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Here's the Berkeley Green Party By-laws, in all of their glory. They are written and compiled by B, Howard Chong, and Jesse Townley, and voted on and amended by the Berkeley Green Party chapter throughout 2007. They were ratified by consensus at the 1st Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Green Party on December 2, 2007.
Berkeley Green Party By-Laws 1.0 Name
This organization is the Berkeley Green Party.
The BGP is an Existing Local of the Green Party of California Alameda County (GPCA).
2.0 Purpose
The purpose of these bylaws is to provide for the operation of the Alameda County Berkeley Green Party in a manner consistent with our common beliefs and values as Greens. These include ten key values: Ecological Wisdom, Grassroots Democracy, Nonviolence, Social Justice, Decentralization, Community-based Economics, Feminism, Post-patriarchal Values, Respect for Diversity, Personal and Global Responsibility, Future Focus
3.0 Definitions
3.1 Membership
Membership in the BGP is coincident with current registration as a member of the Green Party and
residence in Berkeley as defined by county and state laws applicable to residency and voter
registration, or admitted as per procedures.
For purposes of determining the number of BGP members as referred to herein, the number of Green
Party registered voters in the city of Berkeley in Alameda County, as of the last end-of quarter shall be used.
3.2 Steering Commitee
The Steering Committee is a representative body of the Berkeley Green Party, and shall consist of the Officers defined in Section 5.2 and 5.6. Steering Committee members are nominated, elected and serve in accordance with applicable county and state laws, the bylaws of the GPCA, and these bylaws.
3.4 Proposals
Proposals are items brought before the Berkeley Green Party, for the purposes of modifying the practices or
policies of the BGP.
3.5 Resolutions
Proposals that have been accepted by the BGP- shall be known as Resolutions. Resolutions
are subordinate to these bylaws. Any portion of any resolution which conflicts with the meaning and/or
intent of these bylaws shall be null and void.
3.6 Plan of Operation
A set of general guidelines for BGP political and administrative activity for a given time period.
3.7 Publish/Posting of actions
A means by which information is transmitted to the membership. Publishing may include, but need not
be limited to: placing notices in all BGP and Regional Green Party newsletters; inclusion on any
calendar, bulletin board, electronic message board, e-mail list, or telephone information line maintained by the BGP; and sending notices to any member with a current printing and postage subscription.
3.7.1 A 7-day notice of meetings/decisions is assumed throughout unless otherwise noted as per procedures.
No action is official until posted as per procedures.
Once posted, they're approved unless objection from at least 2 active members at the next regular meeting. A simple majority can re-approve an action at that meeting.
3.8 Make Available
Shall include, but need not be limited to: having available for inspection by appointment; and
distributing copies to all certified locals and certified associations. or posting in a public location or on the internet.
3.9 Serve at the Pleasure of
Any individual serving at the pleasure of a body may be removed at any time by that body in
accordance with the rules of that body unless those rules are contradictory to these bylaws.
3.10 Printing and Postage Subscription
A subscription fee paid by a member who wishes to receive all published information for the time
period of the subscription.
The Steering Committee shall determine the printing and postage.
4.0 Establishment and Rights of Membership
There are two types of membership, general membership and active membership.
4.1 Establishment of General Membership:
A person attains general membership in one of two following ways:
1) The person is a registered voter designating Green party as their party status and the residence address of registration is Berkeley. 2. or admitted as per procedures to be established. The procedures to be established shall, at a minimum, include 60% of present active members must approve and the nominee can not be a registered member of another political party registered with the State of California at the time of his/her approval.
4.1.2- Active Membership
A person attains active membership if the satisfy the following conditions:
1) They are a general member
2) Have attended at least one regular meeting within the last 25 months. The first regular meeting attended does not constitute satisfying this requirement for that meeting.
3) Have paid the annual dues or qualified for a waiver.
a) Dues are set at the Annual Meeting for the following year, effective January 1. Dues are for the calendar year or part thereof. Initial Dues for 2008 are set at $20/year.
b) A waiver may be received by receiving a scholarship as defined in procedures, or, if dues are self-declared as a hardship, they may be worked off in whole or in part as defined by the procedures or Annual Meeting. Initial rate is $10/hour.
4.1.3 Rights of Membership
All members of the Alameda County Green Party are vested with the following rights.
4.1.3.1 Participation
No general member may be excluded from full participation in party activities or attendance at open meetings of any party body unless that member has been formally suspended, except that votes for certain decisions will be restricted to active members as set out in these by-laws or per procedures, or Steering Committee members (see 5.2.1).
Full participation includes attendance, comment, the presentation of proposals and informal decision making. Meetings of party associations based on cultural, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation or geographic area may exclude individuals not within the purview of the association. The right of participation shall not
be hindered by accessibility. All BGP Berkeley Green Party meetings shall be held within the confines of Alameda County.
