Difference between revisions of "Coordinating Committee Rules and Procedures"

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Coordinating Committee Rules and Procedures

Article I: Co-Coordinators

Section 1-1: Number and term

The Coordinating Committee shall have a male and female co-coordinator and a male and female alternate co-coordinator. Co-coordinators shall serve two year terms, with no term limits. Terms shall run from February of even-numbered years for the male co-coordinator and alternate and from February in odd-numbered years for the female co-coordinator and alternate.

Section 1-2: Duties and Authority

The co-coordinators will undertake, or otherwise engage all activities to do with facilitation and maintaining of a pro-active consensus based coordinating committee, proactively functioning to maintain and support the governance of the GPCA.

The co-coordinators shall insure that the coordinating committee's actions and decisions are in accordance with the GPCA bylaws, and the GPCA-CC's own internal rules.

Specific duties to include:

Coordinators will maintain regular phone and email contact with each other including weekly to bi-weekly phone meetings (more often when needed.)

GPCA-CC and Plenary Meetings:

1) Compile agendas for Coordinating Committee meetings, according to the process described in 2-1.

2) Coordinate appropriate venues for CC teleconferences, meetings, and retreats.

3) Facilitate monthly teleconference and other CC meetings, unless otherwise arranged before meeting time.

4) Be responsible for facilitation and presentation of new delegate orientation at GPCA plenaries, including other presenters as necessary and appropriate.

5) Introduce CC members and officers to plenary body.

Monitor and facilitate the CC email list to help the flow of information and to maintain a working decorum among CC members:

1) Read all email posted to the CC list

2) Respond to emails that are asking general questions on policy, procedure and other decisions. Make determination to respond to individual or to whole list.

3) Determine whether content of posted emails should be directed to an individual or CC ad-hoc committees instead of whole list and contact sender accordingly.

4) Facilitate online discussion by helping to focus, summarize and move discussion forward.

5) Determine whether there is a need for an online vote. Determine time constraints. Set up and run the vote.

6) Keep CC list serve roster updated. Communicate with Technical Assistant regarding CC members/officers to be added or removed from CC list serve.

Monitor & help to Facilitate Completion of Tasks and Decisions:

1) Maintain an updated task list, to include individual tasks, and CC ad hoc committee tasks and committee memberships.

2) Contact CC members/officers for updates on task completion/progress. If tasks are not getting done help problem solve, including reassigning tasks if necessary.

3) Assist committees that are not functioning by helping to problem solve structural and procedural road blocks, or if resolution is time sensitive and urgent, by stepping in to assist, including to coordinate committee.

4) Contact CC members/officers not engaged with tasks or meetings and help to facilitate a resolution.

5) Be persistent in pushing tasks to completion. Bring tasks back to meeting agendas until completed or no longer valid.

6) Facilitate and maintain an open line of communication between the CC and SC/WG co-coordinators.

Provide Communication and Assistance to CC members:

1) Help to orient new CC members to tasks and responsibilities ofCC.

2) Provide communication assistance to any CC member whose on-line capabilities are compromised due to technical failure.

3) Facilitate and maintain communication with those not able to attend meetings, and those non-voting CC members whose attendance is not specifically required, i.e. Liaison to Sec. of State, Tech assistant, Spokespersons, Secretaries to the CC.

Section 1-3: Nominations

Nominations for Co-coordinators shall open on last Monday of January and run through the Sunday before the first Monday of February. Nominations may be made by any Coordinating Committee member, including the candidate. Nominations shall be considered made when posted to the Coordinating Committee email list. Nominations shall be considered accepted when posted as such to the Coordinating Committee email list by the candidate. Self-nominations shall be considered accepted when made.

Candidates are strongly encouraged to submit a candidate statement to the Coordinating Committee email list, no later than the commencement of the discussion period. The statement should address performance of the position sought, as its duties and responsibilities are defined in this Article, and contain a biography of relevant experiences. Candidates are encouraged to submit video material in support of their candidacy.

Section 1-4: Elections

At the first Coordinating Committee conference call in February, each candidate shall have the opportunity to make a three minute candidate statement.

