|
KENNEBEC
COUNTY
DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE BY-LAWS
Article
1: NAME
§1 The name of this organization shall be the Kennebec County
Democratic Committee, hereinafter referred to as
the KCDC or County
Committee.
Article 2:
PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
§1 The purpose and objectives of this organization shall be:
a. To promote ideals and principles of the Democratic Party;
b. To encourage and maintain participation and unity of Democrats
and potential candidates in Kennebec County, in
the State of Maine and in our nation through
elections of duly nominated candidates; and by
so doing, aid our government in the
municipalities, county, state and nation to
function effectively as a true democracy and a
government of all people;
c. To provide leadership to, and coordination with municipal
committees, the
Maine
State Democratic Committee, and the Democratic
National Committee;
d. To support the nominees elected in the State Democratic Primary
and to elect Democrats to office.
§2 The KCDC shall be a non-discriminatory, non-profit organization.
Article
3: MEMBERSHIP
§1. Membership in the
KCDC shall be open to any enrolled Democrat
residing in
Kennebec
County
. Members
must be elected. Members may be elected at their
biennial municipal caucus; elected at the
Kennebec County Democratic caucus held in
conjunction with the biennial state convention;
or elected at any subsequent KCDC meeting.
Election shall be by majority vote.
§2. In addition, any members of the Young Democratic Club
and any other Affiliated Democratic
Organizations operating in the County or parts
of the County may be seated as members.
Article
4: ELECTION OF MEMBERS
§1 At each biennial caucus, municipal committees shall elect
members of the County
Committee.
County
Committee
members shall assume office as soon as elected
by the municipal committees for two-year terms.
At-large county committee members may be elected
to the county committee at any meeting provided
there is a quorum present.
§2 In the event that there is no municipal committee, the County
Chair or the Chair’s designee may convene a
meeting of Democrats in that municipality, by
notice in a newspaper not less than three days
nor more than ten days in advance, and the
County Chair or the Chair’s designee will
chair the meeting until a municipal chair is
elected.
Article
5: OFFICERS
§1 The Kennebec County Democratic Committee officers are the Chair,
one Vice Chair for each Congressional District,
a Secretary, and a Treasurer, and an Assistant
Treasurer.
§2 Each officer shall
personally perform, or delegate in an
appropriate manner, all duties specified in
these bylaws and is responsible for the proper
performance of any duties shared with other
officers or otherwise delegated. Officers assume
office immediately upon election and serve until
the next regular election.
Article
6: ELECTION OF OFFICERS
§1 A person seeking an office on the
County
Committee
must be a qualified member of the Kennebec
County Democratic Committee.
A qualified member of the Kennebec County
Democratic Committee is an individual elected in
accordance with Article III, and is a
registered Democrat in good standing.
§2 In January of each
odd-numbered year, the incumbent Chair
shall call the biennial meeting for the election
of officers of the
County
Committee
.
§3 In the course of electing officers, the current Chair or
Chair’s designee shall preside over the
election; in the absence of the Chair, the
Vice-Chair shall preside, or in the absence of
both, the Treasurer shall preside.
After election of officers, the newly
elected officers shall assume their positions.
Article
7: PROXIES
§1 Proxy voting is not allowed.
Article 8:
REPRESENTATIVE
ON
STATE
RULES
COMMITTEE
§1 A person seeking this position must be a duly elected member of
the KCDC.
§2 Election shall be held at a
County
Committee
meeting as soon as possible after the State
Convention, and a vacancy shall be filled
promptly at a
County
Committee
meeting.
§3 The Rules Committee Representative shall serve a two-year term.
§4 Resignations shall be submitted to the KCDC Chair or Secretary
who shall notify the State Secretary of the
Committee on Rules of the vacancy. Election of a
representative shall be held according to Sec. 2
to serve the remainder of the term.
Article
9: CONTRACT FOR AND PAYMENT OF BILLS
§ 1 No bills shall be contracted by any member of this
County
Committee
unless authorized or ratified by a vote of the
County
Committee
. All bills shall be itemized or accompanied by
a statement that will reasonably show exactly
what they are designed to cover.
Article
10: EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
§1 The Executive Committee shall consist of:
a. The elected officers: Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, and
Treasurer;
b. The Chair of each of these Standing Committees:
Campaign/Candidate Support Committee,
Program/Special Events Committee, Finance/Budget
Committee, and By-Laws/Rules Committee,
Information Technology Committee.
§2 A person holding Executive Committee membership because of more
than one capacity shall nevertheless have only
one vote, and no other person shall be allowed
to vote as a substitute or alternate for such
Executive Committee member.
