The MTRA was getting organized. We put together a membership brochure and were allowed to put them in the transit station, so that riders could pick them up. There was a form that they could fill out and put them in a locked box at the station. We also had a board in the transit station to post announcements. Our goal was to keep the riders informed about changes, because the bus system was a little lax. We heard from riders that they didn't know what the changes were. We also asked the riders what changes they wanted, and if there were any complaints about service that we could address. We got a post office box to facilitate letters sent to us from riders and concerned people. We also got a bank account.
We had invited those who had signed up to join the MTRA to a membership meeting to elect officers. Even though we had gotten around 50 members at that time, only about 10 showed up. I was elected the President, because no one else wanted to do it. My friend, Keith, was elected Vice-President. We also elected a Secretary and Treasurer.
Because we were becoming an actual organization, it became necessary to have by-laws. All the money to run the MTRA was coming out of our own pockets and a few donations, so we could not afford an attorney to draw up the by-laws. We heard about a program through the University of South Carolina's Law School that helped non-profits. They only accepted three groups each year. We were accepted to participate.
Keith and I went to the Law School and met the two students who would help us. Both were second-year law students. We spent a few months hashing out the by-laws and making them legal under South Carolina law. It became rather tedious, but we wanted to have them done right. The Dean of the Law School went over the by-laws to make sure they were accurate. Our Board got copies of our work to make suggestions where needed. At the end of working with the Law School, we had what we thought was a good framework for the MTRA. There were a couple of people on our Board that raised concerns. They were mad, because they felt left out of the process. Keith and I explained to them that we had formed an Ad Hoc committee to get this done. We invited one of the objectors to the Law School, and we met with the students that had helped us. She appeared to be satisfied with it. Our Board poured over the wording of each section, and we voted on it. It was unanimous. Then, we called a special general meeting of the members of the MTRA to approved the by-laws. By now, we had about 100 people join. We sent out invitations via email and snail mail. The meeting was in the public library downtown on a Saturday afternoon. About 15 showed up. The by-laws were presented for a vote. It passed. Now, we had a roadmap on how to do things. Thankfully, I was getting some mental health counseling during this time. I couldn't have done it without that.
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