Berkeley Liberty Coaltion Constitution
Daniel C. Burton (dan@autobahn.org)
21 Mar 1998 04:36:13 GMT
I lied. We should have an umbrella organization. I made this one more
simple -- just a President and Vice President.
Constitution of the Berkeley Liberty Coalition
Note: This constitution is based largely on that of the MIT Libertarians,
with a few modifications.
Preamble
As libertarians, our guiding principles are a commitment to voluntary
cooperation and mutual respect, rather than adherence to a strict code for
doing business. This constitution should be read as broadly as possible in
allowing the club to make decisions and get things done, while still
providing the minimal but necessary framework for organization and
authority.
Article I. Name
Berkeley Liberty Coalition shall be the name of this association.
Article II. Purpose
The purpose of this organization shall be to coordinate the activities of
various libertarian organizations on campus, mainly by sharing mailing
lists and linking together web pages.
Article III. Membership
Section 1. General Qualifications
Membership is open to the entire Cal community including; students,
faculty, alumni, and staff.
Section 2. Voting Qualifications
To be considered as a voting member, a person must be a voting member of at
least one affiliated student organization at UC Berkeley. (Only students,
faculty, and staff may vote.)
Section 3. Anti-Hazing Clause
We will not haze according to California State Law; we will not restrict
membership based upon race, color, national origin, sex, sexual
orientation, age or handicap.
Article IV. Meetings
Section 1. Types of Meetings
A regular meeting shall consist of a meeting of people engaged in real time
deliberative arrangement including; in person conference and
teleconference.
An electronic meeting shall consist of a series of deliberations or simple
calls for votes on proposed items which are presented in an electronic or
other medium. These deliberations must have an announced beginning and
conclusion date and time, but may otherwise be separated by any amount of
lag time in which posts are made by the participating and voting members.
Section 2. Meeting Times
A regular meeting for general business should be held at least once per
semester at a date and time set by the President. Additionally, it will not
be necessary to hold regular meetings during academic vacations.
Regular or electronic meetings can be held more often at the discretion of
any officer or event director.
Section 3. Order of Business
Order of business shall be determined by the "presiding officer." The
presiding officer shall be the officer who called the meeting together or
alternately another officer in attendance in order of rank. The presiding
officer may delegate this authority to any member in attendance.
The presiding officer may set times for deliberation and debate for each
agenda item but must provide at least one agenda item for the members to
bring up new business. The time for this item should be set by the members
bringing up the business, but shall not exceed more than a third of the
time of the total meeting allotted, unless approved by the presiding
officer or a majority of members.
Section 4. Voting and Quorum
The necessary quorum to pass decisions shall be at least 3 members, one of
whom must be an elected officer.
In regular meeting any items may be postponed for electronic votes if no
quorum is present.
In electronic meeting the presiding officer shall post a call for votes
setting the time for all votes to be submitted. This time shall be at least
three days (72 hours) from the time of the posted call for votes during an
ongoing electronic meeting and at least one week from the beginning of the
electronic meeting. At least a number of votes equal to quorum must be
submitted by the end of the meeting for decisions to be approved.
All votes for financial appropriation shall be subject to veto by either
the president, treasurer, or presiding officer of the meeting.
Section 5. Announcements
Notices for regular meeting times must be sent at least one week in
advance. Sending postal mail or e-mail shall be sufficient notification.
Notice for electronic meetings are not required. However, the end of
electronic meetings must be no sooner than one week from the announced
beginning.
Article V. Officers and Duties
Section 1. President
The President shall be the officer responsible for all the normal
activities of the organization. The President shall serve as the primary
signatory.
Section 2. Vice President
Keeps the minutes of the regular meetings if desired. Fills the office of
President when the President is unavailable.
Section 3. Event Director
The Event Director acts as president of a specific event run by the club.
This includes the responsibilities of calling meetings, defining tasks,
delegating tasks and ensuring communication. The event director shall be an
official officer until all aspects of the event are concluded including;
actual event concluding and dispersement and reimbursement of funding.
Event directors may appoint sub-officers at his or her discretion for the
specific event.
