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Proposal Details

Proposal ID	457
Proposal	Presidential Campaign Support Committee Rules, Policies and Procedures amendment
Presenter	Presidential Campaign Support Committee
Floor Manager	Tor Thorsen
Phase	Closed
Discussion	05/31/2010 - 06/13/2010
Voting	06/14/2010 - 06/20/2010
Result	Adopted
Presens Quorum	31 0.6666
Consens Quorum	32 A Majority of Yes and No Votes

Background

The existing Rules, Policies and Procedures of the Presidential Campaign Support Committee (PCSC) were approved by the National Committee (NC) in September 2007 in the form of Proposal #311 (http://gp.org/cgi-bin/vote/propdetail?pid=311). In June 2009 the NC passed proposal #393, which separated Mission Statements to be approved at 2/3, from the rest of a committee's Rules, Policies and Procedures to be approved at simple majority.

Presently the PCSC is seeking to amend its Mission Statement and is submitting a proposal to the NC to that effect. At the same time, the PCSC is taking advantage of this opportunity to do the following minor housekeeping updates on its Rules, Policies and Procedures and submitting them for a vote at the same time.

- renumber and reformat the text to fit into the article/section format the GPUS used in the Convention Rules

- tighten up the language in the Mission Statement, instead of saying "The PCSC will" eleven different times in the same Mission Statement, say it once at the top

Proposal

That the existing Rules, Policies and Procedures be replaced by the following text

GPUS Presidential Campaign Support Committee (PCSC) Rules, Policies and Procedures

Article 1 Structure

Section 1-1 Voting Membership

The voting membership of the committee shall consist of Green Party members from the various state parties and caucuses who have been approved to serve by their state party or caucus. Each state party and caucus may have as many voting members on the committee as they have delegates to the National Committee, or may have as many as three voting members on the committee, whichever number is greater. Each member is entitled to one vote (as opposed to only one vote per state/caucus).

Section 1-2 Committee Liaisons

In addition to members from state parties and caucuses, there shall be one seat for liaisons from every standing committee of GPUS. The committee liaisons will not be considered voting members in their role as liaisons, but may vote if they are otherwise approved by their state parties or caucuses to be a committee member. Committee liaisons are not subject to approval from the PCSC membership.

Section 1-3 Advisors and Observers

The voting members of the committee may at their pleasure approve committee advisers and/or observers who are not voting members from states or caucuses, per the decision making process specified in these policies and procedures.

Section 1-4 Inactivity

Members who have not participated on-line, in subcommittees, or on teleconferences in the last three months shall be considered inactive members and shall not be counted toward a quorum. An updated roster shall be sent to the e-mail list at least every three months.

Section 1-4 Co-Chairs

1-4.1 Two co-chairs, preferably reflecting gender balance, shall be elected to staggered, two year terms. Elections shall be Single Transferable Voting with a fractional Droop threshold, using the method specified in GPUS Bylaws and Rules and Procedures for conducting Steering Committee elections. Members may nominate themselves. Vacancies shall cause a vote for a replacement co-chair. A recall election of a chair may be called, following the procedure for any proposal.

1-4.2 The responsibilities of the co-chairs shall include keeping the committee and its subcommittees and working groups on task, maintaining a current roster of committee members, conducting votes, and communicating with NC and SC members for the PCSC committee and its subcommittees and working groups. Co-chairs shall submit formal reports detailing committee activities, with prior committee review, on at least a quarterly basis to the NC Votes list. The co-chairs shall come to explicit agreement and continue to consult with each other about how their joint responsibility is to be shared.

Section 1-5. Other Subcommittees and Working Groups

The voting membership of the committee may at their pleasure create working groups and subcommittees through the typical proposal process. Any such working groups or subcommittees shall be bound by these committee policies and procedures unless otherwise specified in the proposal to establish the sub-body.

Article II. Membership

Section 2-1. Joining the Committee

2-1.1 New members shall be verified by written permission from their state party or caucus to serve on the committee.

2-1.2 No new member from a state party or caucus shall be seated if that individual exceeds the state party or caucus's allocated members on the committee, until such time that the state party or caucus clarifies which member(s) are to be removed.

2-1.3 State parties and caucuses, through their co-chairs or other appropriate officers, may remove member status for any committee member from their state or caucus at any time, subject to GPUS Bylaws.

Section 2-2. Committee Relations

2-2.1 The committee and its members have a responsibility for maintaining an open, civil, productive working environment, whether meeting in person, by telephone, online, or by any other means.

