[Marin-d] GPCA - Bylaws change to allow GPCA on-line voting and electing the CC at-large

Thu Feb 26 10:02:35 PST 2009

Hi folks,

LA County Greens are trying to make it easier for us to vote for our  
GPCA officials.  See a description of the change below.

There are GPCA people who do not want to include discussion of this  
change on the agenda of the GPCA general assembly in May.  LA County  
Greens have asked for our help.

I propose that we conduct an online vote.

PROPOSAL:  Does the Marin Green Party County Council support inclusion  
of the proposed bylaws change regarding online voting on the agenda of  
the GPCA general assembly in May?

Please post your votes to this list by 3/5.

Peace,
Marnie

P.S.  Marin-D list is for our county council business and discussion.   
Marin-annc list is for Marin GP announcements only.

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Mike Feinstein <mfeinstein at feinstein.org>
> Date: February 21, 2009 12:51:26 PM PST
> To: prisonpedagogy <prisonpedagogy at comcast.net>, Marnie Glickman <marnie at greens.org 
> >, Susan King <funking at greens.org>
> Subject: [Fwd: [bylaws] PROPOSAL: Bylaws change to allow GPCA on- 
> line voting and electing the CC at-large, on-line]
> Reply-To: mfeinstein at feinstein.org
>
>
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: [bylaws] PROPOSAL: Bylaws change to allow GPCA on-line  
> voting and electing the CC at-large, on-line
> Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2009 12:33:01 -0800
> From: Mike Feinstein <mfeinstein at feinstein.org>
> Reply-To: mfeinstein at feinstein.org, GPCA Bylaws Committee <bylaws at cagreens.org 
> >
> To: GPCA Bylaws Committee <bylaws at cagreens.org>
>
> Dear GPCA Bylaws Committee
>
> After discussing recommending a potential bylaws change at two of its
> previous in-person meetings, the GPLAC County Council is now in the
> discussion phase of an on-line vote, to approve a proposal to  
> recommend
> a GPCA bylaw amendment for consideration at the May 2009 GPCA General
> Assembly. The primary aspects of that proposal would be to allow some
> on-line voting in between General Assemblies and to elect the entire
> Coordinating Committee at-large and on-line.
>
> The GPLAC vote will conclude on March 3rd and if approved, will be
> forwarded to the Bylaws Committee and Agenda Committee for inclusion  
> in
> the agenda packet for May.
>
> As part of that process, the proposal seeks ongoing input on the
> proposal from across the GPCA, in order to continue to improve it  
> before
> it reaches the General Assembly for a decision. For that reason, this
> draft is being sent to you at this time. The proposal will also  
> include
> establishing an ongoing sub-committee that will be assigned to track  
> and
> analyze the performance of the on-line voting and make recommendations
> to the General Assembly on how to improve it.
>
> As for why both major changes are recommended to be considered as part
> of one overall bylaws amemdent - the reason for this is that on-line
> decision-making is contingent upon the Coordinating Committee's
> effectiveness in doing its administrative tasks in coordinating agenda
> items and votes. Adding on-line voting without addressing the  
> structural
> problems that have plagued the Coordinating Committee for several  
> years
> simply will not work.
>
> Finally, please note that a transition plan from the current
> Coordinating Committee to the new one is under development and would  
> be
> added to this proposal at a later date.
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>
> A) To understand this proposal, please this .pdf document that  
> explains
> the primary proposed changes and the 'Ten Reasons to Approve These
> Bylaws Changes' (the text of this .pdf will also be posted in a follow
> up to this email):
>
> http://www.cagreens.org/lacounty/2009-02/gpca_bylaw_change_explain.pdf
>
> Primary Changes
>
> 1) Establishes on-line decision-making in between General Assemblies.
>
> 2) Elections for GPCA officers and representatives are elected on- 
> line.
>
> 3) Entire Coordinating Committee is elected at-large with mandatory
> gender and geographical balance. Twelve seats are elected from the
> northern half of the state, twelve seats from the southern half;  
> twelve
> seats are men, and twelve seats are women.
>
> 4) The GPCA Decision-Making threshold is given a two-year test  
> period at
> 2/3 instead of 4/5, with a vote to revisit this at the end of test  
> period.
>
> Ten Reasons to Approve These Bylaws Changes
>
> 1) Allows GPCA to make decisions in between In Person General Assembly
> Meetings
>
> 2) Provides for Much Greater Proportional Representation on the
> Coordinating Committee
>
> 3) Eliminates disputes over Coordinating Committee elections, enabling
> the Coordinating Committee to do its job and removing basis for  
> internal
> conflicts
>
> 4) Ensures Gender Balance
>
> 5) Ensures Geographic Diversity
>
> 6) Provides clear beginning and ending times for Coordinating  
> Committee
> terms, removing basis for internal conflicts
>
> 7) Ensures staggered terms for Coordinating Committee members that
> correspond to internal party timelines
>
> 8) Establishes a clear process for Removal for Cause of Coordinating
> Committee members, removing basis for internal conflicts
>
> 9) Ensures a consistent electoral system for all elections
>
> 10) Ensures that Party Officers and Representatives are elected by all
> active counties, rather than only by those who are able to attend a
> particular meeting, promoting internal democracy and equity
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>
> To see the actual text proposed, see this .pdf for how the GPCA Bylaws
> would appear if the proposal was approved:
>
> http://www.cagreens.org/lacounty/2009-02/gpca_bylaw_change.pdf
>
> and this .pdf to see the changes wiht 'strikeout text' from the  
> existing
> bylaws
>
> http://www.cagreens.org/lacounty/2009-02/gpca_bylaw_changes.pdf
>
> Finally, please note that from a housekeeping perspective, in order to
> insert these rules changes, there was no easy way to just place them
> into the existing bylaws. That necessitated some reordering to start  
> with.
>
> Then in addition, the effectiveness of these changes rests upon the
> integrity of how clearly the voting membership and the manner in which
> proposals are processed is defined.  As a result, sections relating to
> GPCA membership, county councils and agedas were amended and reordered
> for clarity.
>
> In addition, some of the Coordinating Committee’s duties that are
> already in the bylaws, but not in the Coordinating Committee’s bylaw
> section, were added to it for completeness.
>
> Finally, consistency in use of terms was added as part of these edits,
> as the present bylaws varies widely in how the same thing is  
> described.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> bylaws mailing list
> bylaws at cagreens.org
> http://lists.cagreens.org/mailman/listinfo/bylaws
>
>

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Marnie Glickman
Executive Director
Green Change

www.greenchange.org
503.313.7919 w
707.313.7919 f
skype: marnieglickman

My Green Change page:
http://network.greenchange.org/people/marnie

Green Change is a community of people with Green values:  justice,  
grassroots democracy, sustainability and non-violence.  We work  
together to share Green art, politics and culture.

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