Bylaws of the East Atlanta Community Association
ARTICLE I - NAME AND PURPOSE
A. NAME
The Name of this organization shall be East Atlanta Community Association. The Special Name shall be EACA.
B. PURPOSE
The purpose of EACA shall be to promote a high quality of life for all residents of East Atlanta regardless of race, age, sex, or economic status. EACA encourages well planned residential and business development, and the renovation of existing dwellings and businesses. EACA insists on a safe community where residents do not fear crime or an environment of intimidation. EACA requires that the Atlanta Public School System meets the broad educational needs of the Community. EACA seeks for its residents the highest quality of city services. Above all, EACA seeks the development of a sense of community pride and belonging within the East Atlanta community.
ARTICLE II - MEMBERSHIP
A. MEMBERSHIP AREA
The Membership Area of EACA shall be what is known as the East Atlanta Community.
The geographic membership area of EACA shall have a west border of Moreland Avenue, north to I-20. The northern border shall be I-20 to Flat Shoals Road, where the border will go east of I-20 to include that portion of the City of Atlanta east of I-20. From there, the eastern border will be Fayetteville Road to Eastland Road and its intersection with Moreland Avenue. (October 1999)
B. VOTING PRIVILEGES
Voting Privileges shall be extended to members of EACA as defined in this Article who are:
. at least 18 years of age
. and who are current paid members in good standing
. and whose dues were paid or waived no later than the previous regular meeting
. and who are:
property owners who reside in that property;
or who are non-resident property owners;
or who are persons who reside in rental property;
or who are business owners or representatives thereof in the EACA community
The election of officers at the Annual Meeting is restricted to those Members who meet the criteria listed above and who have attended 3 meetings in the previous 12 months. (October 1999)
EACA members who live outside the City of Atlanta limits may not vote on issues concerning the City of Atlanta.
In instances where there is a tie vote or a measure or motion is carried or defeated by less than 5 votes of the members present, a roll call vote will be made and each person will declare their status.
C. RIGHTS OF MEMBERS
Members may attend all meetings including committee meetings. The Membership will have continuing access to the Bylaws, correspondence, financial records, and all minutes from Monthly, Annual, Special and Committee meetings.
Members who are 65 or above, and who meet all other criteria for membership, may be Members in good standing without the payment of any membership fee if so requested from the Secretary. (April 1999)
D. DUES
Dues paid at the Annual Meeting in December shall be considered that household's membership dues for the following calendar year. Dues paid at any other time represent paid membership only through December 31 of that calendar year. (October 1999)
ARTICLE III - OFFICERS
A. OFFICERS
The officers shall consist of the President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Such Officers shall constitute the Executive Board. (October 1999)
B. OFFICERS' DUTIES
1. The President shall preside over all Monthly, Annual, and Special Meetings, and perform all administrative duties as required by the office including preparing an Agenda for Monthly meetings. The President shall act as Spokesperson for EACA in all matters pertaining to its business but should not commit EACA to any business or express any viewpoint for EACA that has not first been approved by the EACA membership. The President shall be authorized to disburse funds.
2. The Vice-President shall assist the President. The Vice-President shall act for the President when the President is unable to serve, and assume all duties as agreed upon except for the disbursal of funds.
3. The Secretary shall be the Custodian of all records except such as specifically assigned to others. The Secretary shall take and report to the EACA Membership minutes of all Monthly and Special meetings, and shall furnish the Newspaper Committee representative with the highlights of Monthly meetings to be published in the newspaper. The Secretary shall keep an attendance list of each meeting. Unless delegated elsewhere, all EACA correspondence should be generated by the Secretary.
4. The Treasurer shall keep official Financial Records and supporting documents of all income and expenses for EACA and report monthly changes of these at each Monthly meeting. The Treasurer shall be authorized to receive all monies and sign disbursements for EACA.
The Treasurer shall be responsible for ensuring that all disbursements have had prior approval by the EACA Membership if the disbursement exceeds $100.00, except in cases of emergency when the Board may vote with a majority agreement and for fees required for the existence and maintenance of EACA. Exception: funds received by EACA in the form of a restricted gift may be disbursed by the Treasurer at any time without further discussion of, or voting by, the EACA membership, however, the Treasurer is responsible for ensuring that the disbursement meets the terms of the restriction(s). If, for any reason, the terms of the restriction(s) cannot be met, an officer will contact the donor to gain permission for a waiver of the restriction(s) that cannot be met. If all restrictions are lifted by the donor, it becomes an unrestricted gift and the by-laws above govern the expenditure of those funds. If the donor leaves the restriction(s) intact and the restriction(s) cannot be met, the gift must be refunded to the donor. Restrictions must be given in writing. (May 2000 and January 2001)
The Treasurer shall prepare an Annual Report.
