BYLAWS OF THE GREEN PARTY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY
Approved as of July 1999 and as amended July 1999, July 2003, and January 2008
PREAMBLE
These Bylaws of the Green Party of Santa Clara County (also
referred to herein as the “GPSCC”) are adopted to replace those
Bylaws previously adopted in May 1996.
ARTICLE 1 MEMBERSHIP IN THE GREEN PARTY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY
1.1 Any voter who has registered as a member of the Green
Party and who is a resident of Santa Clara County also shall be a member
of the Green Party of Santa Clara County.
1.2 Only active members will vote in official county Green
Party functions, should a vote be required according to the Consensus
Process described in Article 6. Official functions shall be those at which
decisions are made in the name of the Party.
1.3 An active member shall be a person who has attended
2 out of the last 5 meetings of the official functions at which (s)he
wishes to vote. For example, a vote at a General meeting, a committee
meeting, a local meeting, etc.
ARTICLE 2 COUNTY COUNCIL
2.1 Purposes
2.1.1 The County Council will fulfill the legal requirement
for a liaison between the California Green Party and Santa Clara County
officials. As used in these Bylaws, the term “County Council”
shall have the same meaning as the term “Central Committee”
as that term is used by the Office of the Registrar of Voters for Santa
Clara County, California.
2.1.2 The Council shall select a secretary and a treasurer
from among its members, or may ratify the selection of these officers
made at a General County Meeting. The Council and/or its officers will
be responsible for complying with the financial reporting requirements
of the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). The Council or its
officers shall be responsible for obtaining an FPPC number for financial
reporting. The Council may create such committees or initiate such inquiries
as it considers necessary and appropriate to perform its collective responsibilities
as described in these Bylaws.
2.1.3 Internal to the Green Party, the Council’s primary
duties include serving as a coordinating or steering committee to:
a) Facilitate communications between Green Party members within the county,
at county meetings, and between locals within the county.
b) Facilitate communications between the county Green Party and the State
Green Party.
c) Assist Green Party involvement in elections in the county (including
recruiting, advising and assisting Green Party candidates, co-ordinating
voter registration efforts and tabling, and supporting ballot issues effecting
issues of concern to the state or county Green Party).
d) Enhance communications between the county Green Party and other Green
Parties and/or other local organizations which support the principals
and objectives set forth in the Green Party Platform.
e) Oversee and assist the work of committees formed by the Council, or
outside the Council by the Party’s members, to help carry out the above
duties, or other duties considered necessary that are not in conflict
with these ByLaws; such as an electoral reform committee, an environmental
issues committee, etc.
2.1.4 The County Council shall act as the designated contact
persons for the Green Party of Santa Clara County, and refer interested
people to persons who may be designated as spokespeople for the Party
at a General County Meeting.
2.1.5 The County Council, by agreement of eighty percent (80%) of its
members, may authorize the use of the name of the Green Party of
Santa Clara County as an endorser or co-sponsor of an event or
public statement consistent with the principals and objectives set
forth in the Green Party Platform if time issues make the decision
necessary before it can be brought before the next general meeting.
Any such County Council authorization shall be reported to those
present at the next monthly meeting. [Adopted July 1, 2003]
2.2 Membership in the Council
2.2.1 All County Council members must be residents of Santa
Clara County and registered to vote with the Green Party.
2.2.2 The County Council is designated by the State Green
Party bylaws to consist of seven members elected at large from the county’s
Green Party constituency. Additional members may be appointed by the Council.
Vacancies on the Council that reduce the membership to less than seven
will be filled by appointment by the remaining County Council member(s)
within 30 days of the vacancy. The State Green Party Coordinating Committee
and the Santa Clara Registrar of Voters shall be informed of all appointed
members within two working days of the appointment. It shall be an objective
of the Green Party of Santa Clara County that its County Council reflect
the diversity of the general population in the county and likewise reflect
Green Party values.
