[statecom-discuss] Voting on Proposals 264 and 265

[Yarden]

I expect to be voting "Yes" on the following two proposals currently 
being voted, barring any concerns expressed by State Party members.
Elie Yarden,
delegate NCMA  GRP

I have nothing to add to the background statements other than to say 
that in both cases these represent a positive response to past 
difficulties and reduce confusion.
EY
I have nothing toome
VAdmi
Proposal ID
264
Proposal
Revision Of Presidential Campaign Support Committee PCSC Policies And 
Procedures
Presenter
PCSC
Floor Manager
Holly Hart
Phase
Voting
Discussion
02/26/2007 - 03/11/2007
Voting
03/12/2007 - 03/18/2007
Presens Quorum
0.6666
Consens Quorum
A Majority of Yes and No Votes

Background
In April 2006, the GNC approved Proposal 215, amending the PSCS P&Ps to 
put in a more thorough mission statement and objectives list.  With a 
clearer concept of what the role of the committee should be, the PCSC 
now needs to amend its P&Ps to have more thorough policies and 
procedures for internal committee decision-making, as the existing 
rules are extremely deficient.

Substantive changes from the original P&Ps include:

* Liaisons from other committees will no longer be considered voting 
members.

* All state parties and caucuses may put at least three people on the 
committee, or as many people as the state or caucus is entitled to have 
on the GNC, whichever number is larger.  Under the old rules, state 
parties will smaller delegations could place only up to two members on 
the committee.

* The number of co-chairs is reduced from four to two, and rules for 
election are added.

* Language on member sanction and removal is added to match similar 
P&Ps from other committees.

* Language on decision-making processes are added.

The role of the committee has changed since its inception.  The 
committee has evolved into being a working committee more like most 
other standing committees.  This was reflected in the enhanced mission 
statement approved last April.

This proposal, by making it clearer how PCSC is to handle 
decision-making and other things, will make it easier for proposals to 
be reported out by PCSC in a timely manner and should in general create 
a clearer working environment for committee members.

Proposal
The following Policies and Procedures document for the Presidential 
Campaign Support Committee is hereby approved by the National 
Committee, which will replace the existing document:

----------

GPUS Presidential Campaign Support Committee (PCSC)
Policies and Procedures

I.  Mission Statement

The PCSC will represent GPUS in the coordination of communication with 
Green Presidential campaigns. To that end, it will coordinate between 
accredited state parties and caucuses, national committees, GPUS and 
the nominee to ensure that there is both good communication and working 
relationship between party and candidate. In future presidential 
election cycles, before there is a nominee, the PCSC will be 
responsible for some aspects of helping the state parties through the 
nominee-finding process. The PCSC will as a matter of course take 
grassroots input into account, and have as overarching goal the growth 
of the Green Party.

II.  Objectives

The following is a non-exhaustive list of objectives and goals which 
the PCSC will be charged with carrying out. Additional objectives may 
be added by the GPUS National Committee, Steering Committee, or full 
PCSC.

A.  The PCSC will liaison between candidates and the Ballot Access 
Committee to formulate and implement ballot access strategy;

B.  The PCSC will create and maintain a list of initial points of 
contact, bylaws, and election laws for each state and caucus to provide 
as resource to the candidates (before the convention) and nominee 
(after the convention);

C.  The PCSC will assist state parties in creating and conducting a 
process that gets grassroots input into determining presidential 
preference and selecting delegates to the nominating convention.  Prior 
to the Nominating Convention the PCSC will assist state parties in 
polling their membership to determine potential candidates and will 
publish the results of the poll, as well as sending a letter to all 
potential candidates consisting of the results of the poll and our 
contact information as a committee so that potential candidates may 
reach us to make use of our available support services;

D.  The PCSC will coordinate public debates between candidates for the 
GPUS nomination;

E.  The PCSC will lead and organize efforts to open the presidential 
debates to Green Candidates and work to raise awareness of open debates.

F.  The PCSC will lead and liaison between the ANMC, Media Committee, 
and candidates on coordination of a pre-nomination candidate forum and 
post nomination campaign launch at the Presidential Nominating 
Convention.

G.  In cooperation with ANMC, Media Committee and Webmaster, the PCSC 
will create and maintain an official pre-Convention web site to provide 
candidate information, resource links and tracking of the delegate 
selection process, and a post-convention web site to display the 
results of the nominating convention and provide links to the 
presidential candidate's official web site.