If there is only one candidate, the candidate shall make their statement, then there shall be call for questions, concerns and affirmations, after which the candidate may addresses concerns. Then there shall commence a two day voting period through midnight, the ensuing Wednesday. During this time discussion may continue on the Coordinating Committee email list. Votes shall be cast on a voting page equipped for instant run-off voting and shall include a None of the Above option. Any candidate receiving a majority of votes cast is considered elected.

If more than one candidate has accepted nomination, shall make their statement, then there shall be call for questions and concerns, and after the candidate addresses concerns, there shall commence a six day voting period through midnight, the ensuing Sunday. During this time discussion may continue on the Coordinating Committee email list. Votes shall be cast on a voting page equipped for instant run-off voting and shall include a None of the Above option. Any candidate receiving a majority of votes cast is considered elected.

After the process is completed above for co-coordinators, repeat the same for alternate co-coordinators

3-2.2 All on-line elections shall have seven days for nomination and discussion and five days for voting. The seven day nomination and discussion period shall commence on the day after the initial posting of the proposal and shall conclude at midnight Pacific Time seven days later, after which the voting period shall commence immediately and conclude five days later on the 12th day at midnight Pacific Time. Nominations may be made by any County Councilmember and do not need to be seconded. Nominations shall be considered to be accepted if they are not declined by the conclusion of the nomination and discussion period. The purpose of the nomination and discussion period shall be for

3-2.2(a) Nomination of candidates for the position in question;

3-2.2(b) The declination of nomination for the position in question by candidates nominated;

3-2.2(c) A discussion of the merits of the candidates vis-a-vis serving in the position in question;

3-2.2(d) Responses by candidates to questions and concerns.

3-2.3 All votes shall be cast on the County Council email list (gplac-cc@cagreens.org), except if a County Councilmember has no access to email during the voting period, they may call in their vote to one of the GPLAC Co-coordinators, in which case it is the responsibility of the Co-coordinator to make a good faith effort to post the vote to the County Council email list as soon as possible and no later than the conclusion of the voting period.

Article II Meetings

2-1 Agendas

2-1.1 At least once on an annual basis, the Coordinating Committee shall review GPCA Bylaws and Rules and Procedures and other party documents to create a draft plan for agenda items during the course of the upcoming year.

2-1.21 An agenda shall be established for each meeting and shall include those items required by GPCA Bylaws and Rules and Procedures. Additional items may be submitted by individual Coordinating Committee members.

2-1.3 For the Coordinating Committee's regular monthly meetings, agenda items shall be sent to the Coordinating Committee email list at least 14 days before the meeting and compiled by the Co-Coordinators. Items sent after 14 days can be added by the Coordinating Committee at the meeting by a 2/3 vote. For special meetings......

2-1.4 Agenda items shall include whether an item is a decision-making item, report or a discussion item, a title and brief description, who are the anticipated presenter(s) and how much time is requested. If the item is a decision-making item, it shall contain a brief description of what is being proposed, and if the entire text of the proposal is available, it shall include that. While it is not always possible to present a proposal fully in advance of a meeting, sponsors are strongly encouraged to submit as much specificity about decision-making items as possible in advance and to provide supportive documents or references as needed.

2-1.5 Agenda items shall be prioritized, ordered and assigned times by the Co-Coordinators and facilitators, time keepers and vibes watchers shall be designated by the Co-Coordinators.

2-1.6 The agenda shall be published seven days before the meeting to the Coordinating Committee email list and to the password accessible Coordinating Committee meetings web page.

2-1.7 At the beginning of the meeting as part of the agenda approval process, the Coordinating Committee may amend the agenda as follows. Coordinating Committee members who plan on proposing changes are strongly encouraged to post their proposed changes to the Coordinating Committee email list in order to facilitate this process in a timely manner:

2-1.7(a) Revise the order and timing of items by a simple majority vote

2-1.7(b) Change facilitators, time keepers or vibes watchers by a 3/5 vote

2-1.7(c) Add new agenda items by a 2/3 vote

2-1.8 The agenda shall be approved prior to or at the beginning of the meeting by a simple majority vote, except that requests to enter Executive Session shall be considered separately as per 2-4.

