NBLUG Bylaws
Article I: Officers and Elections
Section 1: Elected Officers
All of the duties listed below, and elsewhere in these bylaws, are listed only to make sure they all get done. It is only the duty of the officer in question to make sure somebody does it.
i: President is the glue that keeps it all together. She/he tries to keep NBLUG on track. Duties of the president shall include:
a: To set the agenda for meetings
b: To act as chair of the meetings
c: To oversee the committees by keeping in regular contact with the committee chairs
d: Share responsibility of duties assigned to absent officers
ii: Vice President does all the stuff that keeps NBLUG running. The duties of Vice President shall include:
a: Making preparations for the meeting, including coordinating the advertising, reservations, setup of any necessary equipment, and with the guest speakers.
b: To take over the duties of any officers that may be absent, or to arrange for someone else to.
c: Share responsibility of duties assigned to absent officers
iii: Treasurer keeps track of money, bills, expenses, and financial matters. The duties of Treasurer shall include:
a: Provide a currrent financial report at each board meeting.
b: To keep track of the other key for the PO Box.
c: Delegation of checking the PO Box at least once each month
d: Share responsibility of duties assigned to absent officers
iv: Scribe does all the managerial and logistical work. The duties of scribe shall include:
a: To take the minutes at regular meetings, as well as board meetings and coordinate with the webmistress/master to have them made available at the website.
b: To conduct elections for officership and Constitutional and Bylaw amendments.
c: Share responsibility of duties assigned to absent officers
v: Directors at Large are two officers who share many duties. Duties are determined after the election, but can include:
a: Public Relations - work with the media to “get the word out”
- Publicize NBLUG meetings, and events like installfests
- Represent NBLUG in a positive light as an open organization that does not discriminate based on sex, race, creed, religion, sexual orientation, political affiliation, economic standing, employer,
- Contact various media organizations such as newspapers, magazines, SRJC, and SSU to publicize NBLUG events
- Share responsibility of duties assigned to absent officers
- Other duties as assigned
b: Outreach - coordinate events / help find new presenters
- Work with librarian to ensure book lending service works well
- Oversee Installfest and take over for Installfest Coordinator when absent.
- Oversee Linux Day events and take over for Linux Day Event Coordinator if they should not be available.
- Coordinate Other events when Event Coordinator is absent
- Share responsibility of duties assigned to absent officers
- Other duties as assigned
c.) Others as decided by the voting members of the board.
Section 2: Appointed Officers
Board may create appointed positions by simple majority.
Appointed Officer do not have a vote at board meetings.
Any elected board member may nominate a candidate for an appointed position. Appointments are decided by simple majority.
Section 3: Abdication
Any elected officer or appointed officer may choose to explicitly abandon their position before their period of service is met. Any elected officer who fails to arrive at three successive board meetings without making prior, acceptable arrangements with the other board members implicitly abandons their position. When possible, officers abandoning their position should find a replacement acceptable to the board. In lieu of general member election, board members may elect a person to an elected office that was abandoned before end of term. Any person voted into position by the board shall have their title prefixed with the word “acting” to signify they are not in position from general election available to all members.
Section 4: Impeachment - removing an officer
If a motion for impeachment is made by an elected officer, and seconded by another elected officer, a special vote available to all NBLUG members may proceed. An announcement of the special vote for all members shall be made on all NBLUG mailing lists, posted on the main page of the website, and announced at the next general meeting. The first day of voting shall be the next immediate general meeting. Voting period for such a special vote shall be two weeks (14 days.) If a majority of votes from the special vote agree with removal of the officer, the title of the said elected officer is removed from the elected office and the position is considered abandoned.
Section 5: Elections for Officership and Transition
Nominations for elected officerships will be opened at the October meeting, and will remain open until the beginning of the election at the next meeting. You are allowed to nominate yourself and nominations do not need to be seconded. A person nominated for an officer position may decline the nomination at any time before the election takes place.