H.  The PCSC will provide coordination for communication between the 
GPUS committees and the candidates (before the convention) and nominee 
(after the convention);

I.  The PCSC will assemble legal resources and advisors on issues of 
federal election law where appropriate and necessary;

J.  The PCSC will provide coordination with the CCC regarding 
cooperation between nominee and down-ticket candidacies.

K.  The PCSC will develop, and administer GPUS candidate questionnaire 
to potential candidates and make available candidate responses to State 
Parties through the GPUS web site, National Committee delegates, Caucus 
delegates, and State Chairs.

II.  Committee Structure

A.  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).

B.  Committee Liaisons.  In addition to members from state parties and 
caucuses, the PCSC will have one seat for liaisons from every standing 
committee of GPUS.  The committee liaisons will not be considered 
voting members of the PCSC unless they are separately approved by state 
parties or caucuses.  Committee liaisons are not subject to approval 
from the PCSC membership.

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

D.  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.

E.  Co-Chairs.

1.  Two co-chairs, preferably reflecting gender balance, shall be 
elected with staggered terms of two years each.  The method of 
conducting elections shall be Single Transferable Voting with a 
fractional Droop threshold, using the method specified in GPUS bylaws 
and rules 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.

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, with prior committee review, on at least a quarterly basis to 
the NC list detailing committee activities. The co-chairs shall come to 
explicit agreement and continue to consult with each other about how 
their joint responsibility is to be shared.

F.  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.

III.  Committee Membership

A.  Joining the Committee

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

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.

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

B.  Sanction or Removal of Members

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.  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.  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.

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.

4.  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.

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

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.

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.

6.  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:

a.  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.

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

c.  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.

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

e.  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.

f.  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.

g.  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.}

IV.  Decision-Making

A.  The voting membership shall attempt to reach consensus on all 
proposals.

B.  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.

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

D.  Teleconferences.  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.

E.  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.

F.  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.

G.  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
CONTACT:  Phil Huckelberry, Co-Chair, PCSC, phil at mcgreens.org

P&Ps will need to be updated on GPUS website.

References
None
Home
Vote
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History
Contacts
A
Proposal ID
265
Proposal
Instructions to Budget Writers
Presenter
Georgia Green Party Green Party of Rhode Island
Floor Manager
Katey Culver
Phase
Voting
Discussion
03/05/2007 - 03/11/2007
Voting
03/12/2007 - 03/18/2007
Presens Quorum
0.6666
Consens Quorum
A Majority of Yes and No Votes

Background
Concerns raised in the course of discussion on the budget
proposal have highlighted the failure of our Party to adhere to
its existing fiscal policy, to appropriately reflect that our
2006 operations have been funded by borrowing heavily from state 
sharing revenues and other dedicated funds and its reserves.
Delegates have asked for better accounting controls over these
practices, as well as a commitment to repay these reserves.

This resolution is designed to give specific guidance to the
Steering Committee on how a future budget ought to be presented, and 
asks specifically that the underlying assumptions in the proposed 
budget be documented with narrative plans and
financial reports.

Proposal
A resolution to provide guidance to the Steering Committee on
the preparation of a budget for 2007; and for other purposes.

A Resolution of the
National Committee of the
Green Party of the united States

Resolved, that the Steering Committee is instructed, in its
next submission of a proposed FY2007 Budget to report back,
as components of its budget proposal, the following documents:

   -- a fundraising plan;

   -- an outreach plan;

   -- a balance sheet and income statements reflecting
   revenues and obligations accrued during the previous
   budget cycle;

   -- cash flow projections documenting historical
   performance, and assumptions underlying any changes
   projected;

   -- a proposal for segregated accounts for the handling
   of state-sharing revenues and other funds accounted for
   by the Party but which are not available for General
   Fund expenditures; and

   -- a revised proposal for an FY2007 Budget, which:

   * appropriately accounts for state and caucus sharing
   revenues;

   * appropriately accounts for contributions accepted
   for designated purposes;

   * retires the Party's past due obligation to the state
   sharing program;

   * restores the reserve account within the Fiscal Year
   to at least 75% of the mandated level;

   * prioritizes fundraising development work and support
   for the member State Parties.

Resources
CONTACT: Hugh Esco

Steering Committee, Finance Committee and staff time preparing
the planning documents and financial statements required by
this resolution.

References
2007 Proposed Budget
http://www.gp.org/cgi-bin/vote/propdetail?pid=254
Donor Bill of Rights
http://www.gp.org/documents/donorrights.shtml
Section 5., related to Fiscal Policy
http://www.gp.org/documents/rules.shtml