1. The Old Days (several decades): From some time as early as the late 1960s, and in any event not later than the mid 1980s:
Upon the occurrence of a "trigger" event, an opening was created. These triggers are listed in current Ch. 242(B)(1)(ii):
- Death (without a surviving spouse)
- Resignation
- Conversion to Emeritus
Upon each occurrence of a trigger, the Club would admit, at the next Board meeting, the top applicant (whether an individual or, more frequently, a family) on the wait list.
Then (transition): In the mid-1990s:
The Finance Chair noted it was hard to make capital expenditures plans without knowing how much money was going to come in during the year from initiation fees, or when it was going to arrive. Also, the trigger system resulted in an ongoing expansion of the membership, because it ignored JSP conversions. It was initially suggested (in writing on June 19, 1997) that the Club adopt something like the post-2007 system. The Membership and Long-Range Strategic Planning (now Planning & Policy) Committees were concerned that this was ploy by Finance to get more money. Instead ...
2. The Rolling Average Era (about seven years): Around 2000, the Board adopted a new policy.
Rather than sitting and waiting for a trigger to occur, instead the Club used the rolling average of the number of triggers that occurred over the preceding three years. This (ignoring transition effects) had exactly the same effect as waiting for a trigger actually to occur, but (a) we knew how many initiation fees were going to come in at the beginning of each year, (b) it became possible to admit all of the new members at the beginning of the year and (c) we avoided crazy ups and downs from year to year.
Note that we could have used just the count of triggers in the one immediately prior year, though that wouldn’t have accomplished benefit (c).
Then (transition): Starting in 2004:
The Board combined this topic with a number of other membership policy issues and created a special ad hoc committee to address them. About a year later, the Board referred approximately the same issues to the Long-Range Strategic Planning Committee (now the Planning and Policy Committee). Finally ...
3. The Current Era (about 15 years, so far): On September 27, 2007, the Board adopted the current policy, as set forth in Chapter 242.
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This page is merely an historical note. It has not been adopted or approved by the Board