What’s Happening?
We are holding a Special Meeting on Saturday, May 30th, to vote on proposed amendments to our chapter bylaws. Our bylaws can only be amended at a Special Meeting, the annual Convention, or under certain circumstances at a General Meeting.
We are holding this Special Meeting to debate and vote on just a few proposed amendments that could affect our upcoming election and Convention. Because of social distancing measures, we are not able to hold a Convention in person, so we are attempting to replicate it in a series of events.
There will be another Special Meeting/Convention Meeting held this summer to vote on other proposed bylaw amendments. All general members are allowed to propose amendments. The Local Council is planning to hold informational meetings to assist general members in drafting bylaw amendments and understanding Robert’s Rules of Order in June.
I’m Confused
We understand. Our bylaws are similar to a Constitution. They dictate how our chapter should function at the most basic level. That being said, they sometimes need to be interpreted and other times they need to be amended to match our current goals and needs. Sometimes language in the bylaws needs to be updated to provide clarity or to formalize a practice or to remove a stipulation that is burdensome.
The original chapter bylaws were written in 2017 in very different circumstances than we face now. They have been amended each year by the general membership. We value our democratic approach to revising this important document, which is why we only allow them to be amended under certain circumstances.
You can read our current chapter bylaws here. If you have any questions, please email hello@dsaneworleans.org.
What Do I Need to Know?
The bylaw amendments that have been proposed for the May 30th, 2020, Special Meeting are listed below. There is a short description of each proposal with a link to the full text. Context for each amendment is included in the full text so that you can see the purpose of the amendment.
In these documents, you will see the original text as it currently exists. The amendment text highlights which phrases are being removed (“struck”) in red and which phrases are being added in green. The resulting revised text is also provided for legibility.
Revising the Eligibility of Members for Local Officer Candidacy
This amendment would remove a stipulation that nominees for Local Council officers must have attended 33% of the General Meetings held in a year. Read the full text.
Amendment to Add Three At-Large Seats to the Local Council
This amendment would add three more at-large members to the Local Council in addition to the two that we currently have. Read the full text.
Adding a Force Majeure Clause for the Local Convention
This amendment would allow the rescheduling and reformatting of our annual Convention beyond the June 30th deadline in the case of extreme events (“Acts of God”) beyond the chapter’s control. Read the full text.