By Bobbie Ryder, LWV of Pullman 

The Pullman League has long operated as a “board of the whole.” This means that all paid members are part of the LWV of Pullman Board. Members are invited to attend and participate in all Board meetings, and they receive the agendas, minutes, and handouts ahead of each meeting. Most importantly, by paying membership dues they become voting members at the meetings they attend and can choose to use this right. One person, one vote, if you show up. It is quite simple. Here is the operable phase from our bylaws. 

ARTICLE VII – Meetings; Sec. 3. Quorum: One quarter of the paid membership as of January 1 shall constitute a quorum at the Annual Meeting. Five (5) members shall constitute a quorum at all other meetings. 

The Pullman League has 75 members, but we average 15 to 20 attendees at the monthly Board meetings. Sometimes more members attend if the agenda looks interesting. Board/membership attendance is reasonably steady, and our Executive Board members (president, vice president, secretary, treasurer) are always at the Board meetings, but not required to be at the “event” meetings. (We host two “events” a month; one Evening Meeting and one noon Brown Bag.) 

In September we publish a simple black-and-white calendar that is periodically updated as speakers change or have scheduling conflicts. It is created as a Word document and it is easy to email updated calendars as PDFs when changes occur. This becomes an opportunity to reach out with a friendly “thought you would be interested” message to all our members. The calendar of events is also listed on our website. 

The LWV of Pullman has operated as a board of the whole for so long that no one remembers when it was anything different. We thought all Leagues operated under this model. Some of our 50-plus-year members report that it has been this way since its founding in 1950. We highly recommend it!