Potential Bylaws Amendment for Resignation or Vacancy in NCEC Executive Committee (Officers)

[Jeff Strand]

Commissioners:

As Mr. Blin noted in the meeting documents, the Executive Committee had asked that I draft some language for the NCEC to consider to establish a process for handling resignations or vacancies in the Executive Committee.  Note the Bylaws Amendment process would allow this change to be voted on at the October 2013 NCEC meeting.

The excerpt below shows existing text and proposed new text is underlined and red text.

Respectfully,

Commissioner Jeffrey Strand

NCEC Secretary

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Executive Committee Roles and Responsibilities

13.4.1 Chair. 

The Chair shall respectfully open the meeting at the time at which the commission is to meet.

Official business will take place when a quorum is established. 

The chair shall call the members to order, announce the business before the commission in the 

order in which it is to be acted upon, state and put to a vote all questions which are regularly 

moved, or necessarily arise in the course of proceedings, and announce the result of the vote. The 

Chair shall decide all questions of order, subject to an appeal to the commission, and shall inform 

the commission on a point of order or practice.

The Chair shall authenticate, by his/her signature, when necessary, all the acts, orders, and 

proceedings of the commission, and in general to represent and stand for the commission, 

declaring its will, and in all things, carrying out the commission’s resolutions. 

The Chair has authority to do only those things assigned to that office by the Bylaws, or other 

actions as prescribed by the NCEC.

The person elected should have the ability to effectively lead, manage meetings and make 

decisions. 

13.4.2 Vice Chair. 

The Vice-Chair assumes the position of the Chair in the Chair’s absence. 

The Vice-Chair assists the Chair in meeting and agenda management;

13.4.3 2nd Vice-Chair.

In the absence of the Chair and Vice-Chair, the 2nd Vice-Chair assumes the responsibilities of the 

Chair.

The 2nd Vice-Chair assumes the responsibilities of the Secretary in the Secretary’s absence.

13.4.4 Secretary.

The Secretary shall ensure that NCR Department staff maintains an accurate a record of the 

proceedings of the NCEC and record the minutes of each meeting, document the decisions, 

deliberations, and action points of each meeting.

The Secretary shall be responsible to maintain accurate meeting attendance records of the NCEC 

Commissioners.

The Secretary assumes the position of the Chair in the absence of the Chair, the Vice-Chair, and 

the 2nd Vice-Chair. 

The Secretary ensures review of the minutes by the Executive Committee and that meeting 

minutes are delivered to NCEC Commission members not later than ten days following the 

regularly scheduled NCEC meeting; The Secretary shall also present the minutes to the 

Commission for approval at Commission meetings

The Secretary will be responsible for administering the at least annual evaluation of the NCEC, 

the Executive Committee and the Chair.

Proposed Bylaws Amendment Section: 

13.4.5 Resignation or Vacancy in Executive Committee (Officers)

Letters or verbal notification of resignation of a Commissioner from an Executive Committee position shall be directed to the Chair and Secretary of the NCEC. The Chair and Secretary shall notify the Director of the NCR Department and the NCEC Commissioners within five (5) days from receipt of the letter of resignation.

The NCEC shall conduct an election to fill the vacancy in the Executive Committee at the next regular Commissioner meeting following receipt of the letter of resignation. The election procedure shall take place according to the relevant provisions of Section 13.3 Election of Officers.

[Kenya McKnight]

Commissioner Strand, All

I support the new language drafted, yet am trying to define the idea of (Effectively Lead) which is listed as a general function of the Executive Committee... I like the idea of just using the word lead as it will be a matter of defining what is effective... This is not something I'm willing to go to bat for, just something that stood out to me as I reviewed the language, 

One question I have regarding the Executive Committee is who is responsible for correspondence between general and executive committee members in the case a question is directed at the Executive committee or is it ok for any Executive Committee member to respond? I think clarifying this can help with possible expectations/responsibilities of the Executive committee within itself and for the general commission. I understand that external NCEC correspondence it is listed in the Executive Committee Role/Description, yet my question is specific to internal NCEC correspondence.

Thanks,

Commissioner McKnight  

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[M J Mariani]

Commissioners,

The new language has my full support as well, but I wish to present a related concern.  I believe our bylaws should specify the

point at which a newly elected commissioner is to take the reigns when filling a resignation and or vacancy officer position. 

I experienced discomfort for Commissioner Shaie when she was apprised that "...it was decided...." her lack of experience, in the role to which she was elected, precluded her from assuming those duties for the remainder of that meeting.  If it is the desire of the commission to commence duties at a time certain after an election, that should be stated; if not, should the newly elected begin duties for the duration of the meeting where they were elected? 

Previously, several commissioners have referred to their 'training for the NCEC leadership' (role,) and I wonder if training should
also be stated within the context of bylaws or procedure manual.  In this case, I wonder what training in the next 30 days will Commissioner Shaie receive that will afford her enough experience to assume the position?

I do not know if the Commission membership believes these topics to be worthy of their time, but it is my hope a discussion will lead
to a determination one way or the other.  On the other hand, this can be easily resolved if the election were to be listed as the last item
on our agendas.

Marcea

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[Doron Clark]

All,

I agree with Commissioner Mariani's position that our bylaws should specify when the newly elected person should assume their executive committee position. 

As I shared during the September NCEC meeting, the Execution Committee (Strand, Ismael, and myself ) noted that the bylaws are silent on when a person elected assumes their position. The EC thought that the newly elected person had the right to assume the position immediately and that's what I suggested to Vice Chair Shaie. Vice Chair Shaie then appointed myself and Commissioner Strand to facilitate the remainder of the meeting.

To avoid the possible awkwardness of immediately assume the chair position, I suggest that we address this issue with the following language:

"The newly elected officer(s) shall assume duties immediately following the meeting in which the election(s) occurred."

This allows the newly elected officer to begin participating in the Executive Committee as soon as possible and allows the facilitation of the current meeting to continue relatively smoothly.

Regards,

Doron Clark

[Mariah Levison]

Hello Everyone -

 

 

As you know, I have resigned from NCEC.  I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed being on the commission and getting to know each of you.  It was truly a painful decision to resign.  I just began a new position running the new Minnesota State Office for Collaboration and Dispute Resolution.  I am also a student in a PhD program.  Something had to give.  I am sorry that it was NCEC and that I wasn't able to attend one final meeting to say goodbye.  I wish you all the best of luck in your work on the commission and I hope that our paths will cross again soon.

 

 

Best,

 

Mariah

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