All reasonable efforts must be made to provide accessibility to members with mobility constraints. If
meeting places are not amenable to the use of public transportation, shuttle service may be provided to
and from the nearest public transportation station to the meeting place.
A BGP member who by agitation or abusive behavior disrupts a BGP meeting may be expelled. All
members present, except for the subject member, may participate in the vote if consensus cannot be
achieved. A vote of 60% of present BGP members (save the subject member) is needed to expel said member.
4.2 Information
All members have the right to know of decisions reached by any and all party bodies without delay unless these decision were made at a closed meeting. They also have the right to know how all the Steering Committee members voted on specific Steering Committee proposals, except for elections which require a secret ballot as per these by-laws. The time and place of all open meetings shall be published. An exception to this requirement is made for extraordinary circumstances.
4.3 Representation
Any member may present valid statements or proposals at party meetings by proxy. To be a valid statement or proposal, the document must be legible, less than three pages in length, contain the name and address of the originator and be addressed to the Berkeley Green Party.
4.4 Voting
The voting rights for decision making are outlined in Section 5.
5.0 Meetings, Decision Making, Voting,
Any Steering Committee member presented with a valid statement or proposal from a member in their district, or local or association, respectively, must submit it to the addressed body. Steering Committee members--must make their name and either/or e-mail and telephone number where they can be contacted available to the membership.
Only Active Members in good standing can cast votes at BGP Regular Meetings and the Annual Meeting, unless otherwise noted in these by-laws.
5.1 Quorums and Decision-Making Processes
5.1.1 Quorums
Quorum for all regular BGP meetings is 7 Active Members. Quorum drops to 5 if 3 consecutive regular meetings (non-subcommittee meetings) do not achieve Quorum.
Quorums for meetings of the BGP shall be no less than those specified below.
Steering Committee Meetings- 3 Steering Committee members.
No decisions may be made at meetings not fulfilling these quorum requirements; however, meetings
may take place and recommendations may be made.
5.1.2 Decision-Making Processes
5.1.2.1 Types of proposals and voting procedures:
Seek consensus as per process defined in procedures. If no consensus, fall back to vote. Ties are decided by lottery, as defined in the procedures. These processes shall be used at all Steering Committee and BGP meetings.
There are three types of proposals: General Business proposals, policy proposals, and By-law proposals.
General business- simple majority (50%+1)
Policy proposal- 60%- if an item of "General Business" is called "policy" by 2 active members, item needs 60% approval.
By-law proposal- see section 8.0 below.
Items must pass by a positive majority (stand-asides don't count as positive votes) [example= 5 yes, 1 no, 10 stand-asides does not pass]
All proposals must be written and read out loud immediately before a vote.
A proposal is treated as a General Business proposal unless two active members request that it be treated as a Policy proposal; except that all endorsements for candidates or ballot measures shall be treated as Policy proposals and all proposals that establish or modify existing Procedures. Upon the request of two active members, a proposal is automatically treated as a policy proposal.
Before a policy vote, any general member may request a quorum.
5.2 Steering Committee
5.2.1 Steering Committee Meetings
The Steering Committee shall meet at regular intervals in an open meeting at a time and place determined by the Steering Committee which meets the requirements given in Section 4.1.
If any member present has unresolved concerns regarding any proposal before the Steering Committee, a vote shall be taken. Only Steering Committee members may cast votes at Steering Committee meetings.
All votes shall be by show of hands except when voting in elections or to suspend members.
Steering Committee is made up of a Treasurer, a Secretary, and at least 1 at-large member. The total membership of the Steering Committee must be an odd number. All members of the Steering Committee must be Active Members, as defined in section 4.1. Quorum for a Steering Committee meeting is 3.
5.2.2 Responsibilities of the Steering Committee
Treasurer keeps tracks of dues, budget, and other financial information.
Secretary keeps track of individuals membership status and s/he or his/her designee is responsible for minutes to be taken.
The Steering Committee develops agendas, coordinates subcommittees when necessary, takes actions/makes decisions between meetings as described below, and performs other duties conferred by the Active Members.
5.2.3 Removal and Replacement of County Steering Committee members
Removal -- Steering Committee members may resign from office by sending written notice to the Secretary and/or
Steering Committee. When a Steering Committee member changes residency to a location outside of Alameda County, changes party affiliation, does not attend two Steering Committee meetings in a period of one year without sending proxy, or dies,
the Steering Committee may remove them from office by resolution and shall notify the Secretary of the vacancy.
Steering Committee members are elected by IRV Secret Ballot at the Annual Meeting and their term runs for 1 year, from Jan 1st through the following December 31st.
