[GPCA-SGA-Votes] PROPOSED AMENDMENT: Discuss *ID 157*: Bylaws Amendment: Clarify Notice Requirements and Reset Quorum at a Minimum of 50% For Standing Committees’ Voting Membership

[Cynthia Santiago]

I am forwarding this email because apparently Mike Feinstein's emails are
not being sent to this list, despite him posting them to this list a couple
of hours ago, as you can see below.

Cynthia Santiago
Gardena, Los Angeles County



> *From: *Mike Feinstein <mfeinstein at feinstein.org>
> *Subject: **Re: [GPCA-SGA-Votes] Discuss ID 157: Bylaws Amendment:
> Clarify Notice Requirements and Reset Quorum at a Minimum of 50% For
> Standing Committees’ Voting Membership*
> *Date: *March 30, 2018 at 10:17:02 AM PDT
> *To: *GPCA Discussion List for SGA Votes <gpca-votes at sfgreens.org>
>
> There is no reason to require less than a majority of committee members in
> place to conduct committee business, especially since on-line votes are
> available for ALL committee members to participate in a decision, including
> those who may not be able to make a particular teleconference.
>
> Again, this is a thinly veiled attempt to consolidate power in fewer and
> few hands.
>
> I am really disappointed we keep seeing so many rule changes mean to
> reward infighting, and so little actual electoral strategy in the party.
>
>
> Background
>
> This proposal has been brought forth because in recent years a number of
> standing committees of the Green Party of California (GPCA) have been
> unable to conduct any business for lengthy periods of time due to failure
> to reach quorum.  This state of affairs has often impeded the GPCA
> Coordinating Committee (CC) from fulfilling its own responsibilities per
> GPCA Bylaw 8-1.7
>
>
> This is NOT true.  The CC has not had a quorum issue.
>
> (“Request and receive reports from Committees and Working Groups, refer
> matters to them, and monitor and assist their work”).  GPCA standing
> committees are capped, for gender balance, at an even number of members,
>
>
> This is yet another case where the sponsors don’t know what they are
> talking about.  GPCA standing committees are NOT capped to promote gender
> balance.  Only the CC has a gender balance requirement.  All other
> committees do not.
>
> and currently establish quorum at a majority of voting members.  This
> proposed amendment would establish the minimum quorum at least 50% of
> standing committees’ voting membership.
>
>
> This is just a move for the other committees to have a lower participation
> threshold, to make it easier for a smaller number of people to push things
> through when others aren’t on a particular teleconference.
>
>
> This proposal would also clarify an ambiguity in notice requirements for
> calling meetings.  The language of GPCA Bylaw 9-3.1 is silent regarding
> notice requirements for standing committees that establish regular meeting
> schedules.  In practice, most if not all standing committees establish
> regular meeting schedules for their work year.  The proposed language would
> make explicit that two weeks’ notice is required for meetings that fall
> outside a standing committee’s regular meeting schedule, should one be set.
>
>
> If people think establishing regular meeting schedules is appropriate,
> THAT is what should have been submitted here, not this rule change.
>
> For all these reasons,  I am voting no
>
> Mike Feinstein
> SGA Delegate, GPLAC
>
>
> Proposal
>
> That GPCA Bylaw Article 9-3 be amended as follows:
>
> That Article 9-3 be amended from its current text:
>
> Section 9-3 Meetings
>
> 9-3.1 Committees shall meet during GPCA state meetings, on teleconferences
> and otherwise as necessary to achieve the objectives outlined in its work
> plan. Meetings must be called with a minimum of two weeks notice to
> committee members.
>
> 9-3.2 The decision-making process for committees shall follow that
> described for the General Assembly in 7-5.5. Quorum is a majority of the
> committee's voting membership.
>
> To read as follows:
>
> Section 9-3 Meetings
>
> 9-3.1 Committees shall meet during GPCA state meetings, on teleconferences
> and otherwise as necessary to achieve the objectives outlined in their work
> plans. Meetings outside any regular meeting schedule shall be called with a
> minimum of two weeks notice to committee members.
>
> 9-3.2 The decision-making process for committees shall follow that
> described for the General Assembly in 7-5.5. Quorum shall be at least 50%
> of the committee's voting membership.​
>
> Sponsors: The proposed amendment has been endorsed and sponsored by the
> Green Party of Butte County and the Green Party of Yolo County.
>
> Full details will be available at:
> http://www.sjcgreens.org/sga_vote_bylaw_interpretations
>
> Please send your discussion comments to gpca-votes at sfgreens.org
> --
> gpca-votes mailing list
> gpca-votes at sfgreens.org
> https://list.sfgreens.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gpca-votes
>
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://list.sfgreens.org/pipermail/gpca-votes/attachments/20180330/4ed99c64/attachment.html>