Section 2-2 Decision-making

2-2.1 Proposal sponsors shall be called upon first by the facilitator to present their proposals. Facilitators shall then call for clarifying questions and give the sponsors the opportunity to respond, then call for concerns and affirmations and give the sponsors the opportunity to respond.

2-2.2 Once the process in 2-2.1 has occurred, the Facilitator shall ask whether there are any outstanding concerns. If not, there is consensus. If yes, the facilitator asks whether the person(s) holding them are willing to stand aside. If yes, their concern will be stated and recorded in the minutes and there is consensus. If not, their outstanding concerns shall be stated and recorded in the minutes. The sponsor may then ask for a vote or withdraw the proposal. If the proposal goes to a vote, the facilitator shall ask the Secretary to call the roll. Roll call shall occur in alternate alphabetical order with each vote, alternating between starting with the first letter and then with the last.

Section 2-3 Minutes

2-3.1 Minutes of Steering Committee meetings shall consist of the date, time, location (where applicable) and attendance, any modifications to the agenda, agenda items heard, decisions-taken (including who voted for, against or stood aside) and the text of all proposals, including amendments.

2-3.2 Minutes shall be approved by a process of ___________

2-3.3 Approved minutes shall be posted to the password accessible Coordinating Committee meetings web page.

Section 2-4 Executive Session

2-4.1 The Steering Committee may go into Executive Session only for personnel matters, sensitive legal and financial matters in which the Party itself is involved in actual or potential legal proceedings, sensitive conversations concerning Green candidates or elected officials, and when dealing with proprietary information of vendors and contractors. No other circumstances are appropriate for Executive Session.

2-4.2 When an item proposed for Executive Session is called on the agenda, it shall first take a 2/3 vote to enter Executive Session. Once Executive Session has begun, if at least twenty percent of the Coordinating Committee members present believe that the discussion is entering areas that are inappropriate for Executive Session as per 2-4.1, they may ask for a vote and 2/3 is required to remain in Executive Session. and the meeting returns to open session.

2-4.3 Agenda item for which Executive Session is denied or permission withdrawn as per 2-4.2 may be heard in open session, but only within the limits of what may be discussed outside of Executive Session, as per 2-4.1.

2-4.4 Minutes of the Executive Session shall include the time of entering and exiting Executive Session, those present and a general summary of topics discussed, without including specific information precluded under 2-4.1. Decisions made in Executive Session shall be reported in the Steering Committee minutes, subject to any legal limitations on disclosure.

Article III On-Line Proposals

3-1 Purpose

The preferred decision making process of the Coordinating Committee involves discussion during teleconferences or in-person meetings. The Coordinating Committee may make decisions on-line via the process described in this Article and as otherwise provided for in GPCA Bylaws.

8-1.3 While the County Council retains the ability to make on-line decisions regarding anything under its jurisdiction under GPCA bylaws, use of on-line decision making is generally recommended for the following:

8-1.3(a) When there is a need to make a decision in between face to face meetings to meet legal and/or internal party deadlines, or to otherwise effectuate meeting GPLAC Bylaws Section 5-2 Duties of the Council in a timely manner not possible by waiting until the next face-to-face County Council meeting or County Council teleconference;;

8-1.3(b) When an item has been discussed first at a Coordinating Committee conference call or face-to-face meeting;

8-1.3(c) When the date of the next County Council meeting was not set at a face-to-face County Council meeting or County Council teleconference;

8-1.3(d) For the approval of County Council meeting minutes.

8-1.2 Quorum and approval thresholds shall be the same as those defined for other Coordinating Committe decision making in GPLAC Bylaws Section 9-2 Quorum and

8-1.4 All on-line proposals must by co-sponsored by at least two County Councilmembers at the time of their posting; must be posted in the format specified in 8-4; and must be posted to the County Council email list (gplac-cc@cagreens.org) with the subject header of the email stating "ON-LINE PROPOSAL: subject/title of the proposal", or in the case of proposals with an expedited timelines as per 8-3, "EXPEDITED ON-LINE PROPOSAL: subject/title of the proposal".

8-1.5 All on-line elections for internal party positions must by co-sponsored by at least two County Councilmembers; must be posted in the format specified in 8-5; and must be posted to the County Council email list (gplac-cc@cagreens.org) with the subject header of the email stating "ON-LINE ELECTION: election of which position".

