6 June 2004

Recorder: Wayne Turner. (Note: edited from email format for better web presentation, aal)

This is my reconstruction of what went on in our June 6th meeting.

Attending:

• Jerry (Gerald Surh)
• Amy (Amelia Lewis)
• Elena (Elena Everett)
• Wayne (Wayne Turner)
• Susan (Susan O'Neill)

There were no new attendees.

Jerry passed out an agenda which included announcements, bylaw discussion, Mission Statement discussion, report on June 5th Prog Dems Caucus meeting, communicator's explanation of available lists, next meeting, new business.

Elena announced a campus greens fundraising event at Global Village on June 18th. This is to raise money to send campus greens' members to several upcoming events over the summer and into the fall. Their goal is to raise $2000.00.

Jerry brought copies of the annotated by-laws resulting from our by-law development meeting at Carburito's in May. The meeting proceeded through the annotated minutes and discussed proposed changes.

Sections I and II are approved as is. Section III, Membership, generated some discussion. Specifically, would being a 'member' of the Triangle Area Greens (TAG) mean? Discussion centered around minimum requirements which a member must meet to have voting rights conferred upon them. Proposals and ideas were (1) attendance at least three meetings in a 12 month period, with the third meeting conferring voting rights (2) payment of dues, (3) the idea that an attendee could be conferred voting rights at the discretion of the voting membership at a meeting. Amy has agreed to draft a proposal incorporating some of the suggested ideas into a from which could be voted on at the next meeting.

Section IV, Organization, has had the language on co-chairs redefined to fit the organization's current size. Specifically, instead of the initial language in part (a) of Sub-section IV-2, top of page 2, the language now reads:

[Editor's note: the recorder noted changes by using a bold font. Unfortunately, the editor's mail system has no such concept, so the information was lost. On the other hand, the editor has never acquired an electronic virus. Go figure. Apologies for the missing information.]

(a) A minimum of one co-chair and a maximum of two co-chairs shall be elected by ....

In addition, subsequent occurrences of the term 'Co-chair' in the remainder of part (a) are changed to the term 'Co-chair(s)'.

Two new items are added to part(a), Sub-section IV-2. a new item (iii) reads (this is my rendition of the proposed language, which I show only as moving item (iv) from part(b) of section IV to create a a new part(a) item (iii) )

iii. The Co-chair(s) will serve as the initial contact for inquiries by interested persons.

A new item (iv) has been added to part (a) Sub-section IV-2:

iv. The Co-chair(s) will be responsible for fund-raising.

My notes do not reflect the language in part (c) of Section IV. As I recall, Amy had reservations about item (ii), related to the the phrase 'accessible to all members'. Currently, posted material has to be posted by Amy (and Brad?). Because of a need to prevent tampering with the host server, Amy needs certainty that it is safe. I can't recall whether or not Amy was going to redefine the language.

[Editor's Note: the bylaws may need to change to reflect the fact that anyone who owns internet-capable computing machinery is likely to be a first-class paranoid with regard to security. Editing access will always be constrained in some way.]

Part (d) of Section IV had some changes made. However, I was tasked to craft language for this section covering the responsibilities of the treasurer. This includes annotations I noted during the meeting. The language in this section should agree with language in the membership section.

proposed item (d), Sub-section IV-2:

d. A Treasurer and a Treasurer-elect shall be elected in August of 2004. Each of them should learn the regulations governing political organizations set by the N.C State Board of Elections (SBoE). The Treasurer-elect will succeed the Treasurer in January of 2005, and a new Treasurer-elect will be chosen. Every six months thereafter, the Treasurer-elect will become Treasurer, and a new Treasurer-elect will be chosen.

(i) The duties of the Treasurer elect shall be:

(a) To learn the appropriate SBoE regulations as soon as feasible after election.

(b) To act as Treasurer in the absence of the elected Treasurer.

(ii) The duties of the Treasurer shall be:

(a) Maintaining the funds and and monetary assets of the in good order.

(b) Disbursing funds and monetary assets of the Triangle Area Greens for legitimate expenses, as approved by the Steering Committee, which is described in sub-section IV-3.

(c) Collecting and recording suggested membership contributions, as required in Section III, MEMBERSHIP, part (?).

(d) Collecting and recording donations to the Triangle Area Greens as required by the rules and regulations of the SBoE.

(e) Reporting the state of the Triangle Greens' assets to the general membership at the monthly General Meeting.

(f) Working closely with the Treasurer of the North Carolina Green Party to manage funds and meet reporting requirements of the state party, insofar as they apply to Triangle Area Greens' funds and assets.

(g) Upon succeeding to the position of the Treasurer, to define the amount of suggested membership contributions, as required in Section III, MEMBERSHIP, part (?).

The language applicable to the Steering Committee was altered to reflect the changes in the number of co-chairs in Sub-section IV-2, part (a), and in subsequent parts where the term 'Co-chair is used. Specifically, in parts (a) and (b) of subsection IV-3, the term 'Co-chairs' was altered to read 'Co-chair(s)'.

An part (d) has been added to subsection IV-3:

IV-3, part (d): The Steering Committee will meet at least once every six-months in person, outside of the General Meeting, and this meeting will be announced at least 10 days in advance via e-mail on the appropriate Triangle Area Greens listserv.

This is not the exact language in my notes, but language I am proposing as a way to more clearly define the Steering Committee's responsibilities. My changes are in italics. [Editor's note: well, no they aren't, and fish on you, dearie.]

Subsection IV-4 had some alterations made to parts (c), (d), and (e). Specifically, item (i) of part (c), subsection IV-4, page (3), now reads:

(i) Action Committee chairs shall be elected by the Committee itself.

Part (d), subsection IV-4, page (3), now reads:

(d) Triangle Area Greens members are expected to support the work of the Committees, and not to oppose them publicly.

Part (e), subsection IV-4, page (4), has had the word 'Agenda' replaced by the word 'Steering'.

Section V, DECISION MAKING, was not universally agreed upon at the meeting. After some discussion, Amy was asked to write a proposal for this section.

Sections VI and VII appear to have been accepted as is.

Meeting adjourned around 6:30. It was agreed that a subsequent meeting would take place at Jerry Surh's home on June 22. This is to be a potluck with dinner at 6:30 PM and more by-law discussion at 7:00 PM. The intent of this meeting is to approve a set of bylaws prior to the July sabbatical's of Jerry and Elena.

Wayne Turner

June 19, 2004