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Proposal Details

Proposal ID	69
Proposal	Proposal to Restructure the Steering Committee
Presenter	BRPP
Floor Manager	Greg Gerritt
Phase	Closed
Discussion	01/19/2004 - 02/08/2004
Voting	02/09/2004 - 02/16/2004
Result	Adopted
Presens Quorum	28 0.6666
Consens Quorum	48 0.6666 of Yes and No Votes

Background

This proposal is the result of the BRPP’s research, analysis and proposal for the
Steering Committee (SC) restructuring. It is based on the “Part II”
of the BRPP report that delegates received and discussed at the Coordinating Committee (CC) meeting in Washington D.C. this past summer and is based on that report and input given there (http://www.gp.org/conference2003.html).

Some is also based on the “ Part I- Committees” report which contains the by-law amendment on Committees (Sect III) that passed this summer . Any delegate who feels the need for a refresher on this year’s organization definition efforts, should review that report and by-law change.

The first major change in this proposal is an expansion from five to seven USGP
co-chairs. We have heard few if any concerns by delegates on this, a vast majority
agreeing that we need more people to match the workload. Some wanted to increase
the number to 9, 11 or even more CoChairs but the BRPP felt that this can happen in
the future if warranted and starting slowly was the most prudent step, since
decreasing the number of CoChairs would be more difficult than increasing it.

In addition. we have structured the SC so that individual CoChairs “shall” directly oversee and be responsible for certain “natural groupings” (by function) of
committees, in what we are calling a “portfolio approach” to management, as
detailed in the Part II report. It calls for a recommended structure, yet allows
flexibility, in order to take advantage of skills of certain SC members and
event-driven situations. It allows the SC to self organize after yearly elections,
rather than having the CC elect delegates to certain positions. Since the SC will
be the ones who must utilize the system we felt that the best management practice
would be to allow the SC to determine their form that yields their function.

The only constant required is that some kind of individual coordination by SC
members of groupings of committees will occur. The question of how many SC members
work with which committees has a recommended structure but allows for circumstances
to influence organizational schemes.

We have specifically not included a specific, unambiguous procedure for SC
elections, other than a basic overview. The BRPP is currently forming a working
group to research and analyze the situation and will be proposing an SC electoral
system before next year’s elections. We have also, of course, left the specific
“nuts and bolts” of function for the SC to present in their own P&P document, which
is currently being developed within the SC, as with other committees.

(Note: The SC is a committee of the USGP, even though it has the function of
coordinating other committees. They, like other committees, are expected to
present their specific P&Ps containing policies and procedures for accomplishing
functions delegated to them by the CC, a project currently being tackled by SC
members)

The BRPP welcomes questions and hope that this second by-law amendment will
accommodate the growth of the party into the future. Feel free to contact Andy
Parks, or Greg Gerritt or Thomas Sevigny of the BRPP either off or on this listserv.

Proposal

ARTICLE IV. THE STEERING COMMITTEE
The Steering Committee (SC) of the Green Party of the United States shall be
composed of nine members: seven co-chairs, a Secretary, and a Treasurer.
Co-chairs shall be selected from and elected by the Coordinating Committee
(CC) of the Green Party of the United States for terms of two years, with a
limit of two consecutive terms.

The secretary and the treasurer shall be drawn from the membership of the
affiliated state Green Parties and shall serve two year terms without term
limits.

The SC shall coordinate the activities of the standing committees and ad
hoc committees that may be formed.

--------------------

Figure 1: http://www.wagreens.org/GPOrgChart.doc

As seen in Figure 1, the SC shall organize using a portfolio approach,
via which individual designated members of the SC shall coordinate various
natural groupings of USGP Committees. As new committees are added, the SC shall decide which portfolio they naturally belong in. Input from the co-chairs of the new committee will be solicited.

Following each years SC elections the SC shall organize with all but the
secretary, the treasurer and two co- chairs coordinating portfolio groups
of committees. The remaining two co-chairs shall be utilized at the pleasure
of the SC. These two co-chairs may serve as coordinating overseers of the
entire Steering Committee (as detailed in Figure 1), may directly assist a
portfolio-assigned SC member in their oversight of groupings of committees
or the SC may take any alternative approach.

In addition, although the recommended five portfolio structure does not
include portfolio assignments for Secretary and Treasurer, this shall not
preclude assignment(s) of portfolios to these two SC positions if, at the
time of organization or reorganization, the SC feels it is beneficial to
assign certain committees for portfolio coordination to the Secretary and
Treasurer.

Grouping of committees shall be determined at the pleasure of the SC as
circumstances dictate, using the following groupings as a template for
natural groupings.

1) Internal Coordinator:
a. Personnel Committee
b. Accreditation Committee
c. Bylaw, Rules, Policies and Procedures (BRPP)
d. Communications Committee
e. Event Planning Committee
2) Outreach Coordinator
a. Media Committee
b. Green Pages
c. Merchandise Committee
3) Electoral Coordinator
a. Coordinated Campaign Committee (CCC)
b. Office Holder network
c. Presidential Exploratory Committee
4) Policy Group Coordinator
a. Platform Committee
b. International Committee
c. Diversity Committee
5) Finance Coordinator
a. Fundraising Committee
b. Finance Committee

Although consensus decision making on the yearly organizational structure of
the SC is preferable, the SC may if necessary, by 2/3 vote, initiate a
different organizational structure at the time of each yearly post-election
organization. The SC may also alter the organizational scheme at any time by consensus, or 2/3 vote if consensus is not achieved.

Responsibilities of the portfolio-holding co-chairs shall include:

1) Maintenance of communications with committee co-chairs and, when
applicable, other committee designees regarding tasking of the committee,
receiving work product and assuring quality and accuracy of work product.
2) Eliciting and receiving written reports from committees for
distribution to the CC.
3) Assuring smooth and efficient functioning of committees by working with
committee co-chairs and members.
4) Tracking and participating in day-to-day committee activities via
listservs and meetings.
5) Facilitating work of the committee co-chairs, and communications with,
the rest of the SC, CC and other committees.
6) Informing the SC of activities and carrying out directive of the SC as
they affect the committees in the co-chairs portfolio.
7) Carrying out all directives from the CC and or SC, as may be received
from time to time.
8) Assuring compliance with all internal Committee Policies and Procedures.

Resources

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References

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