§3 Meetings of the Executive Committee shall be held as necessary,
with prior notice made to all members of the
Executive Committee at the call of the Chair or
of any three of its members. Four (4) members of
the Executive committee shall constitute a
quorum at its meetings.
§4 The Executive Committee shall serve in an advisory capacity to
the Chair and the
County
Committee
. The Executive Committee may make
recommendations but shall have no power to bind
the
County
Committee
to a final action, except as provided in §5 of
this article.
§5 In situations of an urgent nature requiring immediate attention
the Executive Committee may make a necessary
decision at a duly called and constituted
meeting. When necessary, voting by telephone is
acceptable, provided an attempt is made to
contact every member. A report on said action
shall be made to the next meeting of the
County
Committee
.
§6 The Executive Committee shall perform any other tasks as may be
from time to time assigned by the
County
Committee
.
§7 The Executive Committee shall keep minutes of all meetings and
votes shall be recorded by name; and these
records shall be open and available at the next
County
Committee
meeting or upon request.
Article
11: DUTIES OF THE CHAIR
§1 The duties of the Chair shall be:
a. To serve as the general executive officer and spokesperson of the
County
Committee
;
b. To preside at all meetings of the
County
Committee
and the Executive Committee;
c. To follow directives from the State Democratic Party regarding
caucuses, the state convention, and other
activities;
d. To be an ex-officio voting member of each and every committee;
e. With the consent of the membership, to appoint or remove the
members and chairs of standing, special and ad
hoc committees;
f. To establish special or ad hoc committees as needed to address
the interests and concerns of the
County
Committee
;
g. To attend Democratic State Committee and Caucus of County Chairs
meetings;
1)
Upon assumption of office, the Chair shall
appoint the KCDC's Designee to the Democratic
State Committee and Caucus of County Chairs to
act in his/her absence, or the absence of any
State Committee member from
Kennebec
County
.
h. To serve as a liaison between the County and the State Committees
for the exchange of information concerning the
activities and requirements of each;
i. To work with the Finance/Budget Committee to develop a biennial
budget for the consideration of the Executive
Committee and the KCDC;
j. To approve disbursement of funds for emergency expenses; and;
k. to perform other duties that the
County
Committee
may assign.
Article
12: DUTIES OF THE VICE CHAIRS
§1 The duties of the Vice Chairs shall be:
a. To perform all the duties of the Chair in his/her absence;
b. To serve as the acting Chair if the Chair becomes vacant, until
an election for Chair is held;
c. When assigned by the Chair, to attend committee meetings or
functions of the KCDC where the
County
Chair
's attendance is required, expected, or
beneficial;
d. To act as a liaison to the Young Democrats and other affiliated
Democratic Organizations;
e. To act as liaison to the municipal chairs;
f. To encourage grassroots organizing by facilitating the growth of
municipal and affinity organizations, and act as
liaison between them and the County Committee.
g. To be ex-officio voting member to the Convention Committee; and
h. To perform other duties that the
County
Committee
may assign.
Article
13: DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY
§1 The duties of the Secretary shall be:
a. To keep a complete and accurate record of all
County
Committee
meetings, filing a duplicate copy of such record
with the Chair prior to the next meeting;
b. To make available to any member of the
County
Committee
for examination or copying any such records of
meetings;
c. To keep a cumulative record of the attendance of members at each
meeting;
d. To maintain a current list of all members and officers of the
county and municipal committees of
Kennebec
County
;
e. To release mailing lists in part or in whole only at the
direction of the
County
Committee
since the lists are the sole property of the
County
Committee
;
f. To write and submit meeting notices to the local media;
g. To be an ex-officio voting member of the Communications
Committee;
h. To write, or cause to be written press releases on special
meetings, events or specific issues as directed
by the Chair and/or the County Committee; and
i. To perform any duties that the
County
Committee
may from time to time assign.
Article
14: DUTIES OF THE TREASURER AND ASSISTANT
TREASURER
§1 The duties of the Treasurer shall be:
a. To disburse funds of the
County
Committee
at the direction of the
County
Committee
;
b. To keep a full and accurate record of all receipts and
disbursements;
c. To deposit all
County
Committee
funds in the name of the Kennebec County
Democratic Committee in a recognized bank or
trust company;
d. To provide a report of the transactions and financial condition
of the County Committee at every regularly
called County Committee meeting and quarterly
written reports;
e. To comply on a timely basis with all legal requirements relating
to the receipt and disbursement of funds;
f. To file timely financial reports as required, with the Commission
on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices;
g. To be an ex-officio voting member of the Finance/Budget
Committee; and
h. To perform other duties that the
County
Committee
may assign.