Elections for elected officerships will be held the meeting after nominations are opened (November). Voting is to be anonymous. In the case where a candidate runs unopposed, scribe may ask that their approval for officership be passed by consent. If there is an objection to consent, the candidate must be approved by a 2/3 majority of a general meeting. If no candidate is elected for a position, nominations will be re-opened for that position until the next meeting, when a new election will be held, and so forth, as necessary until all positions are filled.
A newly-elected officer’s term shall commence at the beginning of the meeting after the meeting during which they are elected.
Article II: Procedures
Section 1: Bylaws Location
The bylaws shall be publicly posted on NBLUG’s website.
Section 2: Alterations to Bylaws
Anyone can bring up an amendment to the bylaws to an elected officer. The amendment will be addressed during the next board meeting. Changes to the bylaws are made by 2/3 majority of vote from quorum of elected officers.
Section 3: Small Change Clause
President and Vice President are allowed to make small changes to the bylaws. The scope of these changes is defined by:
i: Spelling, punctuation, formatting and change of wording are always fair game as long as it doesn’t change the general meaning of the bylaw being changed.
ii: Minor additions and deletions will need to be brought to an informal vote by all the officers (majority wins) to see if the change is minor enough to implement without a general NBLUG vote.
Article III: Meetings
Section 1: When and Where
Meetings will be held on the 2nd Tuesday of every month, in the evening. If a large number of members have an objection to the date of a meeting, president and Vice President may opt to choose a different date, but this should ideally be taken care of prior to the publication of announcements and the agenda. The location should also be agreed upon by president and Vice President, based on input by the membership, and listed in the agenda.
Section 2: Parliamentary Procedure
Meetings shall be conducted according to Robert’s Rules of Order (New Revised) Edition, except where superseded by these Bylaws or the Constitution. President may abridge these procedures for the purpose of expediting meetings. Motions shall, in general, not require a second, and president should first try to pass them by consent if that seems likely to succeed.
Section 3: Attendance Issues
i: If an officer is unable to attend a meeting, Vice President shall take over their responsibilities, or assist the officer in question with finding an alternate stand-in. This second course is highly recommended, as Vice President really has enough to do.
ii: Committee reports occur at board meetings. If a committee chair is unable to attend a board meeting to make a required report, their report may be presented by another committee member they designate, or presented by president. In either case, they should provide a written report to our board list: board@nblug.org and/or to the scribe.
Article IV: Committees
Section 1: Formation
Any elected officer may form a new committee at any time, by appointing a committee chair.
Section 2: Committee Membership and Meetings
The committee chair is in charge of keeping track of his/her committee’s membership. Anyone may join any committee they like. The committee chair may also call as many meetings as they feel are necessary to get the job done, but is advised to make sure the members that are interested can attend.
Section 3: Structural Change
If a committee chair doesn’t feel up to the task, they should request that president choose another person to chair the committee and resign. It is the resigning committee chair’s duty to brief and/or train their replacement so as to make the transition as easy as possible.
Section 4: Dissolution
President may dissolve a committee at any time. It is recommended that committees that have completed their assigned task, or whose task is found to be unachievable, be dissolved. President’s decision to dissolve a committee may be overruled by a majority vote either of NBLUG as a whole, or of the committee’s membership.
Article V: Events
Members attending the event are requested to remember that they are representing NBLUG, and not behave in a manner that may tarnish the club’s image. People encountered in the course of the event with differing views and differing OSes should be treated with dignity and respect despite their somewhat questionable tastes. Remember, NBLUG will not bail you out of jail, so please cooperate with any relevant authority figures. Protests should be kept off the property of the protestee and not block the entryway to their place of business.
Article VI: Grievances
Anyone with a grievance against an officer, committee chair, another member, or NBLUG as a whole is asked to first try to resolve the matter informally with the person(s) involved. If this fails, however, they are invited to institute a formal grievance during the discussion forum. When instituting a formal grievance, it is advisable to write down all facts (and feelings) pertinent to the grievance, as well as some possible suggestions on how to resolve the grievance. Copies should be made for the entire membership in attendance, if possible. Resolution of a grievance will be done by the membership as a whole, but neither the person whom the grievance is against nor the person instituting it shall be allowed to vote on any motions involved in the resolution.