A new election can be called by 1/4 of the Active Members at a BGP meeting (minimum 4). At the next regular meeting within noticing requirements, 60% of Active Members must affirm the call for a new election. Stand-asides don't count towards a new election.
When a vacancy occurs on the Steering Committee the Secretary shall publicize it to Active Members and others.
5.2.4 Proxies to the Steering Committee
Steering Committee members may send proxies in their place to BGP Steering Committee meetings. Proxies must be Active members of the BGP. To designate a proxy a Steering Committeeor must either provide written authorization to the Secretary or verbal notification to two non-proxy Steering Committee members attending the meeting.
5.2.5 Closed Meetings
The Steering Committee may meet in closed session for legal matters, i.e., lawsuits or the termination of paid employees. The minutes of closed meetings shall be made available as soon as it is legally advisable to do so.
5.2.6 Suspension of Membership
BGP members who act in an irresponsible manner may be suspended by the Steering Committee temporarily until the next regular BGP meeting, or for not longer than a period of 90 days, whichever is shorter. Said member may be suspended permanently at the next regular BGP meeting by consensus or a vote of at least 80% of the present Active Members. No member may be suspended until a hearing has been held at an open BGP meeting where the member(s) charged with irresponsible behavior are allowed at least (15) fifteen minutes to refute the charges and respond to questions from all present as well as ask questions. Irresponsible behavior may be defined as, but is not limited to, verbal or physical assault on another member, theft, fraud and/or repeated disruption of BGP meetings. Suspended members may not
attend BGP meetings and may not make proposals by proxy.
Suspension shall not interfere with any member's voting rights in government sponsored elections, or
with any other government-granted legal rights.
5.3 Annual Meeting
Annual Meeting happens in November or December. At this meeting officers are elected and take office January 1. A Budget of next calendar year and general plans as per procedures are discussed.
In order to serve or have one’s name placed on the ballot, one must be an active member at the time of the election. Nomination of officers is done as per procedures.
5.4 Actions/decisions between meetings:
Combination of a) remote approval of action (for consensus items) and b) special meeting approval of action.
a) Active Member propose urgent action/decision to e-mail list or other notification method as per procedures. If no blocking concern raised within a certain number of hours is combined with a certain number of affirmations from other Active Members, then action/decision is considered official. If 7 active members affirm w/in 48 hours, 6 w/in 60 hours, or 5/72 hours, with no blocking concerns.
b) Special meeting called with notification as per procedure, approval of action/decision requires 75% approval of present Active Members and 50% of present Members.
5.6 Officers
5.6.1 Election of Officers
Steering Committee members are elected by IRV Secret Ballot at the Annual Meeting and their term runs for 1 year, from Jan 1st through the following December 31st.
5.6.2 Treasurer
The Treasurer keeps tracks of dues, budget, and other financial information.
5.6.3 Secretary
Secretary keeps track of individuals membership status and s/he or his/her designee is responsible for minutes to be taken.
5.7 Proxies
With notice given to the other officers and placed on the agenda of a meeting, officers may designate a proxy to represent them at a meeting. Proxies have all powers of the designating officer.
6.0 Regional and State Green Party Bodies
6.1 Relationship with Regional Green Party Body
The regional body exists solely to provide for communication and coordination between counties in the region and to publish the regional newsletter. It has no power or rights within the confines of Alameda
County and the BGP reserves the right to suspend, curtail or terminate its relationship with the regional body at any time. The County Steering Committee may send (a) representative(s) to regional meetings and provide grants and loans and lend resources to the regional body.
6.2 Relationship with the Green Party of California
The GPCA has no power or rights within the confines of Alameda County.
After 1992 the GPCA may not contact the membership of the BGP without the written consent of the BGP Steering Committee. The BGP may provide grants and loans and lend resources to the GPCA. The BGP will abide by all GPCA decisions made at state plenary meetings where the BGP is
adequately represented and which do not conflict with the meaning or intent of these bylaws.
6.3 Interpretation of Bylaws
If 25% Active Members at a meeting calls for interpretation of a bylaw, the steering committee solicits interpretations before the next noticed meeting where the interpretation is decided by IRV.
7.0 Endorsement Process
We endorse only races which occur wholly in Berkeley, and make recommendations for all other races.
Endorsement ballot shall include all candidates/options on ballot, "No Endorsement," and any other option desired by 10% of qualified electors.
Qualified electors and other details of the endorsement process are defined by procedures.
If the ballot item can only have one winner, endorsement election is by IRV.
If the ballot item can have multiple winners, endorsement election is by Ranked Choice or Single Transferable Vote, with a threshold of 60%.
8.0 Procedure for the Amendment of These Bylaws
Bylaws or amendments to these Bylaws are passed by 60% of Active Members within 2 noticed meetings within 100 days. |
