Bylaws and policies on Columbia Gadget Works

Bylaws of Columbia Gadget Works

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ballot text v8, 19 October 2026. Proposed for ratification by the members at the annual meeting on Thursday 8 April 2027. Not yet in effect.

These bylaws hold only what Missouri law requires, what protects members, and what should be hard to change. Everything else is policy (policies/), which the board can change at any time.

1. Name and purpose

1.1 Columbia Gadget Works (“CGW”) is a Missouri public benefit corporation with members, under RSMo chapter 355. If these bylaws and the Articles of Incorporation differ, the Articles control.

Code of conduct and safety

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Proposed policy. The board adopts it to take effect with the bylaws. Not yet adopted. Applies to everyone in the Space, at CGW events, and on CGW’s online channels: members, visitors, instructors, and directors.

CGW exists so people of every background and skill level can learn and build together. That only works if everyone feels welcome and safe.

We expect

Be welcoming. Answer questions without making anyone feel dumb for asking.
Be respectful. Disagree about how to cut a dovetail, not about anyone’s worth as a person.
Be safe. Use only the tools you’re trained on, and a checkout-gated tool only once you’re checked out on it. Wear eye protection around machines. Don’t operate anything while impaired by alcohol or drugs.
Be considerate. Clean up after yourself, put tools back, and don’t hog a machine.
Be honest. If you break something, say so the same day, to the Zone Boss or on Discord. Reporting damage never gets anyone in trouble. Hiding it does.
No campaigning or proselytizing in the shop. Don’t campaign for candidates or causes, or try to convert anyone.

We won’t tolerate

Harassment, discrimination, threats, intimidation, or deliberate disregard for safety. Anyone asked to stop a behavior must stop immediately.

Conflict and discipline

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Proposed policy. The board adopts it to take effect with the bylaws. Not yet adopted.

Disagreements between members

Talk directly first, if it’s safe to do so.
Ask a director who isn’t involved to help, if that doesn’t work. They mediate and write down the outcome.
The board decides if mediation fails.

Harassment, threats, and safety problems skip steps 1 and 2. Report them straight to any director.

What the board can do

Depending on what happened, the board may:

Conflict of interest

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Proposed policy. The board adopts it to take effect with the bylaws. Not yet adopted. Based on the IRS sample policy for 501(c)(3) organizations, shortened.

Bylaws 3.8 sets the rule: disclose a personal financial interest, don’t vote on it, and never approve a payment to yourself. This page says how.

Who it covers

Directors, Zone Bosses, and Leads.

What counts

You have a conflict when you, your family, or a business you own or work for would gain or lose money from a CGW decision. For example:

How we decide

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Proposed policy. The board adopts it to take effect with the bylaws. Not yet adopted.

CGW makes decisions in two separate ways:

	Member votes	Board votes
Decides	Who sits on the board; what the bylaws say; dissolution or merger	Everything else: all policy, the budget, appointments, discipline
Who votes	Every full member in good standing (not hardship or legacy members)	The four directors
When	Voting opens at the annual meeting (second Thursday of April, in place of Open Hack Night) and runs 8 days, or a special vote	Any time
How	Secret ballot by email link, through Dolibarr. It records who voted and the totals, never how anyone voted	Reviews on a GitHub pull request, or a vote at a board meeting
Passes with	Quorum, then a majority (two-thirds for bylaw changes)	3 of the 4 directors

Zone rules are a third, smaller layer. A Zone Boss sets them on the zone’s wiki page without a vote, and they must fit within policy.

Membership and access

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Proposed policy. The board adopts it to take effect with the bylaws. Not yet adopted.

Joining

Sign up online at columbiagadgetworks.org/membership/join/. You’ll sign the waiver and the member agreement and upload a photo of your ID.
Pay dues, or be approved for a hardship waiver.
Complete the safety orientation (about 20 minutes) with a director or Zone Boss. Then you get your badge.

Within your first month, a director checks in with you.

Money

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Proposed policy. The board adopts it to take effect with the bylaws. Not yet adopted.

Who can spend what

Who	May spend without asking	Needs approval
Zone Boss	From the zone balance	The board approves any expense over $250
Lead	Within the budget the board gives them	The board approves anything beyond that budget
Director	Within the adopted budget	Two directors approve (see below)

Two-signature rule. Any single expense over $250, and every contract or recurring cost, must be approved by two directors, one of them the President or the Treasurer. This applies no matter who is spending, so no one person can commit a large amount of CGW’s money alone.

Storage and donations

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Proposed policy. The board adopts it to take effect with the bylaws. Not yet adopted.

Storage

Every member gets one labeled bin, included in dues. If the lid won’t close, it’s too full.
An active project in a zone needs a tag with your name and the date. The Zone Boss sets how long it may stay.
Anything unlabeled is moved to the storage area, and whoever moves it posts a photo on Discord. After one week it goes to the free shelf.
Never store anything in a walkway, in front of an electrical panel, or inside a machine’s working area.
A member who leaves has 30 days to clear out their things.

Donations

Ask before you bring it. Anything left without approval is thrown away.
The donor names which Zone Boss gets first refusal, and “no thanks” is a complete answer. If no zone is named and the Zone Bosses disagree, the board decides.
Anything no zone takes goes on the donation shelf. The shelf has a fixed footprint and one director in charge of it. Each item gets a dated dot, and anything still there after a year is removed.

Zones and roles

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Proposed policy. The board adopts it to take effect with the bylaws. Not yet adopted. The board decides what the shop is; a Zone Boss decides how their zone works.

Zones

There are six zones:

Zone	What’s in it
Woodworking	Table saw, miter saw, band saw, planer, sanders, router table, hand tools, dust collection
Machining	Vertical knee mill and metal lathe
Metalworking	MIG, TIG, and stick welding, chop saw, grinders, and metal casting
Electronics	Soldering and rework stations, oscilloscope, power supplies, components
Digital Fabrication	3D printers, laser cutter, CNC router
Crafts	Sewing, textiles, and other hand crafts

The classroom, kitchen, entrance, donation shelf, and Open Hack Night are not part of any zone. The board, or a Lead the board names, runs them, and the general fund pays for them.