Greater Duwamish District Council Bylaws
Article 1. Name; boundaries; purpose.
1.1
Name
The organization shall be known as
the Greater Duwamish District Council (the Executive Council).
1.12 The
Council will vote for the Executive Council as described in this document,
defined in Article 3.2.
1.2
Boundaries
The council is composed of the Beacon
Hill, Georgetown, and South Park communities and the Duwamish Industrial area.
The boundaries are as follows:
north: Beginning at I-5 at S. Dearborn St., east to
Rainier Ave. S.
east: Beginning on Rainier Ave. S. at S. Dearborn
St., south along Rainier Ave. S. to M.L. King Jr. Way S. to S. Ryan St. (south
City limits)
south: Beginning at M.L. King Jr. Way S. and S. Ryan
St., west along the south City limits to W. Marginal Way S.
west: Beginning at W. Marginal Way S. (including
Harbor Island) to Connecticut Ave. S. to I-5 at Dearborn St., including the
Riverside neighborhood.
1.3 Purpose
The District Council’s purpose is to
provide a forum for local business organizations, neighborhood resident groups,
activist community organizations and other community organizations to consider
planning, budget allocations and service delivery, and to share ideas and
solutions to common problems. Neighborhood organizations will continue to
determine their own boundaries and will remain free to deal directly with City
departments and elected officials as they have in the past. The functions of
the District Council shall include: 1) rating and ranking Neighborhood Matching
Fund applications; 2) participating in the City’s budget priorities process;
and 3) participating in the City’s neighborhood planning process. This District
Council is organized under the provisions of the Seattle City Council
Resolutions 27709, 28155, and 29015, which create and describe the role of
District Councils.
Article 2. Membership
criteria; new memberships; community participation; attendance.
2.1
Membership
criteria
The Council is open to representatives of
all local business organizations and neighborhood groups within the District
boundaries who wish to participate and meet the following criteria:
1)
Shall have a Member Application (see attached) on file
with The Council and shall update it upon adoption of these bylaws and annually
in September.
2)
Shall be geographically based with a constituency that
resides and/or works within the recognized District boundaries.
3)
Shall not limit membership of individuals or groups on
the basis of race, religion, color, gender, sexual orientation, age, handicap,
national origin, income nor political affiliation, in any of its policies,
recommendations or actions and shall operate democratically.
4)
Shall hold at least four board, executive or general
meetings annually.
5)
Shall have organizational bylaws and file them with the
Greater Duwamish District Council.
2.2 New
memberships
Any local business organizations or
neighborhood groups able to meet the criteria set out in Article 2.1 and
wishing to join The Council shall provide the Executive Council with a
completed application. Consideration of a new applicant should be raised at the
next general meeting following submission of the completed application. Upon
reaching a simple majority vote of members of The Council, the application
shall be accepted.
2.3 Community
Participation
All interested persons who live, work, or
have businesses with the Greater Duwamish District are welcome to participate in Council meetings and other activities. Only
designated representatives or designated alternative representatives to The
Council shall have voting rights or hold office.
2.4 Attendance
To remain a voting member, a group must
send a representative to at least six (6) of the ten (10) yearly general Council meetings. The Council
will notify the President or Chair (or, in their absence, any group official)
of any member organization that is close to losing its voting privileges due to
non-attendance. An organization’s voting privileges will be restored upon
resuming regular attendance at two consecutive meetings.
Article
3. Representatives; officers;
committees.
3.1
Representatives
Each member organization shall designate
one representative and at least one alternate to The Council on their Member
Application. Each member organization shall have one vote in matters brought
before The Council. No representative may represent more than one organization.
3.2
Officers
All representatives of qualified member
organizations in good standing are eligible to serve as officers. A Nominating
Committee shall be formed in Council each September to nominate candidates of
office, and shall make a report at the October meeting. Nominations can also be
taken from the floor at the annual election meeting of The Council which shall
take place in November. Elected officers shall take office upon election and
serve for one full year, or until their successors are elected. Officers shall
consist of a Chair and Vice-Chair, or Co-Chairs, a Secretary ( a position that
can be rotated among officers), a Parliamentarian, and up to two at-large
positions.
