Bylaws update

At our next NPU-S meeting on the 19th, we'll be voting on proposed changes to our bylaws. Bylaws are required to be sent to the City every year by the 30th, so this is our make-or-break time - please come out!

Earlier in the year, we had a committee meet in February and put together a new set of bylaws, to be voted on up-or-down by the NPU. However, after the proposed changes generated greater interest in the Bylaws process, we decided to take a different approach. Instead of voting on a complete set of bylaws with every change already inserted, we've pulled out the changes so that each change can be voted on independently.

The latest Bylaws meeting happened on September 7, and the resulting set of changes can be found at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/131Em9xdTcMX9CmO_lIaBBJSV931Be5aN?usp=sharing under the document "proposed bylaws changes 2019".

A quick summary of the proposed changes:

• Neighborhood Association Recognition - Adds clarifying language on how Neighborhood Associations are recognized by the NPU.
• Removal of Officers - moves Sections on removing and replacing officers into more appropriate Articles
• Expansion of Vice-Chair Duties - assigns the Vice-Chair to be the APAB representative for the NPU, unless otherwise delegated
• Voting Identification Requirements - expands the ways residency can be proven for voting purposes within the NPU
• Political Forums Boilerplate - moves Section on prohibiting political forums to a more appropriate Article
• Duty to Solicit Consensus - clarifies that Executive Committee members are expected to solicit the consensus of their communities.
• Clarification of Elections and Officer Terms - cleans up language on election procedures, moves some miscategorized Sections into appropriate Articles
• Reduce number of Standing Committees -  Shrink the number of standing committees from nine to four, merging the responsibilities of the original committees to create fewer committees with broader mandates.
  The four new committees would be:
• Land Use Committee – merges the Zoning, Traffic, and Code Enforcement Committees. By default chaired by the NPU Zoning contact.
• Quality of Life Committee – merges the Human Development/Safety, Recreation/Cultural Affairs, and Environmental Committees
• Assistant Services Committee – merges the Senior Services and Education Committees. Adds a mandate to consider youth issues.
• Policy Committee – enhances the APAB Committee to encompass NPU policy positions both internally and externally. By default chaired by the APAB representative for the NPU.

Every one of these changes will be voted on separately on the 19th. For more details, including the specific text changes, go to the PDF document linked above.

Last but not least: NPU-S normally restricts voting to residents who have attended at least three NPU meetings in the past 12 months, but in accordance with City ordinance, there are no such restrictions on votes on Bylaws. If you haven't visited us before and wish to vote on the bylaws, please bring some proof of residency to receive a ballot.