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The
Green Party of New Jersey
for the 2008 Convention |
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| GPNJ Updated Bylaws (2007) | |
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30-DAY WARNING FOR BYLAWS AMENDMENTS: Section 12 -– Amendments
An Amendment to these
Bylaws may be adopted upon a two-thirds vote at an Annual Convention or a
Special Convention, provided that |
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============================================= 1) Proposed by Mike Gellman and Anna Gellman Proposal to amend the By-laws of the Green Party of NJ, section 3.1 defining membership in the Green Party of New Jersey, submitted by Michael and Anna Gellman. Section 3 -- Members Section 3.1 -- Criteria Membership in the
Party is open to Nature and Intent: As currently stated, the definition of a member of the Green Party of New Jersey allows for members of any other political party to be a GPNJ member, with full membership rights, including voting on internal party matters. Furthermore, this definition excludes individuals who have registered and affiliated with the Green Party. In essence, we are allowing Republican Party and Democratic Party members to control the activities of the Green Party, so long as they pay dues, while we are restricting Greens from participating because they have not paid dues. These amendments to the definition of membership would eliminate the possibility of members of any other political party to control the activities of the Green Party while also allowing registered Greens to actively participate. While this amendment does not require members to pay dues, it is strongly encouraged in the definition. ============================================= 2) Proposed by George DeCarlo as Chair of the Green Party of New Jersey and member of the party The Green Party of New Jersey shall only contribute to candidates running for nomination or nominated by its own party, candidates running as unaffiliated candidates or with a label not associated with a political party defined by N.J.S.A. 19:1-1, or any candidate running in a nonpartisan election. Nature and Intent: Due to the Consent Order in October 2007 settling the civil action (suit) brought forth by the Green, Conservative and Libertarian parties, we are required to act at our convention to submit the wording above as taken from the Order. The following is from a message I as a member had sent to the party along with the content from the particular part of the Order. Our attorney had said that enforcement of the order below would be difficult for anyone bringing a suit. At the Annual Convention we will make the effort by proposing a bylaws change according to our bylaws which all other political parties were aware of during the suit discussions. Of course, the Democrats do not have any such rule in their state bylaws we were not privileged to see and the Republicans have a soft statement on the topic. There was a declared concern by the Dem/Rep lawyer that our parties might be taken over by one of their parties then launching a campaign against the other. The unspoken concern of the Dems is that they did not want an independent such as a Nader supported due to their foolish notions of spoilers. They, of course, see us as x-Dems in Green clothing. "ORDERED that, whereas the defendants' willingness to agree to the increased contribution limits set forth in this Order is premised on the expectation that each plaintiff will enact and maintain bylaws requiring it to contribute only to candidates running for nomination or nominated by its own party, candidates running as unaffiliated candidates or with a label not associated with a political party defined by N.J.S.A. 19:1-1, or any candidate running in a nonpartisan election; and whereas the plaintiffs have denied that the enactment or maintenance of such bylaws is relevant to their entitlement to relief but nonetheless have expressed their willingness to consider enacting such bylaws at their next regularly scheduled conventions; the plaintiffs and the defendants agree that if any of the plaintiffs fails to enact such bylaws at its next regularly scheduled convention or fails to maintain such bylaws thereafter, then any aggrieved party or the State shall have standing to assert a claim that the failure to enact or maintain such bylaws violates applicable law or such aggrieved party's statutory, constitutional, or other rights; and it is further..." ============================================= 3) Proposed by Mike Gellman Section 12 – Amendments An
Amendment to these Bylaws may be adopted upon a two-thirds vote at an Annual
Convention or a Special Convention, provided that Section 12 shall have the following amendment to the first sentence: An Amendment to
these Bylaws
may be proposed by any member in good standing and
shall
be adopted upon a two-thirds vote at an Annual
Convention or a Special Convention, provided that Nature and Intent: The proposed amendment is intended to clarify the GPNJ bylaws section on who may submit proposals to amend the GPNJ bylaws, and to promote grassroots democracy within the party, which is one of the 10 key values of the Green Party and specified in our own bylaws. This amendment would allow any individual member in good standing to make such proposals. ============================================= 4) Proposed by Ryan Reyes Due to this amendment's impact on more than one section of the Bylaws, placement may be made in a new section or as decided by the Annual Convention when in discussion. Section 13 - Time and Term Limitations Term limits for Officers and Chairs and time limits for council and committee participation are suspended indefinitely. Nature and Intent: This amendment proposal has been discussed at GC meetings and is made due to the problems in filling seats with those willing and/or qualified until such time that a convention of the party repeals this clause. ============================================= 5) Proposed by Matt Thieke The language of Section 11, titled "Parliamentary Authority" is hereby replaced in its entirety with the following wording: The Party shall be governed by these bylaws, any duly adopted Rules (as defined in Section 2) that are consistent with these bylaws, and by any New Jersey election laws that may apply to the Party. Rules may be created by Standing Committees (as defined in Sec. 4.1(a) and Sec. 4.2(c)), the Executive Committee (as defined in Sec. 5.8(f) and Sec. 5.9(c)), by the Green Council, or by the voting representatives at an Annual or Special Convention. Rules created at a Convention may only be repealed or altered by the voting representatives at a convention. Rules created by the Green Council can only be repealed or altered by the Green Council, OR by the voting representatives at a convention. Rules created or ratified by the Executive Committee can be repealed or altered by the Executive Committee, the Green Council, or the voting representatives at a convention. Members who wish to create, repeal or alter a Rule at an Annual or Special Convention, must first propose the change in writing in advance, using the same procedure as for Amendment proposals as defined in Section 12. Any member may propose a Rule. Nature and Intent: This changes Section 11 to remove Robert's Rules of Order as a part of our bylaws, and clarifies the rule-making abilities of the various levels and subsets of the party. Because of its length and complexity, Robert's Rules is open to abuse. It can be used by a small minority to thwart the will of the majority. Its use is more likely to cause conflict and confusion than consensus. Its complexity also means that the vast majority of party members do not even know the full extent of our bylaws. Bylaws are not meant to be easily changed, and ours requires a 2/3 majority at a convention. If Robert's Rules is a part of our bylaws, then it can be argued that even the smallest of rules could require an amendment to change it. This makes it harder for the workings of our party to evolve and adapt to changing conditions. If Robert's Rules are part of our bylaws, it means that if a new revised edition of Robert's was published, our bylaws would have been changed without our consent! If this amendment is passed, we can then create our own rules. Or even borrow some of Robert's Rules to use as our own, and only take the parts of Robert's that we want. We should be able to pick and choose. All different subsets of our party will be able to make rules. But a rule won't be changed or repealed by a smaller group of people than the group that created it. ============================================= 6) Proposed by Matt Thieke
The following wording is to be added to Section 8, Candidates for
Public Office:
Until such time as the Party is required, or
chooses, to nominate its candidates for public office by a Primary
election (as defined by New Jersey law), the Party may establish Rules to
create and use mail-in ballots for the purpose of selecting its candidates
for public office.
Those entitled to receive and cast such a ballot
will include all registered New Jersey voters whose official party
affiliation is "Green", and all Party members who are not officially
affiliated with any other political party.
Nature and Intent: If other amendments are not passed, or the matter of the party's vote in selecting its candidate for President in 2008 is not settled, then this amendment is proposed. ============================================= 7) Proposed by Nature and Intent: =============================================
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