By-laws of the Boston Ward 21 Democratic Committee Approved May 2014 ARTICLE I: NAME This organization shall be known as the Boston Ward 21 Democratic Committee, hereinafter called the Committee. ARTICLE II: PURPOSE The Committee is elected pursuant to Chapter 52 of the Massachusetts General Laws. The Committee exists to promote economic and social justice and improve the Democratic Party by finding, encouraging, and endorsing Democratic candidates for public office; encouraging interest, registration, and activity in the Democratic Party; increasing knowledge of governmental structures and operations; enhancing communication between government officials and citizenry; furthering the objectives of the Democratic Party, and by carrying out such other activities as shall seem necessary or desirable to effect these purposes. ARTICLE III: MEMBERSHIP Section 1: Eligibility Membership on the committee shall be open only to registered Democrats with their voting domicile in Boston s Ward 21. Changing one s party registration or registering to vote outside of Ward 21 is equivalent to resignation, effective immediately. Section 2: Types and Definitions of Members Membership shall be constituted of the following types of members: A. Elected Members are those elected in the quadrennial presidential primary election. B. Appointed Members are those elected by the Committee subsequent to said primary, up to and no more than a total of 21 elected and appointed members combined. One must attend at least three committee meetings within the previous twelve months to be eligible to be appointed to the Committee. Appointed members must be elected by a majority (more than 50%) of voting members present. C. Associate Members may be elected by the Committee. Associate Members shall not have the right to vote or hold office on the Committee, but otherwise shall have the rights and duties of Members. There is no limit to the number of Associate Members. One must attend at least three meetings within the previous twelve months to be eligible to be an Associate member, and Associate membership shall run only until a new Committee is elected in the presidential primary. Associate members must be elected by a majority (more than 50%) of voting members present. Associate Members shall not count toward a quorum and do not count toward the 21 member limit. If an Associate Member misses five meetings consecutively, his membership shall be automatically removed from the Committee. The Chairperson shall notify the member of his change in status. D. Twenty-Year Members are those who have served as Elected Members or Ex-Officio Members of the Committee or another Democratic ward committee in Boston for twenty or more years, as provided for in Article Two, Section II, of the Massachusetts Democratic Party Charter, and further described in Article III, Section 3, below. Twenty-Year Members have the right to vote but shall not count toward a quorum or the 21 member limit.
E. State Committee Members are those members of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee who live in the ward. State Committee Members have the right to vote but shall not count toward a quorum or the 21 member limit. The term regular member, as used in these By-Laws, shall refer to Elected Members and Appointed Members as defined above. The term voting member shall refer to all members except Associate Members. Section 3: Twenty-Year Membership Ward 21 residents who have served as voting members on any Democratic ward committee in Boston for twenty or more years are entitled to become Twenty-Year Members. There shall be no limit on the number of Twenty-Year Members on the Committee. In accordance with state party policy, members who attain Twenty-Year status may not appear on the ballot in any presidential primary in the city and shall cease to be regular members, but shall have the same rights and responsibilities as regular members. Any member who believes that he is entitled to Twenty-Year membership status shall notify the chair no fewer than seven days before the committee meeting at which the potential Twenty-Year Member intends to seek this status. The potential Twenty-Year member must provide supporting information. Examples of such information include documentation of past meeting attendance (minutes, notes, or photos), or verification from a sitting or past Committee officer. Section 4: Regular Attendance To maintain one s status as a voting member, one must attend Committee meetings regularly in person. If a regular member misses three consecutive meetings, his membership status shall automatically change to Associate Member. The Chairperson shall notify the member of his change in status. The Secretary shall note in the minutes and report the new quorum to the Chairperson. The former member may follow the procedure described in Article III, Section 2, above, to reapply for voting membership on the Committee, provided that there are fewer than 21 members on the Committee at the time. Occasional participation in Committee meetings