So You Want to Start a Chapter …
What is the first step to take to form a county chapter? If you have already asked yourself this question, you have already taken that first step. A desire to form a county chapter comes from one or several individuals within your county who are committed to this common goal. Deciding to spearhead the formation of a county chapter must first begin with this desire.

County Chapter Handbook (.pdf) (Updated January 2007)

When should we hold meetings?
This can be determined by a little investigative work. When do the townships in your county hold their regular township board meetings? After you have found a day of the month that will not interfere with scheduled township board meetings, you can set the date and time of your county chapter meetings.

Who shall we invite?
Every supervisor, clerk, treasurer and trustee in the county, for starters. You may want to extend an invitation to county officials, too. Some county road commissions have appointed one of their members as a permanent liaison to the county chapter. This allows for a continuous dialogue on road issues. Also, when candidates for political office find out they can attend a meeting where all township officials of a given county will be at one time, those candidates will be at your meeting!

What should we do at our chapter meetings?
You can provide an educational program one month, a discussion of common problems another month and hold an awards dinner, potluck or spouses’ evening another month. It’s up to each county chapter to determine the topics of interest in its area and to create a program that will address those interests. MTA can provide, upon request, speakers for county chapter meetings if you seek expertise on a certain topic, such as meeting procedures, current state legislation or fire departments, for example. All you need to do is give us a call.

What happens next?
The next step is to make a few phone calls, send a press release to the county’s most widely read newspaper and drop a few postcards to your fellow township officials in the mail.

That’s all there is to it! Your organizational skills, along with the township officials’ cooperative attitudes, will make your county chapter a success.

MTA welcomes you into the MTA county chapter family, and we look forward to a close working relationship.

Procedure for Organizing a County Chapter
We recommend the following steps to organize a county chapter:

1. One or more township officials of the county should spearhead the effort to call a meeting of all township officials in the county. The more officials you can get to “buy in” to the idea, the more individuals you will have available to handle chapter duties.

2. At the meeting, very serious consideration should be given to organizing the county chapter. A chapter can be a very useful and meaningful organization, but no one can do it alone. Is there enough support among local officials to organize and attend events? Are there officials willing to take on the duties of chapter president, secretary and treasurer? Are there enough officials interested in attending meetings—and arranging to host them?

3. A chapter should be organized along traditional organizational lines. The following format is similar to MTA’s organizational structure, and is provided as a guideline, not a requirement.

a. Elect a president, first vice president, second vice president, secretary and treasurer.

b. Establish an executive committee composed of five to seven members (the officers and any other “directors,” “trustees” or “members-at-large”)

c. Elect or appoint a county liaison officer. His/her duties should include, but not be limited to the following:

(1) Attend all meetings of the county board of commissioners.

(2) Take notes of actions taken that affect the county in general, and the townships in particular.

(3) Report, orally or in writing, to the county chapter on any action taken, or about to be taken, by the county board of commissioners.

(4) Act as spokesperson for the county chapter to the county board of commissioners.

(5) Make suggestions and recommendations to the county chapter for probable courses of action to be taken by the county chapter in relation to proposed action by the county board of commissioners.

(6) Establish and maintain positive lines of communication between the county chapter and the county board of commissioners.

Chapter meetings should be held on a regular basis, as desired by the chapter, such as quarterly, every two months or monthly. A regular schedule helps members remember meetings.

A dues structure should be established for the county chapter. This is a purely local matter and should be based on the cost for such things as stationery, postage, costs incidental to the meeting and possibly a per diem payment for committee work and the liaison officer.