The delegation adopts the following procedure for decision-making between meetings:

• An item can be put in the online voting queue at a teleconference or in-person meeting, to save time during meetings. In this case, a 3-day voting period may start immediately and is simply an extension of the normal meeting process rather than a special procedure.

• An item can be put in the online voting queue if sponsored by 3 California delegates or alternate delegates.

• The online voting procedure is that the item must be announced on the delegation listserv (gpus- del@cagreens.org) with the words "ONLINE VOTE: [TITLE]" in the subject line, followed by 3 days of discussion and 3 days of voting.

• During voting, votes may be submitted online, by phone, or by email to the facilitator of the vote named in the proposal. All votes must be posted to the listserv, either by the voting delegate or the facilitator relaying a vote received from a delegate by phone or private email. A running tally should be kept on the listserv by adding votes to a list of previously submitted votes.

• The voting threshold, per GPCA bylaws regarding committees other than the General Assembly, is 2/3.

• The facilitator of the vote must post the results to the delegation listserv within 24 hours of the close of voting.

Section 3-2 Timeline

3-2.1 All on-line proposals, except expedited proposals as per 8-4, shall have seven days for discussion and five days for voting. The seven day discussion period shall commence on the day after the initial posting of the proposal and shall conclude at midnight Pacific Time seven days later, after which the voting period shall commence immediately and conclude five days later on the 12th day at midnight Pacific Time. If a proposal is amended during the discussion period, it shall be reposted as amended before the voting period commences. The sponsors of a proposal may chose to withdraw the proposal before the discussion period concludes, but may not do so once the voting period commences.

3-2.2 The purpose of the discussion period for proposal shall be for general discussion of the proposal, including

3-2.1(a) Hearing and responding to clarifying questions;

3-2.1(b) Hearing concerns and affirmations and hearing responding to concerns;

3-2.1(c) Considering and accepting amendments.

Section 8-3 Expedited Proposals

8-3.1 Proposals of a time-sensitive nature may be proposed with an expedited discussion period of less than the seven days. Expedited Proposals shall include a 'statements of findings' explaining the need for the compacted discussion schedule. When voting upon an Expedited Proposal, the County Council shall cast two votes: one regarding the statement of findings and the other on the proposal itself. The statement of findings must be approved for the proposal itself to be approved.

Section 8-4 Proposal Format 8-4.1 SUBJECT/TITLE: PROPOSAL/EXPEDITED ON-LINE PROPOSAL: Name of Proposal

8-4.2 CO-SPONSOR(S): The names of the proposal's co-sponsors. At least two County Councilmembers must co-sponsor a proposal

8-4.3 QUORUM (as per GPLAC Bylaws 9-2) AND TYPE OF PROPOSAL AND APPROVAL THRESHOLD (as per GPLAC Bylaws 9-4.2):

8-4.4 DECISION-MAKING TIMELINE (all proposals shall have seven days of discussion followed by five days voting at per 8-2.1, except in cases of Expedited Proposals and the sponsors shall list the actual calendar dates for the discussion and voting periods)

8-4.5 BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: (relationship, reasons and/or justification to the GPLAC)

8-4.6 PROPOSAL: (the text of what is proposed)

8-4.7 IMPLEMENTATION/TIMELINE/RESOURCES: (personnel, meetings, work hours, finances, period of implementation and any sunset clause if applicable)

8-4.8 REFERENCES: (Sources for readily obtainable materials to aid in the decision making process of voting members)

Article IV Liaisons to Standing Committees and Working Groups

4-1 Duties

4-1.1 Facilitate communication between the committee or working group and the Coordinating Committee.

4-1.2 Serve as a Committee co-coordinator per GPCA Bylaws 6-1.8.

4-2 Term

The Liaison shall serve for as long as they are on the Coordinating Committee or two years, whichever is less. Upon the Liaison's term ending on the Coordinating Committee or upon two years, the Liaison position shall be considered vacant and a new appointment process shall commence.

4-3 Appointment

4-3.1 The Coordinating Committee shall, on an annual basis, fill open Liaison seats and/or whenever vacancies occur.

