VETERANS
FOR PEACE CHAPTER BY-LAWS
Rachel
Corrie Chapter 109
ARTICLE
I. NAME
The
name of Chapter 109 shall be Rachel Corrie Chapter (RCCVFP) as per
charter granted by the national Veterans For Peace, Inc., (VFP) St. Louis MO on
April 4, 2004.
ARTICLE
II. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
We,
having dutifully served our nation, do hereby affirm our greater responsibility
to serve the cause of world peace. To
this end we will work, with others:
(1) Toward increasing public
awareness of the costs of war,
(2)
To restrain our government from intervening, overtly and covertly, in the
internal affairs of other nations,
(3) To end the arms race and
to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons
(4) To abolish war and violence as instruments of national policy,
internationally and domestically,
(5)
To make non-violent conflict resolution an integral part of national
policy, and
(6) To seek justice for
veterans and victims of war.
To
achieve these goals, members of Rachel Corrie Chapter Veterans For Peace are
dedicated to the use of non-violent means and to maintain an organization that
is both democratic and open with the understanding that all members are trusted
to act in the best interest of the group for the larger purpose of world peace.
We
urge all people who share this vision to join us.
ARTICLE
III. MEMBERSHIP
All
members of Chapter 109 work for peace and anyone supporting this goal is
welcome as a member. Membership
may not be denied because of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or
national origin. Members shall be
classified as Full, Associate or Honorary, in accordance with national VFP
criteria.
ARTICLE
IV. DUES
Chapter
109 requires no dues for membership.
ARTICLE
V. BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Section
1. Directors
The
Board of Directors shall consist of six positions: the President, the Vice
President, the Secretary, the Treasurer, and two Co-Facilitators.
Section
2. Terms of Office
With
the exception of bi-yearly (6-month term) Co- Facilitators, the term of office for the
Directors shall be one year, beginning January 1 and ending December 31.
Section
3. General Responsibilities
The
primary responsibility of the Board of Directors is to serve the needs of the
RCCVFP membership and help achieve the goals of the organization.
Board
approval is required for public displays of RCCVFP opinion and public written
and oral statements representing the RCCVFP.
Section
4. Vacancies
The
membership shall fill any vacancies that may occur on the Board of Directors.
Section
5. Quorum
A
majority of the Board of Directors shall constitute a quorum.
Section
6. Meetings
The
Board of Directors shall hold a meeting at least quarterly in conjunction with
a regularly scheduled chapter meeting. Special
meetings may be called by any of the Directors.
The Secretary shall notify chapter members at least 48 hours in advance
of any meeting of the Board.
All
meetings are open to the membership.
ARTICLE
VI. OFFICERS
Section
1. Offices and Terms
The
officers of the RCCVFP shall be: President, Vice President, Secretary,
andTreasurer. Their terms
of office shall be January 1 through December 31 of the year following their
election.
Section
2. President
The
President shall serve as one of the spokespersons for the
RCCVFP, representing the positions and opinions of the RCCVFP before the media
and other outside interests. The
President must be a full member of the VFP.
The
President-Vice President shall be responsible to maintain an electronic record of all chapter
members, including their names, addresses, telephone numbers and email
addresses. This record shall be
distributed electronically to those members with email addresses
and a printed copy shall be available for review at each
monthly meeting.
Section
3. Vice President
The
Vice President shall assume the duties of the President in his/her absence and
other duties as assigned by the President.
The Vice President will sit as a board member for the term of office.
The Vice President must be a full member of the VFP.
Section
4. Secretary
The
Secretary shall serve as one of the spokespersons for the RCCVFP, representing
the positions and opinions of the RCCVFP before the media and other outside
interests.
The Secretary may be a full or associate member of VFP.
The
Secretary-Treasurer shall keep the minutes for Board of Director meetings and
be responsible for any funds the RCCVFP may accrue or disperse.
If the RCCVFP accrues any funds, the Secretary-Treasurer shall submit a
quarterly financial report to the membership.
Section 5. Treasurer
The Treasurer shall serve as
one of the spokespersons for RCCVFP, representing the positions and opinions
of the RCCVFP before media and other outside interests. The Treasurer will sit as
aboard member for the term of office.
