to 9. Secretary becomes automatically on the exec committee. Corporate records changed to council records. Other small changes requested to have proper grammar and language consistency throughout the document. Question about how many do we have right now? 5 currently on EC. This would allow a Treasurer to join the EC if elected. Question on term? Is it indefinite? No, the Executive Committee is a term of one year.

→ Bylaw 5: Cleaned up language so it is laid out the proper order for things to be presented on the schedule. Question on the passive language concerning president scheduling the agenda: Should it be automatically on schedule? Discussion: what if it the schedule is full? What if they keep putting agenda stuff forth to stop a GM vote? But, what if the president is trying to stop a vote on that topic? This is specifically for amending Bylaws. We would need to put it for resolutions too PROPOSAL: after for scheduling… “on the agenda within two regularly scheduled Business Meetings”

→ Bylaw 8: Replaces “council” with “committee”

→ Bylaw 9: Eliminated the example in 9.1. Capitalized member throughout. A lot of other language cleanup.

QUESTION: Why can’t people on the phone vote? You cannot under Sturgis unless it is specifically written that way in the Constitution. Roberta and Karl will discuss writing up a change on this rule for the Council to consider.

→ Bylaw 10: When we were going through the Bylaws, we realized that there was officially no way to move meetings around, (like if a meeting was on a gameday) or call a new meeting. So this was created.

B. Agenda: By rule, our agenda has to be published two weeks prior and it is in place. It cannot be changed. However, there is always space in the new business portion to bring a new topic to the meeting. No one on Council asked to add the new bag rule to the meeting. Brendan Vaughn asked that a different topic be brought to the meeting, and it was declined because we discussed it 8 months ago and we already knew the answer (club pricing going a la carte). So, he was given all that information to pass along to those Alliance Members. But, if you have something you would like to bring to the Council, anyone on Council can bring it. If we need to write the resolution or the opinion statement, an AC member can write one and then the president will figure out what the AC member needs to get the proper resources and scheduling (per the rules in the Constitution). People can bring up anything else prior to the Agenda being published or during new business.

C. Bags: Eric expressed several concerns about the new bag rule for those who need to carry laptops and are coming to matches directly after work, or taking public transportation. Others shared their experiences regarding diaper bags, etc.

QUESTION: Do we know who proposed adopting the Seahawks bag policy? Councilmembers believe Sounders don’t care about customer service and treat people poorly. One heard the comment: “The Sounders are The Comcast of the MLS.” Paul Cox speaking on all the recent uproars: Historically, we have refrained from getting too much in the Club’s face. But they aren’t listening to the fans. They need someone specifically in the office to address fan needs. 2 things against us: 1) they get butts in the seats and 2) we haven’t asserted ourselves saying that they need to listen. Each person in that office should be watching out for the fans. But the main part of every person’s job who works for the Sounders is to make more money for the Sounders. That’s how their employees are evaluated. Supporters Direct in England highly recommend clubs have a position that is Supporters Liaison Officer (SLO) to talk to ALL supporters (not just SGs). It’s time for this Council to assert itself a little more on a couple of these issues. Stephanie Steiner on the Council’s relationship with the club: Club takes resolutions they like and ignore the ones they don’t like. We also have a place on our own website that we can put pressure on them through our blog. We can do this AND do resolutions and opinion statements. This is an especially effective tool for showing differing sides to an issue: not all Council members agree, just as not all Alliance members agree on how issues should be addressed.

V. Adjourn Motion to adjourn because way over time proposed and passes.