2.3 Recall / Removal / Sanction
2.3.1 A member will be automatically removed from the Council
in the event that the member:
a) Moves out of the county; or
b) Registers with another political party; or
c) Fails to maintain an updated, accurate registration in the Green Party;
or
d) Fails to attend at least three out of five consecutive County Council
meetings.
2.3.2 A member may be recalled from the Council in accordance
with Article 3 of these Bylaws.
2.3.3 A member may be sanctioned by the Council in accordance
with Article 3 of these Bylaws.
ARTICLE 3 SANCTIONS AND RECALL
3.1 Sanction. A Member may be prohibited from participating
in official acts and functions of the Green Party of Santa Clara County
where that Member has consistently expressed values or actions contradictory
to the values and goals of the Green Party or hampered the achievement
of those values and goals.
3.2. Recall. A Member that has been elected or given a voted
endorsement to fulfill a specific function or position may be recalled
for demonstrated inability to perform responsibly.
3.3. Any sanction or recall process shall be commenced by
a written complaint by a Green Party member to the County Council, which
shall schedule an executive (closed, nonpublic) meeting to consider the
complaint. The complaining member and the person about whom the complaint
has been directed will be given not less than fifteen (15) days written
notice of the meeting and invited to attend that meeting. The member about
whom the complaint has been made will also be provided with a copy of
the complaint.
3.4. In the event the complaint pertains to another member
of the County Council and that member’s conduct in that office, the County
Council shall have sole authority to act upon the complaint by unanimous
vote of the other Council members. Furthermore, the County Council by
unanimous vote may remove any member from a committee, taskforce or delegation
which was created by the County Council as part of the activities of the
County Council as provided by these Bylaws.
3.5. The County Council shall have authority to act upon
a complaint which does not involve the activities of the County Council
or a County Council member by a unanimous vote to reject the complaint
or by an 80% majority vote to refer the complaint to the next general
meeting of the county party. In the absence of the County Council vote
described in this Section 3.5, the complaint shall not be a part of the
agenda of any county party meeting. Any proposal for censure or removal
of a member of the GPSCC shall be passed by an 80% majority vote of those
present at the next general meeting of the county party following the
referral by the County Council.
3.6. The decision of the County Council in response to a
complaint described in this Article 3 shall be communicated in writing
to both the complaining member and to the subject of the complaint within
fifteen (15) days of the decision. In the event the subject of the complaint
fails to attend the general meeting where a complaint is considered, the
decision of that meeting shall be communicated in writing to that person.
3.7. The making of a false or unsubstantiated complaint
as provided in this Article 3 shall be grounds for sanctions proceedings
as herein described.
3.8. Except as a sanction by the County Party may have effects
under the Bylaws of the State Party, the sanctions powers described herein
apply only to membership in the Green Party of Santa Clara County and
shall not otherwise effect a person’s eligibility to register as a member
of the Green Party of California.
ARTICLE 4 STATE DELEGATES
4.1 State delegates must be registered to vote with the
Green Party and be residents of Santa Clara County.
4.2 The number of delegates for Santa Clara County is determined
according to the rules and Bylaws of the California Green Party.
4.3 Delegates and alternate delegates to State Party meetings
will be selected at a general County Party meeting preceding that event.
Whenever practical, the designation of such delegates will be set as an
agenda item at the preceding general meeting and information of that agenda
item will be distributed to the members.
4.4 An alternate delegate may serve as a delegate to a State
Party meeting where a primary delegate is unable to act as such at that
meeting or any part of it. No person shall represent themself to be a
delegate of the Green Party of Santa Clara County at any state meeting
unless that person was designated as a delegate or alternate delegate
at a county general meeting. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event
there is a vacancy which cannot be filled by a duly designated alternate
delegate, a delegate may be chosen ad-hoc by and from the attending members.
4.5 The delegates shall represent the will of the county
as expressed in a general meeting held before the next State Party meeting,
on all issues on the pre-announced agenda of the State meeting. The county’s
opinions may also be communicated to the State Party’s working groups.
Delegates need not always vote as a unanimous bloc. They shall caucus
with attending county members on new issues brought up at the meeting.