§2 The duties of the Assistant Treasurer shall be:
a.
To perform the duties of the
treasurer if he/she is unable to do so;
b.
To do fundraising for the
County
Committee
in accordance with state and federal law;
c.
To be an ex-officio voting member
of the Finance/Budget Committee and
d.
To perform other duties that the
County
Committee
may assign.
ARTICLE
15: DUTIES OF THE COUNTY COMMITTEE MEMBERS
§ 1 The duties of the County Committee Members shall be as follows:
a. To attend meetings of the
County
Committee
and participate in the government and direction
of the affairs and activities of the Democratic
Party in
Kennebec
County
;
b. To work closely with municipal chairs in order to promote a
grassroots Democratic organization;
c. To serve as a liaison between the municipal and county committees
for the exchange of information concerning the
activities and requirements of each;
d. To aid and cooperate with the campaigns of Democratic candidates;
and
e. To assist in fundraising efforts for
County
Committee
activities and Democratic campaigns;
f. To confirm the appointment or removal of the chairs and members
of standing, special and ad hoc committees.
Article
16: RESIGNATIONS
§1 Any
County
Committee
member or officer may resign at any time. Such
resignation shall be made in writing and shall
take effect at the time specified, or if no time
is specified, then it shall take effect upon
receipt by the Chair or Secretary who shall
record such resignation, noting the date and
hour of its reception. The acceptance of a
resignation by the vote of the
County
Committee
shall not be necessary to make a resignation
effective.
Article
17: FILLING OF VACANCIES
§1 Any vacancies in the officers of the Kennebec County Committee
shall be filled at a County Committee-meeting
duly called for that purpose. The Secretary
shall deliver to the Secretary of the Democratic
State Committee the certificate required by law
signed by the Chair and attested to by the
Secretary.
Article
18: STANDING COMMITTEES
§1 There shall be established the following Standing Committees.
a. By-Laws/Rules
Committee
b. Candidate Support
Committee
c.
Program/Special Events Committee
d.
Finance/Budget Committee
e.
Information Technology Committee
§2 The KCDC encourages active participation on its committees.
§3 The Chair of each committee shall write a report of each meeting
and a copy given to the County Chair prior to
the County Committee meeting and copies made
available to members of the County Committee at
the County meeting or upon request.
§4 The duties and responsibilities of each committee shall be:
a. By-Laws/Rules Committee
1) To review, maintain, and consider the existing by-laws of the
County
Committee
;.
2) To maintain an up-to-date copy of the
County
Committee
by-laws for the Secretary and the members of the
County
Committee
;
3) To make recommendations and prepare revisions and amendments as
directed by the
County
Committee
;
4) To perform any other tasks as may be from time to time assigned
by the
County
Committee
.
b. Candidate Support Committee
1) To search for and develop Democratic candidates to run for
offices;
2) To provide assistance in developing and organizing a candidates
campaign by teaching strategies and techniques;
3) To coordinate campaigns, volunteers, available resources and
services;
4) To have a plan of action that is ready to operate in an efficient
and effective way to elect our Democratic
candidates into office;
5) To research issues relevant to campaigns at the town, city,
county, regional, state, and national levels;
and
6) To perform any other duties that the KCDC may assign.
c. Program/Special Events Committee
1) To plan programs and special events;
2) To arrange for speakers at regular KCDC meetings;
3) To assist in organizing and coordinating activities such as
dinners, forums and conferences
of the
County
Committee
; and
4) To perform any other duties that the KCDC may assign.
d.
Finance/Budget Committee
1)To
develop a biennial budget;
2) To find ways and means of raising the money necessary to support
the operation of the
County
Committee
;
3) To organize and coordinate
fund-raising activities;
4) To perform any other tasks as may be from time to time assigned
by the County Committee; and
5) To perform any other duties required by law.
e. Information Technology Committee
1)
Maintain and update county databases, including
the voter lists and voter histories;
2)
Maintain and update the
County
Committee
website;
3)
Recruit and train volunteers to help with these
efforts;
4)
To perform any other tasks as may be from time
to time assigned by the
County
Committee
;
Article
19: SPECIAL AND AD HOC COMMITTEES
§1 The
County
Chair
may appoint Special and Ad Hoc Committees
including but not limited to:
a. Communications Committee
b. Platform Committee
c. Grievance Committee
d. Membership Enrollment Committee
§2 The Chair of each committee shall write a report of each meeting
and a copy given to the County Chair prior to
the County Committee meeting and copies made
available to members of the County Committee at
the next County meeting or upon request.
