>>>>>>>> CHANGED SECTION <<<<<<<<<<<<<

---- Existing Text ---------
7 1.4	CC Elections and Term of Office
At the first General Assembly meeting of each year, elections shall be conducted
for CC seats whose terms are scheduled to expire within the calendar year
including two at-large seats and any expiring regional seats not filled by an
alternative regional process (see selection of regional members, paragraph
7-1.5). CC representatives shall serve for a nominal term of two years or until
their successors are elected. In any event, at-large representatives shall
vacate their seats at the end of the term unless reelected, and regional
representatives shall retain their seats beyond the end of the term unless
replaced or recalled.

-------- Added Text -------
Notwithstanding section 6-3, a region may replace its representative(s),
including alternate representive(s), during the course of the term of office by
conducting an election in accordance with its approved procedure. The new
representative(s) shall serve the remainder of the existing term of office. The
region shall notify the Coordinating Committee of any replacement conducted
under this section.





>>>>>>>>> ORIGINAL PROPOSAL APR 08 <<<<<<<<<<

Passed by consensus with two amendments:

1. Applies to alt reps also
2. CC will be notified when a region replaces its rep.
----------------------------------




SPONSOR: Bylaws Committee

PRESENTER/CONTACT
Jim Stauffer, Santa Clara, jims@greens.org, 408-432-9148
Pat Gray, San Mateo, patgray.green@sbcglobal.net

SUBJECT:
Modify section 7-1.4 to clarify that the GPCA may not prohibit regions from
replacing their Coordinating Committee (CC) representative(s) during the course
of a term of office.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:
In the course of recent debates over CC rep elections a disagreement has arisen
in regards to the intent of  the clause in section 7-1.4 that says, “CC
representatives shall serve for a nominal term of two years or until their
successors are elected.”

Some have interpreted this to mean that any person filling the office of CC rep
cannot be removed from that office by his/her electing constituency during the
course of the term. The one exception allowed is, “Section 6-3. Removal for
Cause,” which stipulates a narrow criteria under which a CC rep may be required
to resign.

Others among us believe that 7-1.4 has no such discernable intent; that there is
no practical reason why a prohibition on rep replacement should exist; and that
regions should have authority to choose their member(s) on the CC.

PROPOSAL:
The proposed modification to Section 7-1.4 is based on these assumptions:

·    As defined in our bylaws, the GPCA is comprised of two entities: the state
organization and the county organizations. CC reps and General Assembly
delegates are the human organizational interfaces between the two entities.
Therefore, issues involving reps and delegates are not the exclusive domain of
either entity, but must be resolved considering the needs of both the state and
county organizations.

·    Since the office of CC rep is an interface between a region’s counties and
the state party, our principle of decentralization would tend to give the
counties, rather than the state, preference over issues of filling the CC rep
office.

·    The natural, unplanned personnel turn-over rate on the CC is substantial,
so an occasional intended replacement of a rep would not significantly increase
that turn-over rate.

·    There are no corroborating clauses in the bylaws that support an
interpretation of 7-1.4 that says CC reps can not be replaced by their electing
constituencies. The bylaws are, in fact, silent on the issue. Therefore, a clear
statement on a region’s right to replace their rep at their discretion needs to
be added to the bylaws.

Section 7-1.4 shall be modified by adding a second paragraph as follows:
Notwithstanding section 6-3, a region may replace its representative(s) during
the course of the term of office by conducting an election in accordance with
its approved procedure. The new representative(s) shall serve the remainder of
the existing term of office.

COMMITTEE DECISION:



TIME LINE:
Immediate implementation

RESOURCES:
None