The Treasurer may be a full or associate member of VFP.
The Treasurer is responsible
for any funds the RCCVFP may accrue or disperse and will submit a monthly
financial report to the membership.
The responsibility for receiving and sending
correspondence will be mutually decided between the Secretary and Treasurer.
ARTICLE
VII. MEETINGS
Section
1. Meeting Schedule
Meetings
shall take place monthly on the third Sunday of the month, unless otherwise
determined by the members. The
location of the meeting shall rotate throughout the South Puget Sound area at
a location as agreed upon by the membership in attempt to equitably distribute
membership-driving burden. All
members not attending a meeting will be notified by email and telephone tree.
Section
2. Meeting Co-Facilitators
The co-facilitators are the
organizing force of the chapter. Any
RCCVFP member may be a co-Facilitator. During
their six (6) month term, co-facilitators sit as members of the Board of
Directors.
Facilitators will be named at
the December and June meetings.
During meetings, the co-facilitators chair. They govern by methods that suit their comfort level and
skill. They may change
decision-making processes, but will best serve the group by matching methods
with the desires and readiness of the group.
Reaching consensus is their optimum goal.
Section
3. Agenda
The
co-facilitators, in sensitive consultation with the group, draft the agenda
for the following meeting and decide the order in which the items shall be
discussed. The co-facilitators
shall provide all members with email addresses an electronic copy of a draft
written agenda five (5) days prior to each monthly meeting.
Members without email addresses may call the co-facilitators to
determine the agenda within the same five (5) day period.
Section
4. Minutes
These minutes shall be
forwarded via email within 7 days of the meeting to all members who have email
addresses, regardless of whether they were present at the meeting.
Printed copies of the minutes shall be available at the following
meeting for review by any members without email addresses.
Section
5. Quorum
A
quorum consists of those members attending any scheduled meeting.
Section
6. Transaction of Business Between
Meetings
Decisions that require
prompt action will be performed utilizing electronic means, providing all
notices, quorums, votes and actions take place with full notification of all
members. A telephone tree for
members without email is established with members calling other members in
their toll-free calling area when possible.
Section
7. Open Meetings
All
meetings are open and public. There
will be no secret or closed meetings.
Section
8. Motions, Proposals or Calls for
Decision
Any member may present a
topic for discussion at any time. 'Floor'
items will be placed into the agenda by the co-facilitators.
The co-facilitators will, when appropriate, guide the (topical)
discussion to its natural conclusion. "Conclusion"
includes, but is not limited to, decision, tabling, a dated trial or naming a
team to study & research.
Section
9. Member Response to Co-Facilitators'
Style
Members
are responsible for adjusting their role to the facilitator's style and not
the reverse. Voting, Compromise, Straw Polls, Collaborating and Unilateral
Action, these all call for different member behaviors.
Whether the co-facilitators use a persuasive style or a less
competitive participatory model, it is the members job to adapt.
ARTICLE
VIII. SALARIES
No
salaries or other compensation is available.
ARTICLE
IX. PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY
The
rules in Robert’s Rules of Order will not be used.
ARTICLE X.
ACTION TEAMS (Adopted December 19, 2004)
Rather
than utilize Standing Committees, RCCVFP will function principally through
Action Teams. Each team will then organize, coordinate and direct specific
functions and/or specific types of tasks upon approval of the general
membership.
Chapter
members will determine what Action Teams are to be created and also can dissolve
an Action Team at any time.
The Action Team will be comprised of those who have an interest in a
specific event or function or those who have a special talent/skill/connection
to make an event or function successful. Each team will consist of three or more
members and have a single leader who will report monthly at the general
membership meeting.
A member of an Action Team
shall be defined as a VFP 109 member who signs up to be a member of said Action
Team within seven (7) days of the announcement of the its formation.
Any VFP 109 member wishing to be a member of the Action Team after the
approval of the formation of the team must be approved by a majority of the
members of the team.
ARTICLE
XI. AMENDMENT OF BY-LAWS
The
by-laws may be amended, changed or deleted at any time given proper
notification and opportunity for participation as per Article VII.
[Revised
and Amended 5/15/05 at the May 2005 Monthly Chapter Meeting]
