Ad Hoc Committee’s Recommendations for Changes to the Constitution

Reading and Discussion on Sunday, June 22 after mass

On Sunday, May 4, 2008, the Ad Hoc Constitution and By-Laws Committee presented their report to the Steering Committee at its monthly meeting. The Steering Committee proposed a few changes and this is the revised version. At the June Quarterly Business Meeting we will review this document and open discussion. Any changes agreed upon will be incorporated into the version the Steering Committee will read at the July meeting. The Steering Committee in July will appoint another ad hoc committee to start the process of collating the petition and ballots to forward within 90 days, to notify membership of the next business meeting for the reading of the final document (some time in September), and then to establish 21 days after the September reading as the closing date for voting and to report the results within 30 days. On the web site will be three documents: the current Constitution, the Constitution with the changes in yellow and the rundown of the changes.

Article I, Section 1: replace ‘And as such it’ with DIGNITY/PHILADELPHIA; delete the second ‘shall be’ in the second sentence.

Article II: delete the current Statement of Position and Purpose and replace with the version posted on the Dignity/USA web site with two changes in the new version: Article II, Number 3. SOCIAL JUSTICE, letter b, delete the word ‘other’ and Article II, Number 3, letter c, change ‘bisexuals’ to ‘bisexual’.

Article III, Section 2: delete ‘and DIGNITY/USA’

Article IV, Section 1: delete ‘as follows:’

Article IV, Section 2: replace ‘of ballots cast by membership, received and/or postmarked no later than the established date of election, counted by appropriate officer(s), and certified by an ad hoc committee which shall oversee this purpose’ and replace with ‘as described in Article IV, Section 9.’

Article IV, Section 3: delete ‘shall be one (1) calendar year or until annual chapter elections have been completed’ to ‘is June 1 through May 31 of the following year.’ Then add the following sentence: ‘If any office remains vacant, the Steering Committee has the responsibility to appoint a member for the same year.’

Article IV, Section 4: replace ‘month of April’ with ‘months of March and/or April.’

Article IV, Section 5: replace ‘the First day of June’ with ‘June 1.’

Article IV, Section 6: Add ‘An’ before ‘Individual and the I in Individual will not be capitalized’, delete ‘shall be’ and replace with ‘is’, delete ‘shall be’ and replace with ‘is’, delete ‘shall have been’ and replace with ‘is’ and delete ‘shall’ and replace with ‘must’.

Article IV, Section 9: delete ‘The Elections Committee with the cooperation of the appropriate officer(s) shall.’ and replace with ‘The responsibilities of the Ad Hoc Elections Committee are:’

Article IV, Section 9, Number 1: delete ‘shall’

Article IV, Section 9, Numbers 2 and 3 were previously updated by ballot vote with results announced to membership on April 10, 2005. These remain the same.

Article IV, Section 9, Number 4: replace ‘Establish the date twenty-one (21) days after the close of nominations as the close of voting.’ with ‘The close of voting will be twenty-one (21) days after the close of nominations.

Article V, Section 2: replace ‘to organize’ with ‘organize’; replace ‘to coordinate’ with ‘coordinate’; replace ‘to budget’ with ‘budget’; replace ‘to report’ with ‘report’; replace ‘to conduct’ with ‘conduct’

Article V, Section 3: delete ‘elected at large, and of coordinators each of whom shall represent one (1) Standing Committee.’ with ‘of the chapter as defined in Article IV, Section 1 and one coordinator for each of the Standing Committees.’

Article V, Section 4: add a ‘.’ after Section 1. delete ‘, and that’ and replace with ‘The’, delete ‘; such powers’

ARTICLE VI RECALL FROM OFFICE AND FROM THE STEERING COMMITTEE

***delete all of the following***

Section 1. Members of the Steering Committee may be recalled both from office and from membership on this committee by means of ballots cast by the membership, received and/or postmarked no later than the established closing date of voting any recall, counted by the designated officer(s), and certified by an ad hoc Recall Committee which shall oversee this purpose.

Section 2. Recall shall require a two-thirds (2/3) vote by count of the ballots cast by and received of the membership.

Section 3. Notice shall be given by means of a petition for the recall of any member(s) of the Steering Committee which shall state "cause" and shall bear the signatures of either one-third (1/3) of the members of the Steering Committee or one-quarter (1/4) of the membership.

Section 4. A petition for recall shall be dismissed in the event that the member(s) named therein shall resign from office or that the term(s) of office shall expire.

Section 5. The Steering Committee upon receipt of such notice and petition shall immediately certify that the conditions required above are properly met and that necessary cause to initiate recall proceedings therefore exists. The Steering Committee shall appoint an ad hoc Recall Committee which shall have at least two (2) members other than members of the Steering Committee.