If such a caucus is not practical, however, delegates shall vote individually
as they see fit on such new issues.
ARTICLE 5 COUNTY LOCALS
5.1 Consistent with Green Party values supporting decentralization
and personal responsibility, individual members may form locals of the
Green Party of Santa Clara County in the various subregions of the county.
5.2 To be duly recognized as an official GPSCC Local, such
a group must:
a) Be approved as a County Local — either by the County Council or at
a general meeting of the GPSCC — after submitting a written request signed
by at least five (5) Members describing their intent to form a Local and
the boundaries of the proposed Local.
b) Minutes will be recorded for all official meetings and a copy will
be made available to the County Council on request.
c) Duly elect a contact person who will facilitate communication between
the local and the county organization.
d) Have clearly defined geographic boundaries and notify the Council in
writing of any subsequent changes of those boundaries.
e) Conduct Local activities in accordance with the spirit and intent of
the Green Party’s 10 Key Values.
5.3 A GPSCC Local shall not take any public position on
county-wide or state-wide issues contrary to that taken by the GPSCC or
the California Green Party, without receiving consensus at a County general
meeting. A Local shall not assert any authority expressly reserved to
the GPSCC in these Bylaws or to the California Green Party in the state
party’s bylaws.
ARTICLE 6 DECISION MAKING PROCESS
6.1 Consensus
All bodies within Santa Clara County acting in the name
of the Green Party shall use a consensus-seeking process as follows:
a) Consensus is sought after adequate discussion including the repeated
asking for, and discussion of, any unresolved concerns within the time
and content limits of the agenda.
b) All stand-asides will be recorded. However, if stand asides are 20%
or more of the voting body, the proposal shall not be accepted. If the
voting option is used, stand asides are not included in the calculations.
c) If unresolved concerns remain, there will either be a vote, or the
presenter may withdraw the proposal. All unresolved concerns will be recorded
and addressed as described in the procedure below.
d) Voting will be on the basis of a two-thirds majority for business and
procedural issues, and an 80% majority for policy issues.
e) If there is dispute as to which voting count is applicable, the higher
percentage will be used.
6.1.1 The general procedure for dealing with questions and
concerns about a proposal is as follows:
1) Presenter presents the proposal with clearly defined actions or questions
for the general body to decide.
2) Facilitator asks for clarifying questions, which the presenter will
answer.
3) Facilitator asks for affirmations, concerns and friendly amendments.
If there are no amendments or concerns, consensus has been achieved and
the proposal is adopted.
4) Friendly amendments may be accepted at the presenters discretion. Unaccepted
amendments may be restated as unresolved concerns.
5) If concerns are stated, the group seeks to resolve the concerns and
incorporate them into the proposal. The presenter must agree to modifications
before they can be accepted.
6) If unresolved concerns remain, the facilitator asks those holding concerns
if they are willing to stand aside and allow the group to adopt the proposal.
If concerns remain, go to the closing options.
7) The presenter’s closing options are:
a) Return the proposal to committee for further refinement and an attempt
to resolve the concerns.
b) Request additional time to reach a resolution of any remaining concerns.
c) Request the voting option be used.
6.2 Proposals
Proposals shall be acted upon at a general meeting. Where
practical, proposals shall be presented at a meeting preceding the meeting
where action is taken on the proposal or presented to the County Council
for dissemination to the county membership prior to such action.
6.3 Candidates For Public Office
A candidate for public office shall not be able to claim
the endorsement of the Green Party of Santa Clara County unless that endorsement
has previously been given at a general county meeting. No candidate for
public office shall receive any support or assistance from the county
organization without first receiving such an endorsement. The foregoing
shall not prevent any member from assisting any candidate in their individual
capacity.
ARTICLE 7 ADDITIONAL OFFICES
7.1 Archivist. The County Council or the GPSCC, at a general
meeting, may appoint an Archivist to serve as the custodian of the historical
records of the GPSCC.