The Treasurer or her designate shall chair the Finance Committee.
C. RULES REGULATING OFFICERS
1. Officers must reside within the geographic boundaries of the East Atlanta Community Association and meet all other voting requirements. (October 1999)
2. Officers shall be elected by a majority vote of the Members attending and voting at the Annual meeting.
3. The term of office shall be one year.
4. An Officer may succeed himself/herself for one term. (October 1999)
5. Officers shall be required to attend all monthly meetings. More than three absences during an Officer's term will result in removal from office. (October 1999)
6. All Officers are expected to reveal conflicts of interest. Should an Officer acting as EACA Spokesperson be unable to objectively represent the viewpoint of the EACA Membership, that Officer shall not act as spokesperson for that issue, and shall arrange for another Officer to be Spokesperson. Should a presiding Officer have a conflict of interest relative to an issue being discussed, that Officer shall step down for the duration of the discussion of that topic. Any Officer living outside the limits of the City of Atlanta shall not represent EACA on issues concerning the City of Atlanta.
7. Any Officer, when identified as an Officer of EACA, must be held responsible for recognizing that their spoken and written communications represent the entire EACA membership and each of the Officers will be held accountable for their communications. No member of the EACA Executive Committee shall use his or her position or title as a means of personal financial gain. (April 2000)
D. REMOVAL FROM OFFICE
In the event that an officer misses more than 3 meetings during his or her term, removal from office shall be automatic.
For reason other than excessive absences, any officer may be removed by a 2/3 vote of Members present and voting at a monthly meeting. No removal from office for reasons other than absence may be finally voted on at the meeting where it is first proposed. The initial proposal to remove an officer must be submitted in writing to the Executive Committee in order for it to be included on the agenda. For inclusion on the agenda, the submission must be made no less than 10 calendar days prior to the meeting at which the removal will first be proposed. (April 2000)
E. VACANCIES
Vacancies shall be elected by a majority vote of Members present and voting at the next available Monthly meeting, except for the President who shall be replaced by the Vice President. In the event the Vice President is unable to serve, the Secretary or Treasurer shall serve temporarily as President until the next Monthly meeting, at which time a new President will be elected.
ARTICLE IV - COMMITTEES
A. STANDING COMMITTEES
The Standing Committees shall be Newspaper, Events, Land use, NPU-W, Public Safety, membership, Economic Development, Education, Transportation, Beautification, Nominating, Finance and Parks. (April 2000)
B. SCOPE AND DUTIES OF STANDING COMMITTEES
1. The Newspaper Committee shall select, write and edit (but not censor) articles of interest to the EACA membership. The Committee shall be responsible for seeing that the highlights of the EACA meetings are published in the Porch Press.
2. The Events Committee shall plan and supervise all Special Events of EACA, except when these duties are delegated to another committee. (April 2000)
3. The Land Use Committee shall be concerned with the planning, use, and zoning of land within the EACA area.
4. The NPU-W Committee shall be made up of members and alternates (as specified by the NPU-W Bylaws) elected by residents, property owners or the owner of a business in East Atlanta within the city limits of the City of Atlanta at an annual meeting organized by the officers of Neighborhood Planning Unit W. (January 2001)
5. The Public Safety Committee shall work with the City of Atlanta Police Department, City of Atlanta Fire Department, DeKalb County Police Department, DeKalb County Animal Control, and other law enforcement/public safety agencies, as needed, along with the EACA membership in identifying physical safety hazards in the EACA area and seeking solutions for these. The Committee shall also be responsible for coordinating Neighborhood Watch Programs. (April 2000)
6. The Membership Committee shall be responsible for the enrollment of new members.
7. The Economic Development Committee shall consider all matters concerning economic development and shall make recommendations to the EACA membership.
8. The Education Committee shall consider all matters relating to education and make recommendations to the EACA membership.
9. The Transportation Committee shall consider all matters concerning auto and mass transportation in East Atlanta and shall make recommendations to the EACA membership.
10. The Beautification Committee shall be responsible for all matters pertaining to neighborhood parks and neighborhood beautification, except when these duties are delegated to another committee. (May 2000)
11. The Nominating Committee shall be responsible for polling the whole of the EACA membership in order to compile a roster of candidates for elections for the positions of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, East Atlanta Porch Press Editor, and candidates for regular and alternate positions on the NPU-W Board. Members of the Nominating Committee, including its Chair, may not run for any of these offices during the year in which they serve on the Nominating Committee unless than have resigned 3 months prior to their nomination. The purpose of the Nominating Committee is informational; its members should neither encourage nor discourage individuals from nomination. (May 2000)
12. The Finance Committee shall be responsible for all matters relating to EACA's finances, including, but not limited to, generating an annual budget, reviewing all requests from any other person or organization for funding and coordination of all fundraising activities. The Finance Committee shall be chaired by the Treasurer or his designate.
