Edgewater/Rogers Park DFA ByLaws

Written by: Melissa Lindberg on Oct 4, 2006 10:24 PM EDT

Linked to groups: Northside DFA

So, below is the current working draft of the bylaws for the Edgewater/Rogers Park DFA -- please feel free to comment on them below. It would be nice to have some of the discussion about various provisions of the bylaws before we meet to vote on them -- currently, we expect to discuss and vote at the December meeting (or, if there's time, November). These will also be distributed in hard copy at the meeting tomorrow (Thursday, October 5); however, we will not be discussing them at the October meeting (no time!).

Thanks,
Melissa

Edgewater/Rogers Park DFA
BYLAWS WORKING DRAFT

Edgewater/Rogers Park Democracy For America has a mission to elect socially progressive, fiscally responsible, and ethically committed Democrats to office at all levels of government. In order to effectively accomplish this, we have established the following bylaws to enable us to further our mission.

I. Leadership:
a. The leadership shall be comprised of one or two "Hosts/Co-Hosts" who are responsible for leading meetings, sending e-mails, and general organization of the group.
b. A steering committee comprised of no fewer than 5 and no more than 10 members, including the Host/Co-Host(s), will provide input to the Host/Co-Host(s). Decisions on meeting agendas will be made by the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee shall also be responsible for acting as liaison with other groups, and also for making interim decisions pertinent to the functioning of the group. All major decisions will be referred to the voting membership at a regularly scheduled meeting.
c. Included in the Steering Committee shall be three other officer positions: Secretary, Treasurer and Membership Chair. The secretary will be responsible making sure notes/minutes are taken for all minutes of the meetings (which includes designating a "note-taker-and-writer" for events the Secretary will be unable to attend), and for ensuring that minutes are posted on the group blog for all committee meetings. The Treasurer will be responsible for in-flow and out-flow of funds, should there be any. The Membership Chair will take attendance at meetings, keep a complete list of members, keep records of membership activities, and track voting members.
d. Steering Committee members should be aware that they are committing themselves to at least one Steering Committee meeting per month, as well as regular attendance at DFA meetings.
e. Terms of office for both the Host/Co-Host(s) and the Steering Committee shall be for two years.
f. Elections will be held every two years for both Hosts/Co-Hosts and Steering Committee. Elections shall be held in the fall of odd-numbered years.
i. No one may be either an Host/Co-Host or serve on the Steering Committee without being a voting member of the group.
ii. Nominations for the officers (Host/Co-Host, Secretary, Treasurer, and Membership Chair), and other Steering Committee members will be made at a regular DFA meeting. Volunteers are allowed to nominate themselves. No one who is not present may be nominated, unless he/she has previously indicated interest to one of the current Steering Committee members.
iii. If there is a contested slate of officers/Steering Committee members, candidates will be allowed to speak on their own behalf at the nomination meeting.
iv. Elections will be held at the regular monthly DFA meeting immediately following the nomination meeting, and will be held at the end of the meeting.
v. Members who wish to vote who are unable to attend the Election meeting may give a written "proxy" vote to any current Steering Committee member who is not running in the current election. In the event that the entire Steering Committee is slated in the election, a paper proxy may be given to another voting member.
vi. If the technology allows, voting may be held on line via the DFA Edgewater Rogers Park web page: the voting period shall be limited to the month between the nominating meeting and the election meeting, and only voting members shall be allowed to vote.
vii. The voting period will be limited to the month between the nomination meeting and the election. No votes cast after the election meeting will be counted. The winners as of the election meeting are considered final.
viii. Elections for officers and Steering Committee members will be done by ballot, rather than a show of hands. The ballot will be Instant Runoff Voting. Votes will be counted by the Steering Committee; any voting member may observe the vote count. Votes shall be tallied immediately following the meeting; results will be posted on the Blog. The elected Co-Hosts will be the top two vote getters; other offices/steering committee members will be declared winners by a plurality of the votes.
ix. Elections are effective immediately.
g. Should either an officer or other Steering Committee member be unable to fulfill their responsibilities, due consideration will be given to the circumstances, and other Steering Committee members will have discretion in the following actions:
i. Incapacitated member may be retained until such time as able to resume responsibilities, providing other members are will to take up the slack;
ii. Incapacitated member may be removed from office. In such an event, a "special election" may be held to replace incapacitated member, following rules stated above.
h. Should a Steering Committee member resign for any reason, the remaining Steering Committee members may decide to hold a "special election" to replace him/her. If an officer resigns, the Steering Committee may nominate someone from the Steering Committee, or they may hold open nominations from the group. The election of the replacement must form part of the agenda for the regular DFA meeting following the resignation.
II. Voting Members
a. DFA Edgewater Rogers Park meetings are open to all who agree with our basic mission, and to guests who may be curious.