2-2.2 The committee shall not tolerate actions including misrepresentation of the committee's or a member's work; financial improprieties; violent personal attacks and/or threats (verbal or physical); and discrimination against federal or state (where applicable) protected classes.

2-2.3 In the event of situations arising which can not be resolved within the committee, the use of facilitation, counseling, mediation, and/or arbitration services, as provided through the Dispute Resolution Committee or a mutually agreed upon outside source if necessary, shall be strongly recommended.

Section 2-3 Suspension and Revocation of Membership Privileges

2-3.1 The committee is expressly prohibited from using disagreements regarding differing views on issues and/or business before the committee as a cause for sanction or elimination of membership privileges.

2-3.2 In extremely limited cases such as violent threats against other list members, the co-chair(s) have the discretion to suspend listserv posting privileges, and must immediately place such a suspension to a vote of the committee. The co-chair(s) lack discretion to take any other action without the direction of the committee as specified in this article.

2-3.3 Except as otherwise specified in this article, no suspension of privileges, or termination of membership via processes described in this article, and under no circumstances shall the ability to read a listserv or vote on proposals be revoked unless the following steps are taken:

2-3.3(a) The committee sends a warning to the individual that the behavior is interpreted by the committee as disruptive and ask that the individual please consider their actions, based on a vote as per the proposal guidelines.

2-3.3(b) The committee shall communicate with the member's state party or caucus requesting they intercede with the committee member regarding the behavior(s) in question.

2-3.3(c) Only after attempting to resolve situations internally per the above steps, a proposal may be introduced by means of petition to curtail membership privileges, as follows:

2-3.3(c)i. A petition specifying charge(s) and proposed action(s) may be filed by any three or more members of the committee from three different states (hereafter known as "the petitioners") to require the committee co-chair(s) to initiate and administrate formal action to curtail membership privileges.

2-3.3(c)ii. Upon receipt of any such petition, the co-chair(s) shall forward the petition to the state party or caucus that the member represents.

2-3.3(c)iii. A 2/3 quorum and 2/3 vote, by state, of the committee, shall be sufficient to confirm the charges and the initiate the action(s) detailed in the petition.

2-3.3(c)iv. The committee co-chair(s) shall initiate and execute follow through on the approved action(s) and notify the member immediately following the vote.

2-3.3(c)v. After the member has been informed of disciplinary action, the co-chair(s) shall, in writing, notify the GPUS National Committee and the state party or caucus the member represents of the action taken.

2-3.3(c)vi. The committee member in question may, within seven (7) days of these postings, appeal the committee's action by notifying the GPUS Secretary of the appeal. The Secretary shall forward the appeal to the National Committee.

2-3.3(c)vii. Per GPUS bylaws and rules, any state party or caucus may put forward a proposal to the National Committee to lessen or overturn the action of the committee. A majority vote of the National Committee shall be sufficient to pass the proposal.}

Article III. Meetings and Decision-Making

Section 3-1 Meetings

3-1.1 The committee shall maintain an email listserv for committee business and formal decision-making.

3-1.2 The committee shall, as needed, conduct teleconferences for specific purposes. Notice of any committee teleconference shall be sent out to the e-mail list at least one week in advance and a reminder sent out two days before the teleconference. Such notice shall include a proposed agenda.

Section 3-2 Decision-Making

3-2.1 The voting membership shall attempt to reach consensus on all proposals.

3-2.2 Failing consensus, for decisions pertaining to finance, rules, or other substantive decisions, a two-thirds majority vote is required for approval. For simple proposals including procedural ones, a majority vote is required for approval.

3-2.3 For online votes, quorum for decision-making shall consist of one-fifth of voting members from one-fifth of represented state parties and caucuses, with no less than five states/caucuses represented. Proposals considered online must allow for at least seven days of voting; upon any syntactical change to a proposal, a new seven-day period must begin.

3-2.4 For teleconference votes, quorum for decision-making shall consist of a majority of voting members from at least one-third of represented state parties and caucuses, with no less than five states/caucuses represented. Failing quorum on a teleconference, decisions will be reported out for a seven-day voting period on the listserv.

3-2.5 At face-to-face meetings at GPUS national meetings, quorum for decision-making shall consist of a majority of voting members from at least one-third of represented state parties and caucuses. Failing quorum on a teleconference, decisions will be reported out for a seven-day voting period on the listserv.

Resources

GPUS web page will be updated to reflect changes if approved.

References

Presidential Campaign Support Committee Rules, Policies and Procedures
http://gp.org/cgi-bin/vote/propdetail?pid=311

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