ARTICLE 8 AMENDMENT OF BYLAWS
8.1 Amendments
8.1.1 Amendments to these Bylaws will originate as a written
proposal submitted to the County Council. The County Council may agree
to submit any proposed amendment for decision to a general meeting after
discussion and notice at not less than one preceding general meeting.
In the alternative, the County Council may reject the proposal or request
modification of the proposal in a written communication to the proponent(s)
of the proposal not more than sixty days after the proposal has been considered
by the County Council. In such case, the proponent(s) may elect to present
their proposal(s) to a general county meeting rather than resubmit the
proposal(s) for further review by the County Council.
8.1.2 No proposal to amend these Bylaws shall be voted upon
at the general meeting where it is first presented. Voting upon any such
proposal will proceed in accordance with the preceding Section 6.1. A
minimum 80% affirmative vote is required to approve any proposed amendment.
8.2 The County Council, or a committee appointed by the
County Council or designated at a general meeting, shall review these
Bylaws in their entirety every two years for the purposes of proposing
amendments and assuring that these Bylaws are consistent with the rules
and Bylaws of the California Green Party.
ARTICLE 9 ELECTION OF REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES (RR) AND ALTERNATES
[adopted January 2008]
9.0 Definitions in GPCA bylaws
Regional Representation on the GPCA Coordinating Committee is defined by
the GPCA bylaws, Articles 6, 7 and elsewhere. This bylaws article
constitutes an alternative election process as provided for in the GPCA
bylaws section 7-1.5.
9.1 RR Election Meeting
RR election meetings are considered valid if they meet the following conditions:
1) the election is authorized and called by the County Council
2) the meeting is open to all county party Members and all Members
present can vote in the election,
3) the election has been publicly announced on county party email
lists at least 15 days in advance of the election meeting and
4) where the RR Election is a preannounced agenda item for the meeting.
9.2 Declaring Candidacy
Candidates shall declare their candidacy on the email lists of the
counties of the region prior to the RR Candidate Presentation Meetings
at which a vacancy or replacement is considered.
9.3 Presentation and Election Meetings
The RR election process may be conducted as part of the regular monthly
meetings of the GPSCC. Alternately, a special meeting may be called if
so decided by the county council. Candidates shall present themselves
to the electorate at a valid meeting. This presentation shall be at a
separate meeting that precedes the meeting where the vote occurs.
9.4 Election Process
This election process assumes this region is allocated one
representative. This section shall be amended if the allocation is
increased. The Regional Representative and Alternate
Representative shall be chosen by separate votes. The Regional
Representative shall be chosen first. In an election where there is
only one declared candidate, the decision shall be made in Accordance
Article 6 of these bylaws. Regional Representative elections shall
be deemed business decisions. If more than one candidate has declared
their candidacy, the election shall be conducted using Instant Runoff
Voting, with section 7-1.9 of the GPCA bylaws as guidance.
9.5 Regional Coordination
A candidate must be approved by all of the county parties of the
region. If different candidates are approved by the county parties
the decision(s) shall be retaken by the county parties until agreement
on candidates between the county parties is reached.
9.6 Representational Balance in the Region
It shall be an objective to have the Regional Representative and the
first Alternate Regional representative be from different counties
wherever possible.
9.7 Replacement
A Regional Representative or an Alternate Regional Representative may
be replaced using the same process for election described here.
9.8 Effective Date
This amendment, Article 9 of the by-laws, shall take effect after
formal approval by the GPSCC, and after the bylaws of substantially the
same form have been adopted by all counties in the region. Upon
adoption, the County Council from each county party shall separately
and independently notify the GPCA of their bylaws amendments adding
this alternative election process to the default procedures provided by
the state Green Party Bylaws.
9.9 Expiration of Article 9
This article 9 detailing the selection of regional representatives to
the GPCA Coordinating Committee shall expire if a county party in the
region rescinds it, or if the region is redefined and a new county
party added to the region decides not to adopt this bylaw.
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These Bylaws of the Green Party of Santa Clara County were first adopted
in 1992 and last amended on July 13, 1999 at Santa Clara County, California.