Bylaws Amendments 2020 vote

This page is based on [Vote_Proposal_Template]

Title

Bylaws Amendments Vote 2020

Sponsor

• Molly Adamski
• Ed Bennett

Co-Sponsors

• David Earl
• Rob German

Vote Results

 Quorum:[ ]
 Yea Votes: [ ]  
 Nay Votes: [ ]
 Present or Abstain: [ ] 

Schedule

Proposal Date

Date this proposal was posted to the membership and a request for a vote date was sent to the Board.

November 23rd, 2020

Member Input

Does the Sponsor choose to open the language of the vote for changes due to member input? (optional and can be modified at any time)

[X ] YES [ ] NO

Vote Announcement and Beginning Date of the Discussion Period

The announcement date of the vote proposal is the beginning date of the seven-day (minimum) posting and Member discussion period. If the Sponsor has chosen to include member input, suggested edits can be made in a shared document or other collaborative vehicle until the language is locked. The sponsor can stop taking suggestions at any time.

November 23rd, 2020

Language Lock Date and Start of Voting

Five days prior to the Day of the Vote, the vote language is locked, all edits are frozen, and the language of the vote is converted to a pdf file. Ballots that include the pdf are sent to the Membership, and electronic voting begins. Note that the minimum discussion period of seven days leaves only two days for changes before the lock takes place.

December 3rd, 2020

Day of the Vote

This is the day the Board sets for the vote. December 8th, 2020

Background

The PS1 Bylaws were changed in December of 2018 (member suffrage) and updated in October of 2019 (Board restructure). Throughout the year of 2020 the Board and other volunteers suggested changes when issues with the current Bylaws came up. We aim to improve the health of our community by aligning the Bylaws more closely with how work gets done and decisions are actually made in the organization's self-governance. We want to rebalance power appropriately where needed by giving more power to the Board in some circumstances and more power to the members in others. We discussed the changes and wrote up Bylaws that will allow the organization to run more effectively.

We now seek to replace [Our Bylaws - old and busted] with these proposed Bylaws (11.19.20).

In August of 2020 the Board reviewed the December 2018 bylaws with Tanya Pietrkowski, Director of Development at CARPLS legal aid. She gave us suggestions regarding some DRC-Board power issues we encountered with the current Bylaws. (The October 2019 version was not on the wiki yet due to a clerical error.) Based on a review of the substantive changes we propose here, we have no reason to believe that our proposed changes interfere with or violate any applicable laws. Therefore the Board has decided that we will not submit our suggested Bylaws for another legal review.

Synopsis

The format in the List of Proposed Changes is as follows:

1. Current language: from bylaws version 10.29.19

suggested changes: to make the bylaws better

new language: what the bylaws version 11.19.20 will say if it passes

Note: about why we made the change

Not all of the proposed changes have notes. Feel free to inquire on the [Google Groups Thread] for this vote if you have questions or want to discuss any particular changes. The sponsors did seek member input and feedback.

[Proposed Changes PDF]

No members opted to suggest changes in the Google Doc.

On 12/2/20, before locking the language, Sponsors incorporated one piece of member feedback. This was to clarify that a DRC case must occur, and the Board must review the documentation from the case, before the Board can vote to remove a member.

They also clarified a few sentences in the voting section. A final proofread for spelling and grammar errors resulted in ten minor changes. All substantive changes are in the "Proposed Changes" summary document to be included with the vote.

Language of the Vote

Shall Pumping Station: One adopt the proposed document, attached here as a PDF, as their new bylaws as of December 9th, 2020?

Here is the actual text that will be recorded as the new Bylaws. After taking member comments and incorporating feedback where appropriate, we will update the language and lock it.

[PDF of the Proposed New Bylaws]