§3 The duties and responsibilities of each committee shall be:
a. Communications Committee
1) To assist the County Committee Chair with notification of
County
Committee
meetings and the dissemination of other
information which may be useful to the
membership;
2) To prepare and release as appropriate, newsworthy items
concerning candidates, issues and the County
Committee and its functions;
3) To help candidates and municipal committees requiring assistance
with publicity; and
4) To perform any other duties that the KCDC may assign.
b. Platform Committee
1) To provide continuing liaison between the State Platform
Committee and the KCDC;
2) To keep the KCDC advised of the State Platform Committee's
progress in writing the platform;
3) To provide a channel through which KCDC members and other
Democrats can make their platform ideas known to
the State Platform Committee;
4) To provide assistance to State Convention Delegates from
Kennebec
County
who wish to file amendments to the State
Platform for consideration at the Maine
Democratic Convention;
5) To encourage all municipal committees to hold a meeting of all
enrolled Democrats to discuss issues, ideas, and
principles which they wish to include in the
party platform as stated in the Maine Democratic
Party Rules Chapter 6, Article 620, E-3
(Committee on Platform); and
6) To perform any other tasks as may be from time to time assigned
by the
County
Committee
.
c. Grievance Committee
1) The Grievance Committee shall hear and process all grievances of
members or officers of the County and Municipal
Committees through the following steps:
a.
Schedule a hearing within 20 days of receiving a
written complaint;
b.
At the conclusion of the hearing, prepare a
recommendation;
c.
The Grievance Committee Chair shall present a
report on the hearing and the recommendation at
the next meeting of the
County
Committee
. The
County
Committee
will then take action on the recommendation
d.
Appeals from the decision of the
County
Committee
may be made to the State Democratic Committee;
d. Membership Enrollment Committee
1) To reach out actively to all municipal committees and provide
assistance in organizational techniques,
including events and speakers, at the local
level;
2) To assist in the recruitment of new members and assist with the
orientation of new members;
3) To encourage county-wide activism; and
4) To perform any other tasks that the KCDC may from time to time
assign.
ARTICLE
20: AMENDMENTS
§l These By-Laws may be altered or amended only by a two-thirds
vote of those members present at a meeting
specifically called for that purpose, in which
shall be incorporated the exact wording of the
proposed amendment or amendments.
ARTICLE
21: OFFICER AND MEMBER REMOVAL
§l The County Committee may remove a member for inaction or
impropriety.
Removal shall require a two-thirds (2/3)
vote by the committee members present at a
meeting called for that purpose.
§2 Any member of the Executive Committee of the
County
Committee
may be removed because of inaction or
impropriety by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the
County
Committee
members present and voting at a meeting called
for that purpose.
§3 Any representative to the Democratic State Committee or State
Committee on Rules may be removed because of
inaction or impropriety by a two-thirds (2/3)
vote of the County Committee members present and
voting at a meeting called for that purpose.
§4 Any member or officer removed in accordance with this article
shall be barred from being elected to any county
or state Democratic Party position for a period
of four (4) years except as provided in Article
21 §5.
§5 Any Democrat who is barred from office in accordance with
Article 21 §3 may have their right of election reinstated by a two-thirds
(2/3) vote of the County Committee members
present and voting at a meeting for which a
written notice of at least seven (7) days has
been given.
Article
22: POWERS AND DUTIES
§l The Kennebec County Democratic Committee is the supreme
governing body of the Kennebec County Democrats
when the Kennebec County Democratic Caucus of
the State Convention is not in session.
§2 Meetings of the
County
Committee
shall occur on a monthly basis unless otherwise
agreed to by the Committee. The
County
Chair
may call special meetings as needed, and a
meeting shall be called upon the written request
of at least five (5) County
Committee
members.
§3 Quorum: Seven (7) members present shall constitute a quorum for
the transaction of business. Action to adjourn
shall be effective if adopted by a majority of
the members present regardless of the number
present.
§4 Notice of each meeting shall be placed in all general purpose
newspapers in
Kennebec
County
at least 7 days prior to any meeting.
Notice also shall be made by electronic
means to members providing an electronic
address. The
notice shall include the date, time, and place,
and may include the agenda.
Meeting notices shall be made at least 7
days prior to any meeting.
§5 Any concerns which arise and are not covered within these
By-Laws shall be deferred to the Maine
Democratic Party Rules. If not covered there,
the concerns shall then be further deferred to
the State Party Committee on Rules for guidance
and interpretation and to the State Party
Counsel for guidance and ruling.
§6 Unless otherwise agreed to, all meetings shall be conducted
according to the most recent edition of Robert's
Rules of Order .
|