via phone will be allowed at the discretion of the Chairperson. Section 5: Contact Information The Committee s Secretary will collect contact information, including phone number and email address, from each member. Email will be the primary means of communication among members. Members must promptly notify the Chair or Secretary of the Committee of any change in their email address or other contact information. ARTICLE IV: OFFICERS The Committee shall have a Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Treasurer, Secretary, and Affirmative Action and Outreach Advisor. These positions shall be filled by election of the Committee members as provided in Article V, below. The Chairperson and Vice Chairperson shall not be of the same sex. The Committee may elect other officers from among its members as it deems appropriate. The election of officers shall be held in every even year at the Committee s organizational meeting, which shall be held no later than April 15 in non-presidential election years, and as defined in state law in presidential election years. If an office is vacated, a special election shall be held at the following meeting to fill that position. The term of officers shall be two years, unless the officer was elected to fill an unexpired term, in which case the officer s term will be the remainder of that term. Officers must be elected by a majority (more than 50%) of voting members present. By-laws of the Boston Ward 21 Democratic Committee (approved May 2014) 2
Section 1: Chairperson The Chairperson shall call and preside over all Committee meetings and caucuses. The Chairperson shall appoint, oversee and serve as an ex-officio member of all sub-committees. The Chair shall have primary responsibility for enforcement of the provisions of these by-laws and for communications among Boston s ward committees, other town and city committees, and the state committee. The Chairperson shall be responsible for all media contact. Section 2: Vice Chairperson(s) The Vice Chairperson(s) shall assist the Chairperson and, in the absence of the Chairperson at a Committee meeting, assume all duties of the Chairperson. Section 3: Secretary The Secretary shall maintain a membership list containing the name, residential address, telephone number, and email address of each member of the Committee. The Secretary shall be responsible for reporting to the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance on Committee organization and election of officers. The Secretary shall keep and distribute minutes of the proceedings of the Committee. The record of the proceedings shall include a record of members present. In the event that the Secretary is absent at a meeting of the Committee, the Chairperson shall appoint an Acting Secretary. Section 4: Treasurer The Treasurer shall have the care and custody of all funds of the committee; shall collect, receive, and deposit all monies and make all disbursements under the supervision and direction of the Committee; shall keep accurate books of account; and shall submit the required financial reports to the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance. At a meeting during the first four months of the year, the Treasurer shall present an annual written report for the previous fiscal year, and shall, upon request of any member reasonably in advance, give an oral report at any regular meeting. Section 5: Affirmative Action and Outreach Advisor The Affirmative Action and Outreach Advisor shall have special responsibility for actively recruiting minority members (as defined by the Charter of the Democratic Party of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as amended) from all social, economic, religious, age, gender, sexual orientation and ethnic groups and geographic areas of Boston s Ward 21. The Affirmative Action and Outreach Advisor shall also maintain open channels of communication between these various groups and areas and this Committee. ARTICLE V: MEETINGS & VOTES Section 1: Frequency Meetings must be held at least quarterly. If the Chairperson does not call quarterly meetings, a meeting may be called by the Vice Chairperson or by signed petition from at least 20% of the regular members of the Committee to the Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, or Secretary. By-laws of the Boston Ward 21 Democratic Committee (approved May 2014) 3
