Amend Committee Membership Bylaw to Change Attendance Requirement

Subject: Amend Committee Membership Bylaw to Change Attendance Requirement

Presenter: Coordinating Committee. Contact Mike Feinstein mfeinstein@feinstein.org

Background and purpose: Current GPCA Bylaw 6-1.4 regarding membership of standing committees states that "Eligible candidates must have attended at least two prior plenaries within the previous 24 months and demonstrate a working knowledge of the GPCA bylaws and operating procedures."

The problem with this is two fold: the number of people attending GPCA General Assemblies has gone down in recent years and in many cases, it is many of the same people who have attended. This means the eligibility base for appointment to standing committees is very small, which means it is difficult to fill the committees with interested individuals, which means the committees don't operate as well as they can. At the same time, participation in committees and in the GPCA has changed since this bylaw was written, with participation also through teleconferences and email lists. Finally, the current text speaks in terms of the last 24 months, but given the irregular timing of state meetings, the text should refer to the number of previous meetings, not months.

With these factors in mind, this proposal changes from two to one the number of minimum General Assemblies one had to attend to be eligible, and from 24 months to one of the last five General Assemblies to determine the timing.

Proposal: That the following text in 6-1.4 Committee Membership be amended 

Eligible candidates must have attended at least two prior plenaries within the previous 24 months one General Assembly within the past five and demonstrate a working knowledge of the GPCA bylaws and operating procedures.

Committee decision: Approved by consensus on October 3rd, 2011 teleconference.

Timeline: Effective upon approval

Resources: Change to bylaws page on GPCA web site