4-3.2 If there is only one candidate for Liaison, the Coordinating Committee shall first test for consensus and if consensus exists, the candidate shall be considered appointed. If there is not consensus, the Liaison shall be appointed according to the process in 4-3.2.

4-3.3 Where there is not consensus, or where there are more candidates than there are open seats, candidates shall be appointed by ranked choice voting, per GPCA Bylaws 7-1.8. As a further test, after the ranked choice vote is tabulated, a candidate must also be ranked on at least 40% of the ballots to be appointed. Both thresholds must be met for the appointment to occur.

4-4 Recall

A Liaison may be recall by a 2/3 vote of the Coordinating Committee. A proposal for recall must be co-sponsored by 1/3 of the Coordinating Committee to be placed before the Coordinating Committee for a vote.

Article V Appointments to Standing Committees

5-1 Notice of vacancy

The Coordinating Committee shall send a notice of vacancy of standing committee seats at least twice a year, once in the second week of November and once in the second week of June, as per GPCA Bylaws 6-1.4, which states that "At least once a year or whenever vacancies exist, the active counties, Group coordinators, and individual CC members shall be given the opportunity to submit nominations or recommendations to the Coordinating Committee for committee membership." Notice shall include the number of seats open on each committee, a link to the committee's home page and the eligibility and the appointment criteria in 5-2 and 5-3 and the appointment process in 5-4.

5-2 Eligibility

All candidates must submit a written request to the Coordinating Committee seeking appointment to the standing committee and to demonstrate compliance with GPCA Bylaws 6-1.4, which states that all applicants must have "attendance at two plenaries in the preceding 24 months", the request shall include a statement of which General Assemblies the candidate attended.

5-3 Criteria

When considering appointments to standing committees under GPCA Bylaws 6-1.4, the Coordinating Committee shall consider the following for each candidate:

5-3.1 their working knowledge of GPCA bylaws and operating procedures

5-3.2 criteria drafted by the standing committee

5-3.3 input and nominations of the standing committee membership and co-coordinators

5-3.4 input and nominations submitted by active counties or Coordinating Committee members (per GPCA Bylaws 6-1.4)

5-3.5 biographies and candidate statements presented by the candidate

5-4 Appointment

5-4.1 If there are as many or fewer candidates than open seats, the Coordinating Committee will first attempt to test for consensus on the full list of candidates. If consensus exists, then all candidates shall be considered appointed. If there is not consensus, candidates shall be appointed by the process in 5-4.2.

5-4.2 Where there is not consensus, or where there are more candidates than there are open seats, candidates shall be appointed by ranked choice voting, per GPCA Bylaws 7-1.8. As a further test, after the ranked choice vote is tabulated, a candidate must also be ranked on at least 40% of the ballots to be appointed. Both thresholds must be met for the appointment to occur.

Article VI General Assembly Planning Committee"

6-1 Duties and Authority

The General Assembly Planning Committee is charged with the general supervision of planning and preparations necessary for conducting GPCA General Assemblies and gatherings, with certain decisions reserved for the Coordinating Committee as per x-y. Specifically the duties of the General Assembly Planning Committee include:

6-1.1 Work with host committee and the Finance Committee to ensure an appropriate venue,and to provide healthy food and conduct a meeting staged in a manner embodying the Ten Key Values, from reducing waste to supporting green, community-based institutions.

6-1.2 Work with host committee to provide logistical details for inclusion in the agenda packet;

6-1.3 Propose a draft agenda to the Coordinating Committee for inclusion in the agenda packet;

6-1.4 Propose facilitators to the Coordinating Committee for inclusion in the agenda packet;

6-1.5 Provide for minutes-taker(s); ensure that minutes-taker(s) are provided with the text - in electronic form - of the table of contents and all proposals in the draft agenda pack, prior to the commencement of minutes-taking.

6-1.6 Ensure a video recording is made of the General Assembly

6-1.7 Work with host committee and the Finance Committee to provide a post-meeting financial report for each General Assembly and gathering.

6-1.8 Produce a Next Meeting Report within a week of the conclusion of each state meeting, containing the date and location of the next state meeting, the agenda submittal deadline, a description the agenda submittal process, and a general summary of decisions from the concluded meeting.