Section 4. Rank and Terms
The "Standard Officers" shall serve for one year and shall consist of, in
order of rank: President, Vice President.
The "Special Officers" shall serve until the termination of the event and
shall consist of the Event Directors and/or others.
Section 5. Combination of Offices
Any of the Standard Offices may be held by the same person.
Any special office may be held by any other officer.
Article VI. Elections
Section 1. Qualifications for Office
Only students, faculty, and staff may hold elective office.
Section 2. Election Dates
Elections shall be held yearly, in the first month of the second (spring)
semester. Officers will change in mid term thus insuring filled positions
before the start of the fall semester.
Section 3. Procedure
A period of nominations not less than one week shall be announced by the
President or another officer with the President's approval. During this
time, people wishing to serve in office should submit their name to the
president or other officer in charge of elections.
As soon as nominations are announced (including during the nomination
period) votes may be cast electronically or by other means and should be
sent to the President or other officer in charge of elections.
The President or officer in charge of elections should set a date by which
all votes are due. At least one week must pass from the end of the
nomination period to the end of the vote casting period.
Section 4. Determination of Winners
Each nominee receiving a simple majority of votes cast shall be declared
the winner of that office and shall take office at a date set by the
president or elections officer which shall be not longer than two weeks
from the date on which all votes were due.
Quorum for an election shall be the same as for meetings.
If no nominee receives a simple majority of votes, a run- off will occur
among those two with the most vote totals.
Section 5. Transition
Previous officers should assist the newly elected officers into the duties.
To facilitate this, the new officers may grant their authorities to the
previous officers as needed, so long as non person controls both the office
of treasurer and president.
Section 6. Special Elections
In the event that an office becomes unfilled in mid-term the President
shall have the authority to appoint a replacement. This replacement may be
vetoed by the Vice President or Treasurer or by a majority of the members
(by request at a meeting), provided another person wishes to fill the
office.
In the event of a vetoed appointment, an emergency election shall be held
during one meeting (electronic or regular) in which at least a quorum of
votes is cast. The meeting must be announced at least one week in advance.
Until that election, however, the appointed (but vetoed) officer retains
the office on a temporary basis.
In the dire event that all previous officers have resigned, leaving no
replacements, immediate special elections may be held by any meeting with a
quorum present. No announcement need be given in this extreme case. Good
Luck!
Article VII. Removal and/or Replacement of Officers
Section 1. Resignation
Resigned positions should be filled as per Article VI, Section 5.
Section 2. Removal of Officers
Officers may be removed by the recommendation of the President and one
other officer for non-performance of duties. The Vice President and one
other officer may remove the President for non-performance of duties.
Evidence of non-performance must be given.
In such cases the removed officer may ask for a veto of the action by the
general membership at the next regular meeting. A majority vote in favor of
the removed officer shall restore the office to that person immediately.
The membership may call for the removal of an officer upon the presentation
of a petition requesting removal signed by a majority of all the members.
This petition should be presented to the President unless that is the
office for which removal is requested, in which case the petition should be
presented to the Vice President or Treasurer.
Any removed officers shall be replaced as per Article VI, Section 5. In the
event the President is removed, the Vice President shall act as President
(making the necessary appointments) until the President's office is filled.
Article VIII. Constitutional Amendments
Section 1. Proposals
Any member may propose an amendment or amendments. These may be presented
at any meeting.
Section 2. Resolution
A vote for the passage of the amendment shall not take place until the next
(regular or electronic) meeting, the end of which shall not be sooner than
one week from the meeting in which the proposal was made.
Quorum shall be the same as for regular meetings. Amendments will require a
two-thirds majority for passage.
Section 3. The SAS Thinks It's Important Clause
All amendments, additions, or deletions must be filed with SAS, 102 Sproul
Hall.
Section 4. The ASUC Thinks It's Important Clause
All amendments, additions or deletions must be filed with the ASUC Student
Affairs Office within one week of adoption.
Article IX. By Laws
No set of by-laws will be written.
Article X. Dissolution
In the event of dissolution, all unspent privately obtained funds shall be
returned if possible, or otherwise donated to the International Society for
Individual Liberty.