b. Voting members shall be defined as those who:
i. Have attended at least three meetings in the previous year; and
ii. Have participated in at least three Edgewater/Rogers Park DFA-organized campaign-related events in the last calendar year outside of the regular meetings.
c. These activities will be verified by both:
i. Sign-up on DFA Link
ii. Verification by Steering Committee member (or designee) present at event.
d. Members who are unreasonably disruptive or consistently negative may be disqualified from voting, and may be removed from the mailing list. Disqualification should be determined by a consensus of the Steering Committee. Such member will be informed of the decision by a Steering Committee member, and may appeal the decision to the Steering Committee. Such matters may not be discussed at the regular meeting of the larger group without consent from the Steering Committee.
III. Voting
a. For a vote to be valid, 50% of voting members must have voted either by proxy, online, or be present at the meeting when the vote is held.
b. To adopt or change the By-Laws, two-thirds of those voting must agree to the adoption/change.
c. Voting members shall vote on the following matters:
i. By-Laws adoption and modification
ii. Steering Committee membership and Officers
iii. Adoption/Endorsement of Candidates
iv. Relevant referenda endorsement (see definition of "relevant" below)
IV. Adoption and Endorsement of Campaigns
a. Definitions:
i. Adoption - Group agrees that we should devote a certain amount of resources (such as petition gathering, canvassing, GOTV efforts, donations, etc.) to the candidate. A liaison from Edgewater/Rogers Park DFA will be appointed to each adopted campaign, who will be responsible for the flow of information between Edgewater/Rogers Park DFA and the campaign, and for organizing participation in appropriate events. Members are expected to participate in some aspect of the campaign, whether it is in the form of canvassing, fundraisers, donating money, or other tasks as needed.
ii. Endorsement - Candidate can say that our DFA group endorses them. No guarantee that our group will devote any resources to the campaign, though we may include candidate on a pre-election day endorsement e-mail or flyer and may appoint a liaison to the campaign.
b. Candidate Eligibility:
i. In order to be eligible for adoption by the group, a candidate must:
1. Be nominated by any 1 voting member of the group
2. Either personally, or have a campaign representative, attend and speak at one of the group's meetings by invitation of the Steering Committee
3. Out-of-State and/or presidential candidates or their representatives will not be required to speak at a meeting in order to be adopted.
ii. In order to be eligible for endorsement by the group, a candidate must be nominated by any voting member of the group.
iii. Candidates will not be required to meet any litmus test regarding their views on particular issues in order to be eligible for adoption or endorsement.
c. Voting on candidate adoptions/endorsements:
i. Candidates being considered for adoption or endorsement will be asked to leave the room during the discussion and voting.
ii. An eligible candidate must receive 100% of the votes cast by voting members in order to be adopted.
iii. An eligible candidate must receive 75% of the votes cast by voting members in order to be endorsed.
iv. A voting member who chooses to abstain from voting will not be considered to have cast a vote regarding the adoption or endorsement of a candidate, but will be considered part of the 50% quorum.
v. Voting will occur at the regular DFA meeting following the meeting at which the candidate spoke. Online or proxy voting must be completed before the meeting at which the vote is held.
vi. The group may vote to postpone the endorsement/adoption vote of a candidate so that additional information can be gathered on that candidate and the race in which he or she is involved. In such case, a committee will be appointed to gather such information and share it with the group members.
d. Number of Candidates:
i. Only 4 candidates may be adopted by the group during an election cycle.
ii. There is no limit on the number of candidates the group may endorse in an election cycle.
e. Revocation of Support: Adoption or endorsement of a candidate will be revoked following a 100% vote by a quorum of voting members.
V. Referenda and other Issues
a. Edgewater/Rogers Park DFA will confine its activity on behalf of referenda and other issues to those that are election-related only.
b. A ballot initiative designed to get out the vote, or suppress the vote, may be included in the definition of "election-related."
VI. Money
a. All funds will be under the control of the Treasurer.
b. Funds may be used to support the activities of Edgewater/Rogers Park DFA.
c. Edgewater/Rogers Park DFA is not defined as a PAC, and does not give money to candidates or other worthy causes, though it may encourage individual members to do so.
VII. Meeting notes shall be posted on the group blog. Notes should be posted for the following groups:
a. The monthly meeting of Edgewater/Rogers Park DFA
b. All committee meetings, except for the Steering Committee
c. Steering Committee meetings are exempt from this, as the main order of business is to set the agenda of the next meeting, which is distributed at the meeting.
VIII. Changes in By-Laws:
a. For major modifications proposed to the By-Laws, a committee shall be established to consider and write the changes.
b. Proposed modifications will be posted to the web site in advance of the meeting where they will be discussed.
c. For minor modifications, discussion and voting may be held at the monthly meeting.
d. To adopt or change the By-Laws, two-thirds of those voting must agree to the adoption/change, either at the meeting, by proxy, or online.
e. The secretary must post the modified By-Laws on the web site.

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Location: Chicago, IL 60640