The Finance Committee shall have the power to adopt operating procedures as it sees fit in order to fulfill its functions. The operating procedures must be agreed on by a majority of the Committee and must be published to the membership upon adoption. In the event of any conflict between the operating procedures and the By-Laws, the By-Laws shall prevail.
13. The Parks Committee shall be responsible for all matters pertaining to neighborhood parks, except when these duties are delegated to another committee. (May 2000)
C. AD HOC COMMITTEES
An Ad Hoc Committee may be established for any necessary purpose by a majority vote of the EACA membership at a Monthly Meeting. The Committee shall formulate its Scope and Duties at its first meeting. The Committee'' duration shall be for the duration of the need or until the Annual meeting, whichever comes first.
D. RULES REGULATING COMMITTEES
1. Committee meetings shall be open to all EACA members and other interested parties.
2. Voting Privileges shall be extended to all EACA residents attending the first meeting and subsequently to any EACA resident who has attended a prior meeting for that Committee.
3. Standing Committee membership shall be for a one year term, ending at the next Annual meeting, except for NPU-W which is a 13-month appointment beginning with the December NPU-W Board Meeting and ending on December 31 of the following year. (May 2000)
4. A Committee shall elect its chairperson at its first Committee meeting by a majority vote. The chairperson shall be an EACA member in good standing.
5. A Committee member may be removed by a majority vote of the Committee.
6. The Committee chairperson or designate shall report highlights of Committee activity no less than quarterly or as often as requested by the Executive Committee. (May 2000)
7. A Committee may formulate additional duties at its meetings, but in the case of overlapping duties, the EACA Membership shall determine which Committee shall be responsible for the duty in question.
8. The Officers and the Committee Chairs shall constitute the Executive Committee. (May 2000)
E. ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
The Executive Board may appoint Advisory Board Members at any time to serve on the Executive Committee. Advisory Board members do not have to meet the membership requirements of EACA but, if they do not, they do not have voting privileges in EACA. (May 2000)
ARTICLE V - MEETINGS
A. There shall be an annual meeting held on the second Tuesday in December.
B. There shall be regular Monthly Meetings on the second Tuesday of each month except as otherwise provided by a majority vote of those Members present and voting at a Monthly Meeting.
C. SPECIAL MEETINGS
The Purpose of a Special Meeting is to take care of urgent or emergency business which cannot wait until the next Monthly meeting. A Special Meeting may be called at any time if requested by a majority vote of the Board of Directors. Members who have attended the previous three EACA meetings shall be notified at least 48 hours prior to the Special Meeting. Thirty-three percent of the total average attendance of the three previous EACA meetings shall constitute a quorum. Members attending the Special Meeting can decide a policy question by a 2/3 majority vote of Members present and voting.
D. RULES OF PROCEDURES FOR ALL MEETINGS
1. The general procedure shall be normal conversation; however, ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER (REVISED) may be invoked by a motion and a single second to that motion without a vote. Such a procedure will remain in effect for the duration of that particular topic of debate.
2. All decisions at any Monthly, Special, or Annual meeting with the exceptions as stated in these Bylaws requiring a vote need a motion, a second, and a majority approval of those members present and voting in order to pass.
3. An individual's debate shall be limited to 3 minutes per topic whether or not ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER (REVISED) has been invoked.
4. There shall be no absentee voting or voting by proxy at any Monthly, Special, or Annual meeting of EACA.
E. The Executive Committee shall meet no less than 4 times per year. (May 2000)
ARTICLE VI - EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS
A. Definitions.
1. Grants means all funds sought by or disbursed to any individual person or entity other than EACA .
2. Petitioner means the party seeking the grant.
3. Fiscal year means the period established by the Finance committee as the 12-month period used for accounting purposes.
4. General fund means all EACA money not otherwise allocated for a specific purpose.
B. Limitations.
1. No grant may exceed $500 per petitioner per 12 month period.
2. The total of all grants awarded in one EACA fiscal year shall not exceed 20% of the available cash in the general fund at the beginning of the fiscal year.
ARTICLE VI - CHANGES TO BYLAWS
These Bylaws may be amended, repealed, or altered in whole or in part by a 2/3 majority vote of members present and voting in any Monthly Meeting of EACA. No change to these Bylaws may be finally voted on at the Monthly meeting where it is first proposed.