Section 2: Notice The Chairperson or Secretary must notify members of meetings no fewer than seven days in advance by any of the following: A. Email B. Phone C. Mail D. In person If there will be votes on officers, membership, or endorsements at the meeting, the notification of the meeting must so specify by mail or email. Section 3: Quorum Thirty-five percent (rounded up) of the total number of Elected and Appointed Members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. If a member cannot make it to a meeting, at the discretion of the Chairperson, a member s participation by phone may count as being present at the meeting and in establishing the quorum. A quorum is necessary for: A. Election of officers B. Appointment or removal of members or associate members C. Endorsements Section 4: Voting Voting on officers, membership, endorsements, by-laws, and dues shall be by secret ballot, to be counted by the Secretary and at least one other regular member of the Committee. Section 5: Breaking a Tie In the case of a tie vote on any issue, the Chairperson will be the deciding vote. In the absence or inability of the Chairperson, the Vice Chairperson(s) will have the deciding vote(s). Section 6: Discussion Limitation To allow time for all members to participate in discussion at meetings, a time limit for each speaker may be set at the discretion of the Chairperson. Section 7: Phone Participation Phone participation will be at the discretion of the Chairperson. ARTICLE VI: ENDORSEMENTS The Committee may endorse, support and/or oppose matters subject to public referenda, proposed legislation, Democratic candidates in non-partisan or partisan elections, and any issues pertaining to the stated purpose of this Committee in Article II, above. No member may use or authorize the use of the Committee's name in furtherance of any campaign unless explicitly authorized by the Committee. The Committee shall endorse by a vote of at least two-thirds of voting members present or one-third of the total number of voting members, whichever is higher, with a quorum present. In a race with more than two candidates, if no candidate receives an endorsement in the first round of voting, a runoff vote may be taken between the candidates who placed first and second. By-laws of the Boston Ward 21 Democratic Committee (approved May 2014) 4
ARTICLE VII: FISCAL YEAR The fiscal year shall be January 1 to December 31. ARTICLE VIII: DUES Each member will pay dues to support Committee activities. The amount of dues to be paid shall be determined annually by a majority vote at a meeting with a quorum present. The committee will stipulate the due date of dues. In the case of financial hardship, a member may contact the Chair or Treasurer to request a waiver of dues payment. All members who have not received a waiver must pay their dues by the due date to maintain their membership and voting privileges. ARTICLE IX: REMOVAL OF MEMBERS Members and officers pledge themselves by accepting office to perform diligently and honorably their duties, and, if they cannot, to resign. In addition to a member s failure to meet the attendance policy stated in Article III, Section 4, above, members of the Committee may be removed by procedures that guarantee adequate notice and due process and by a two-thirds vote of those present and voting, a quorum being present, for any of the following: A. Publicly endorsing or supporting any candidate whose announced intention is to oppose the nominee of the Democratic Party which nominee publicly supports the majority of the platform of the Democratic Party as adopted at the most recent state and national Democratic conventions. A member for whom a long and deeply held belief would be violated by support of the nominee shall not be removed under this section. B. Obstructing Committee business. C. Unauthorized use of the Party or Committee name or resources. D. Conviction after appeals are exhausted of a criminal offense other than a misdemeanor. A member must be given an opportunity to resign before notice of the hearing on the question of removal is given to the membership of the committee. If the Committee refuses to act upon or remove a member duly charged, the failure to do so may be appealed by 20% of membership to the Judicial Council. A member removed under this section shall have 30 days to appeal to the Judicial Council, and the vacancy may not be filled in such case until the final decision of the Judicial Council is made. E. A member is appointed to a state or federal office that precludes membership in a partisan political body. ARTICLE X: MEMBERSHIP VACANCIES A vacancy may be caused by any of the following circumstances: A. Fewer than the full number of members was elected to the Committee. B. A member submits his or her resignation to the Secretary or Chair of the Committee. C. A member s status changes due to non-attendance, in accordance with Article III Section 4. D. A member is removed from the Committee, in accordance with Article IX. E. A member cancels or changes his or her party enrollment or affiliation. The Committee may, but is not required to, fill vacancies should the number of members drop below 21. By-laws of the Boston Ward 21 Democratic Committee (approved May 2014) 5
ARTICLE XI: AMENDMENT OF BY-LAWS Amendments to these by-laws may be proposed in writing at any meeting of the Committee, providing the amendment is signed by five voting members. A proposed amendment shall be placed on the announced agenda of the following meeting of the Committee. An amendment shall be adopted on the vote of two-thirds of voting members present, provided that a quorum is present. By-laws of the Boston Ward 21 Democratic Committee (approved May 2014) 6