Section 6. The Recall Committee with the cooperation of the appropriate officer(s) shall:

1. Forward a copy of the petition to the member(s) named by certified mail within fourteen (14) days of appointment.

2. Notify the member(s) named that a response in writing may be given to the charge(s) cited as cause by the petition for recall within twenty one (21) days of the letter(s) of notification receipt postmark.

3. Forward copies of the petition and of any response(s) made by the member(s) named in the petition as well as ballots to be used in voting the question of recall to the membership no later than ninety (90) days after the letter(s) of notification receipt postmark.

4. Notify the membership of the date for a general business meeting at which reading and discussion of petition for recall shall occur.

5. Establish the date twenty one (21) days after the reading of the petition for recall as the closing date for voting.

6. Certify the result(s) of the vote. Certification shall include both the count and the requirement for recall.

7. Report the result(s) of the vote to the membership within thirty (30) days of the closing date for voting.

***replace with the following***

Section 1. Members of the Steering Committee may be removed from office and from membership on this committee for ‘cause.’ ‘Cause’ shall be any conduct or action on the part of a Steering Committee member considered in violation of the Constitution and Bylaws of Dignity/Philadelphia or contrary to the best interest of Dignity/Philadelphia.

The action of recall shall occur according to the following:

Section 2. Petition: A petition stating ‘cause,’ as defined above, and requesting the recall of a Steering Committee member shall be submitted to the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee will appoint an Ad Hoc Recall Committee. A recall will require a vote of either one-third of the Steering Committee or one-fourth of the membership. A petition for recall is dismissed if the member(s) resigns from the Steering Committee or term of office expires.

Section 3. Suspension of a Steering Committee member: Pending the resolution of the petition, the Steering Committee, by two-thirds vote, shall have the right to suspend the Steering Committee member until completion of the recall process.

Section 4. The Ad Hoc Committee will:

1. Forward a copy of the petition to the named member(s) by certified mail within seven (7) days of appointment.

2. Notify the named member(s) that a response in writing may be given to the charge(s) cited as cause by the petition for recall within fourteen (14) days of the letter(s) of notification receipt postmark.

3. Notify membership within thirty-five (35) days of appointment of the date of a general business meeting for the reading and discussion of the petition and any response. The notice must include copies of the petition and any response(s) made by the named member(s) as well as ballots to be used in voting the question of recall. Ballots must be returned within fourteen (14) days of postmark.

4. Certify the results of the vote by both the total count and the requirement for recall of a simple majority.

5. Report the results of the vote to the membership within thirty (30) days of the closing date for voting.

***end of Article VI Recall…***

Article VII, Section 2: replace ‘quarterly’ with ‘semiannually’

Article VIII, Section 1: replace ‘and/or postmarked’ with ‘, postmarked and/or emailed’; after counted delete ‘by the appropriate officer(s),’

Article VIII, Section 2: delete ‘shall’, delete ‘(2/3)’, add ‘total’ before the word count, delete ‘cast by and’, delete ‘of’

Article VIII, Section 3: delete ‘(1/3)’ and delete ‘(1/4)’

Article VIII, Section 4:

replace the current reading:

The Steering Committee upon receipt of such notice and petition shall immediately certify that the conditions required above are properly met and that necessary cause to initiate amendment proceedings therefore exists. The Steering Committee shall appoint an Ad Hoc Constitution Committee which shall have at least two (2) members other than members of the Steering Committee.

with this revised reading:

The Steering Committee upon receipt of the petition will certify that the amendment conditions are met. The Steering Committee shall appoint an Ad Hoc Constitution Committee which shall have at least two (2) members other than members of the Steering Committee.

Article VIII, Section 5:

Replace the current reading:

The Constitution Committee with the cooperation of the appropriate officer(s) shall:

1. Forward copies of the petition as well as and ballots to be used in voting the question of amendment to the membership within ninety (90) days of appointment.

2. Notify the membership of the date for a general business meeting at which reading and discussion of the proposed amendment(s) shall occur.

3. Establish the date twenty one (21) days after the reading of the petition to amend as the closing date for voting.

4. Certify the result(s) of the vote. Certification shall include both the count and the requirement for amendment.

5. Report the result(s) of the vote to the membership within thirty (30) days of the closing date for voting.

With this revised reading:

The responsibilities of the Ad Hoc Constitution Committee are:

1. Forward copies of the petition and ballots to be used in voting the question of amendment to the membership within ninety (90) days of appointment.

2. Notify the membership of the date for a general business meeting at which the reading and discussion of the proposed amendment shall occur. Establish the date twenty one (21) days after the reading of the petition as the closing date for voting.

3. Certify the results of the voting by the total count and the requirement for adoption of a two-thirds majority.

4. Report the results of the vote to the membership within thirty (30) days of the closing date for voting.