Membership

The General Assembly Planning Committee shall be composed of up to 12 members

As the Coordinating Committee is responsible to "Establish agenda and select facilitators for general meetings" as per GPCA Bylaws 7‑1.1, the Coordinating Committee establishes a General Assembly Planning sub-committee, charged with the tasks and supervision of all planning and preparations necessary for conducting the GPCA's General Assemblies, retreats, and gatherings.

The Committee's deliberations and decisions are subject to the oversight and approval of the GPCA Coordinating Committee where necessary.

Agcom shall be composed of 8 - 12 members, serving no more than 2 years each, with 25% elected at 6 month intervals, or immediately after the GA date nearest to June 30th. (The current agcom members shall decide amongst themselves who will be replaced and will begin the rotation cycle in 12 months, ie Jan. 2007...)

++ Meeting minutes. Follow-up with the host committee and/or notetakers to ensure the minutes are completed. This should be within two weeks after the meeting. (Some concern about whether or not this can really be done in two weeks.) Quality of the minutes also becomes an issue occasionally. Hiring a dictation professional, or taping the meetings and hiring a transcriber are possibilities.

G-120: Decision (CC): Date, Host committee and Venue decided. Host committee members should be named as part of proposals.

G-105: Notice: Timeline notice goes out to CA Greens - notice to county contact list and SC/WG e-lists

G-84 until G-42: Decision (Liason to SoS): Determine which counties are active - determination by GPCA Liason to Secretary of State (or “other rep of CC”). Once determination made, 100 delegate seats allocated to active counties. - notice to county contacts and SC/WG e-lists http://www.cagreens.org/liaison/delegates.html (determination) http://ss.ca.gov/elections/elections_u.htm (reports of registration)

G-80: Deadline (WGs, Commitees): Submission of Proposals (First Draft) - submitted (preferably in.doc and .html form) to General Assembly Agenda Planning Sub-Committee (GAP) at agenda-team@cagreens.org (mailto:agenda-team@cagreens.org) - template for proposals: http://www.cagreens.org/cc/internal/admin/PropFormat.rtf

G-70: Deadline (WGs, Commitees): Submission of Proposals (Final Draft) - submitted (preferably in.doc and .html form) to General Assembly Agenda Planning Sub-Committee (GAP) at agenda-team@cagreens.org

G-63: Decision (GAP): Agenda Committee approves draft agenda to submit to Coordinating Committee

G-46: Decision (CC): Coordinating Committee approves draft agenda to submit to General Assembly

G-43: Notice (GAP): Publishing Plenary Packet (proposals/other agenda items) - publish in .pdf format on www.cagreens.org/plenary via "link to password-protected agenda packet"; - publish in .html form on www.cagreens.org/plenary via "link to password-protected agenda packet"; - publish on web-based discussion page - notice to county contact list and SC/WG e-lists

G-33: Deadline (Host Committee): - Host Committee provides necessary registration information to GPCA-IT for inclusion on registration page on www.cagreens.org/plenary

G-30: Notice (GAP): Publishing Plenary Packet (logistics) - publish in .pdf format on www.cagreens.org/plenary via "link to password-protected agenda packet"

G-30: Notice (GAP): Open of registration - publish on www.cagreens.org/plenary - notice to county contact list and SC/WG e-lists - notice included in banner of www.cagreens.org home page

G-01: Decision (CC): Coordinating Committee meets for final draft agenda review

G-00: Decision (GA): Agenda approval at beginning of General Assembly, day one

G+01: Decision (GA): Agenda approval at beginning of General Assembly, day two (if necessary)

G+14: Report (WGs): Updating Working Group Membership Working Group Membership update filed with CC by WG Co-Cos

G+14: Report (Minutes Taker): Submission of Draft Minutes to Agenda Committee - official minutes to contain ‘decisions taken’ (including full text of proposals passed), ‘amendments accepted’, ‘votes cast/consensus reached’, ‘approval threshold’, ‘outstanding concerns’, ‘delegates present’, ‘counties present’, ‘regions present’, ‘quorum counts’

G+21: Notice (CC, GAP): Circulation of Draft Minutes - publish on www.cagreens.org/plenary via "link to password-protected agenda packet"; - notice to county contact list and SC/WG e-lists