The Chair or Vice-Chair, or Co-Chair(s)
shall preside at all Council meetings, shall be official spokesperson(s), and
have the power to convene special and emergency meetings of The Council. The
Chair or Co-Chair or an alternate designated by a vote of The Council will also
serve on the City Neighborhood Council. In the event that the Chair is unable
perform his/her duties, the Vice-Chair or Co-Chair shall assume the duties of
the Chair until he/she is able to resume or a new Chair (or Co-Chair) is
elected. In the event that one of the Co-Chairs or the Vice-Chair is unable to
perform his/her duties, a new Co-Chair or Vice-Chair shall be elected.
The Secretary, which can be a rotated
position, will be responsible for the minutes of the meetings, prepare meeting
agendas as directed by the Chair(s), and assure that notice of regular meetings
is mailed out at least 10 days in advance of the meeting date. Emergency
meetings may be called with at least two working days notice, and with approval
of at least 2/3 of Council members.
The Council shall be staffed by the
Department of Neighborhoods (DON) Neighborhood Service Center (NSC) Coordinator
assigned to the Greater Duwamish District. DON will assist officers and
committee chairs with word processing, mailing, and other services that help to
ensure the viability of The Council, as
requested.
Appointments and all elected positions are
subject to removal for cause.
3.3
Committees
The Council shall establish committees as
deemed appropriate for its purpose. Chairs of committees must be voting members
of The Council. The District Council Chair shall be an ex officio (without
vote) member of all committees, except within the Executive Committee, but
shall not sit in any capacity on the Nominations Committee. Committees or their
members will represent or speak for The Council only when authorized by Council
resolution.
Article 4. Meetings
of The Council
4.1
Open and
accessible meetings
All Council meetings shall be open to the public and shall be held within
the Greater Duwamish District. Every effort shall be made to rotate meetings
throughout the District. Special public notice of meetings shall be given in
the neighborhood where the coming meeting is to be held. Meetings shall be in
handicap accessible sites to the maximum extent feasible. Accommodations for
people with disabilities shall be
provided upon request by contacting the Greater Duwamish District Neighborhood
Service Center Coordinator.
4.2
Regular
meetings
The Council shall hold regular meetings on
the fourth Wednesday of the month. Council meetings will take place every month
except August, and December. Council meetings will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00
p.m. The Chair is instructed to make all reasonable efforts to have meetings
begin and end on time.
4.3
Special
meetings
A Chair or Vice-Chair may call special
meetingsand notify of the entire Council at his/her discretion or when
requested to do so by 25% or more of the voting members.
4.4 Quorum
A quorum shall consist of designated
representatives of one-half of the total number of qualified, voting member
organizations. Passing any motion that comes before the Council, except one
amending the bylaws, shall require a simple majority of the quorum. Amending
bylaws requires a two thirds vote, as described in Article 5.
4.5 Order
of business
The Council may amend its agenda and order
of business at any time by a majority vote. In the absence of other actions,
the order of business shall be:
1)
Call to order;
2)
Sign-in and self-introductions;
3)
Changes/amendments to agenda; adopt agenda;
4)
Changes/amendments to minutes from last meeting;
approve meeting minutes;
A.
B.
5)
Old business;
6)
New business
-
new business on agenda
-
action on new business
-
proposed agenda for next meeting;
7. ) Public input;
8.Announcements;
9. Reports/updates/action items
A.
Reports/updates from member organizations
B.
Action on reports/updates from member organizations
C.
Reports/updates from committees
D.
Action on committee reports/updates
E.
Reports/updates from City departments
F.
Action on reports/updates from City departments
G.
Report/update from City Neighborhood Council (CNC)
delegate
H. Action on CNC delegate update/report
10) Adjournment.
Article 5. Bylaw
amendments
5.1
Amendments
Any amendment may be initiated by
introducing a written proposal at a regular Council meeting. A vote will be
scheduled for the next regular meeting. The proposed amendment must be distributed
to voting members 20 days prior to the meeting for which the amendment vote is
scheduled. A 2/3 vote of qualified members is required to pass a bylaw
amendment.
These
bylaws were amended and adopted on September 17, 1996.
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