Bylaws of the Technical Committee

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Article 1: Name

The name of this committee shall be the Technical Committee of the New Orleans Democratic Socialists of America, also known as “the Technical Committee,” “the Technology Committee,” “the Tech Committee”,  abbreviated as TC, and referred to in this document as “the committee.”

Article 2: Purpose

This committee was established by the membership of the New Orleans Democratic Socialists of America in a general meeting with the following resolution:

 

A tech committee will function to:

 

  • Define information security practices for chapter operations and ensure conformance to these practices in the handling of operationally sensitive material, the personal information of members, confidential information provided by groups working within our community, and any other material delegated to the committee by the general membership as being necessary to secure from arbitrary access.
  • Raise funds from membership to maintain hardware, software & IT services necessary for the operations of the chapter and its committees (e.g. domains, web hosting, email service, proprietary software for which there is no suitable free/open source alternative, authentication devices).
  • Continually perform threat assessment on the interests of the chapter, with a defined procedure for disclosure of (public, coalition, members, council) and response to (alteration of credentials, permissions, seizure of devices) security breaches based on exigency, as agreed to by vote of the general assembly.
  • Provide aid in the form of IT services, consultation & training to the larger community, locally & regionally .
  • Identify, test & propose technologies and services for use by the chapter membership which better facilitate democratic decision making processes and/or are free/open source. Be responsible for migrating members to those approved by the membership including transfer of credentials, training and support.
  • Raise funds for the provision of materials, services, training & free time for members & sympathetic organizers whose ability to participate in those activities of the chapter coordinated through electronic communication are immoderately limited by their material circumstances.

 

 

Article 3: Organization

Section I: Voting

Unless otherwise specified in these bylaws, the deliberative body of the committee shall be the members of the committee meeting, in whole or in part, at a standing or special meeting. Majority vote is defined as 50% + 1 of members in attendance unless otherwise noted. ⅔ vote is defined as ⅔ of members in attendance unless otherwise noted.

Section II: Meetings

The committee shall meet once a month, on a schedule established by a majority vote of the committee.

 

The committee may, by majority vote, schedule a special meeting on a topic.

Section III: Quorums

Unless otherwise specified by the bylaws, quorum of the committee will be the lesser of (a) 5 members or (b) a number of members equal to 50% the number of members on the committee active membership roll.

Section IV: Proxy Voting

A member may vote by proxy by notifying a Co-Chair in advance. Proxy votes shall not be counted for quorum.

Section V: Virtual Meetings

The committee may conduct meetings in person or through electronic communication such as a voice conference line. Votes in virtual (non-in-person) meetings will be handled by roll call voting.

Article 4: Membership

Section I: Members

Members of the New Orleans DSA shall be members of the committee.

Section II: Committee Active Membership Roll

The “active membership roll” shall be defined as all members who have attended a meeting in session, or at least 1 of the prior 2 meetings.

Article 5: Officers

Section I: Elections

Elections for committee officers will be held in the first standing meeting of each September. Officers may not hold more than two consecutive terms in the same position (i.e. more than two consecutive terms as Co-Chair, or more than two consecutive terms as Credentials Officer).

 

In the event of an officer vacancy, an election will be held at the next standing meeting which falls at least two weeks after the vacancy occurs.

 

Nominations for officer election (whether for scheduled election or election due to vacancy) shall be made to the presiding steward of the committee, in writing, at least one week before the standing meeting when the election will occur. Any member may nominate a member as candidate for any committee officer position. A member may nominate themselves.

Section II: Co-Chairs

The committee shall have two Co-Chairs. The Co-Chairs shall preside over all meetings of the committee. The Co-Chairs are responsible for the general direction and management of the committee. They will also interpret the bylaws and parliamentary law for the committee.

Section III: Committee Steward

The Committee shall elect a Committee Steward. The Committee Steward shall fulfill the responsibilities of Stewards as outlined in the Bylaws of the New Orleans Democratic Socialists of America. The Committee Steward may also serve as a Co-Chair of the committee for the same or overlapping term.

 

Section IV: Credentials Officer

The Committee shall elect a Credentials Officer. The Credentials Officer will be responsible for maintaining, in a secure location, a register of usernames, passwords, cryptographic keys and any other mechanisms used to manage access to accounts, email systems, databases and any other information technology assets associated with The Chapter, referred to in this document as “The Credentials Store”, as well as a regularly audited list of who has access to these accounts, referred to in this document as “The Authenticated Member Roll”, the two of which in aggregate will be referred to as “The Stuff”.

The Credentials Officer will be responsible for the transfer of means of authentication necessitated by any changes in officer positions of The Chapter or its committees, as well as the provision of new accounts and the auditing of those created by chapter members for the purposes of operating on behalf of The Chapter.

In addition, the Credentials officer will regularly report to at least one other officer of the TC as to any changes in the provision or assignment of credentials within The Chapter, and ensure that no fewer than 2 officers of the TC have access to The Stuff.

Section V: Recalling Officers

The committee may recall an officer by (1) calling a special meeting on the question of recalling the officer with at least two weeks of advance notification to the members of the committee and (2) obtaining a ⅔ vote at the special meeting in favor of recall. A recalled officer may not serve as an officer for one full year.

Section VI: Co-Chair Disagreements

Disagreements between the Co-Chairs that cannot be resolved by the Co-Chairs shall be put in front of the committee at the soonest opportunity and will be resolved by a vote of the committee.

Article 6: Amendments

Amendments to these bylaws made be made by a ⅔ vote in a standing meeting.

Article 7: Rules of Order

Business of the committee will be conducted under rules of order determined by the Co-Chairs prior to the convening of a committee meeting.