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Proposal Details

Proposal ID	421
Proposal	Amendment of SC RPPs to provide for clear SC agenda-setting process
Presenter	Green Party of California
Floor Manager	Tor Thorsen
Phase	Closed
Discussion	11/02/2009 - 11/29/2009
Voting	11/30/2009 - 12/06/2009
Result	Adopted
Presens Quorum	34 0.6666
Consens Quorum	43 A Majority of Yes and No Votes

Background

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Currently the Steering Committee (SC) RP&Ps have sections defining SC meeting quorum and minutes, but are silent on the process of developing and circulating the SC meeting agenda, and how proposals to the SC are submitted. This lack of clarity can make it difficult for SC members and GPUS staff to effectively prepare for and participate in those meetings and for National Committee (NC) members to know what is being considered in their name. For example:

- without any deadline for when agenda items can be submitted, the Secretary is put in a difficult position to prepare a clear agenda draft;

- without any deadline for when agenda items can be submitted, SC members can not know when they can schedule meeting preparation time or even know what the agenda items will be, increasing the chances that SC members are not prepared for the meetings and that the meetings will suffer in time and effectiveness;

- without knowing whether agendized items are decision-making items or not, and without any written content for proposals, SC members can not know what is being proposed, increasing the chances that SC members are not prepared for the meetings and that the meetings will suffer in time and effectiveness;

- without knowing whether agendized items are decision-making items or not, and without any written content for proposals, NC members can not know what is being proposed in their name and can not exercise their right to give input to SC members before the SC meeting;

- without posting an agenda draft the NC, NC members can not know what is being discussed in their name and can not exercise their right to give input to SC members before the SC meeting;

- without posting an agenda draft the NC, there is a disincentive for NC members to observe the SC's conference calls, even though the SC's RP&Ps establish a procedure for such observation;

- without a clear agenda process, the likelihood is increased that unnecessary time be spent on SC calls amending the agenda, taking scarce time away from the needed business items.

This proposal would establish a timeline and process for items to be submitted and agenda drafts circulated, and specific criteria for how proposals are presented.

As a result of this proposal, agendas would be more clear in terms of what is agendized and what is proposed and why. Steering Committee members would be more clear on when they need to submit agenda items and when they can schedule time to prepare for the meetings and know what material they have to review. National Committee members will have sufficient advance notice of SC agendas and content so that they may react to that content within the NC and to the SC members they elected.

In sum, by establishing a more certain and transparent process, SC members will be better able to prepare themselves for each meeting and the meetings will be more accessible to NC members at the same time.

Finally in approving this proposal and submitting it to the SC, the GPCA specifically invited the SC to co-sponsor it when it went to the National Committee, and specifically invited SC input regarding potential amendments during the discussion period.

This proposal was communicated to the SC on October 18th and on November 10th, one SC member offered potential amendments, focusing primarily on the issue of flexiblity in the preparation and publishing of the agenda. The GPCA considered those concerns and amended the proposal in response, by making it clear that the proposed agenda process contains sufficient flexibility at the same time it provides a clear timeline for submissions and publishing.

Proposal

PROPOSAL: That the following section be added to the Steering Committee Rules, Policies and Procedures as Section 2B; that the existing sections 2B, 2C and 2D be renumbered as 2C, 2D and 2E; and that in renumbered 2C the term Executive Session be spelled out rather than being abbreviated as 'ES'.

B. Agenda

1) An agenda shall be established for each meeting. Each agenda shall
include those items required by GPUS Bylaws, Rules and Procedures or
otherwise determined by the National Committee. Additional items may be
submitted by individual Steering Committee members. GPUS staff may
suggest agenda items related to their work, but only Steering Committee
members may submit them for the agenda. The Secretary shall regularly
agendize reports from GPUS staff, unless otherwise directed by the
Steering Committee.

2) Agenda items shall be sent to the Steering Committee and compiled by
the Secretary. Agenda items shall include whether an item is a
decision-making item, report or a discussion item, a title and brief
description, who are the anticipated presenter(s) and how much time is
requested. If the item is a decision-making item, it shall contain a
brief description of what is being proposed, and if the entire text of
the proposal is available, it shall include that. While it is not always
possible to present a proposal fully in advance of a meeting, sponsors
are strongly encouraged to submit as much specificity about
decision-making items as possible in advance and to provide supportive
documents or references as needed.

3) The Secretary shall circulate a draft agenda to the Steering
Committee for input and feedback at least 96 hours in advance of each
meeting (the 96-hour draft). Draft agendas shall include whether an
agenda item is a decision-making item, report or a discussion item, its
title and brief description, who are the anticipated presenter(s), how
much time is proposed, as well as any attachments from a proposal's
sponsor, including the full text of any proposal where available. A link
to such attachments is acceptable in lieu of reprinting the entire text
within the agenda.

4) Steering Committee members may suggest changes to the 96-hour draft
agenda. The Secretary shall revise the 96-hour draft agenda in response
to those suggested changes and present an updated draft agenda to both
the Steering Committee and National Committee at least 48 hours in
advance of a meeting (the 48-hour draft).

5) There may be instances where extraordinary circumstances prevent
adherence to these time lines, but the Secretary shall make a
reasonable, good-faith effort to follow this schedule by posting as
close to the 96-hour and the 48-hour draft agenda deadlines as possible.
When the Secretary knows in advance that these deadlines can not be met,
notice shall be given to the Steering Committee (for the 96-hour draft
and 48-hour draft) and National Committee (for the 48-hour draft)
stating that this is so and when the relevant draft agenda can be expected.

6) After the release of the 48-hour draft, if Steering Committee members
have additional agenda amendments they would like to propose at the
beginning of the meeting, they are strongly encouraged to submit them to
the Steering Committee email list as soon as possible before the
meeting, to the extent they are able to anticipate the need.

7) At the beginning of each meeting, the Steering Committee may amend
the agenda, and an agenda item to this effect shall be included as the
first order of business at the beginning of each meeting. The time and
order of already agendized items may be amended by a majority vote. New
agenda items may be added by a 2/3 vote.

8) Steering Committee members are encouraged to suggest items they may
have for future meetings in order to aid in long term agenda planning.

Resources

IMPLEMENTATION/TIMELINE/RESOURCES: The GPUS Secretary currently performs the functions of preparing and circulating the agenda. This proposal would not change that, but would provide a more clear and efficient process for it to occur.

References

REFERENCES: Existing SC RP&Ps

http://green.gpus.org/cgi-bin/vote/propdetail?pid=251
http://green.gpus.org/cgi-bin/vote/propdetail?pid=246

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