Rose Hill Civic Association Constitution and Bylaws
Constitution
Article I - Name | |
Section 1. | The name of this organization shall be "The Rose Hill Civic Association," hereinafter referred to as "the Association." |
Article II - Objective | |
Section 1. | The aims and objectives of the Association shall be to stimulate and maintain interest in and to devise and effect ways and means for the promotion of the civic and general welfare of the Rose Hill area. |
Section 2. | The Association shall be strictly non-partisan, non-political and non-sectarian. It reserves the right, however, to advocate or oppose any issue affecting the welfare of the Rose Hill area. |
Article III - Area | |
Section 1. | The area of the Association shall embrace the area known as Rose Hill, in Fairfax County, Virginia and other interested, adjacent areas as may be approved by the Board of Directors. |
Article IV - Membership | |
| Section 1. | Membership of the Association shall be limited to adults residing, owning property or operating a business in the area described as in Article 111. |
| Section 2. | Only members in good standing, as defined in the By-Laws, shall exercise the privileges of membership. |
| Article V - Finances | |
| Section 1. | The dues of members shall be as are fixed by the By-Laws of the Association. |
| Section 2. | Financial obligations may be incurred by the Board of Directors in the name of the Association. |
| Section 3. | No financial obligations shall be incurred in the name of the Association in excess of the funds available in the treasury. |
Article VI - Organization | |
| Section 1. | The elected officers of the Association shall be a President, a Vice President, a Secretary and a Treasurer. |
| Section 2. | There shall be a Board of Directors, composed of the elected officers of the Association. |
| Section 3. | The Editor of "The Rambler" shall be appointed by the President with the approval of Board of Directors. |
Article VII - Annual Meeting and Election of Officers | |
| Section 1. | The election of officers shall be held at an annual election meeting in March of each year. |
| Section 2. | Any member in good standing is eligible for any office of the Association. |
| Section 3. | A Nominating Committee shall be appointed by the Board of Directors prior to the annual election. Prior to the annual meeting, this Committee shall present to the full membership, by circular, a slate consisting of at least one qualified candidate who is willing to serve for each office. At the annual meeting, any member in good standing shall have the right to nominate from the floor a qualified candidate for any office of the Association. The candidates for each office proposed by the Nominating Committee, together with such additional candidates as may be nominated from the floor and have agreed to serve, shall be presented for election. |
| Section 4. | All officers shall be elected for a term of one year. In the event of death, resignation, permanent incapacity, forfeiture of office or departure from the community of any officer, other than the President, a successor will be appointed by the Board of Directors to serve for the balance of the unexpired term. In the event of a vacancy in the office of the President, the Vice-President shall automatically become President, and the vacated office of Vice-President shall be filled in the manner prescribed herein. |
| Section 5. | A majority of votes cast shall be required to elect. In the event that no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, a second ballot shall be cast in which voting shall be restricted to the two (2) nominees receiving the largest pluralities on the first ballot. In the event of a tie, it shall then be in order to cast an additional ballot with the President casing a vote. |
| Section 6. | The officers of the Association shall assume their duties at the conclusion of the meeting at which they are elected and the retiring officers shall continue to perform their duties as officers until the conclusion of the meeting at which their successors are elected. |
Article VIII - Amendment | |
| Section 1. | Proposed amendments to this Constitution may be presented in writing at any regular meeting to the Secretary, and shall be read at the same meeting. The proposed amendment shall be distributed in writing to all resident members prior to the next meeting, at which meeting the proposed amendment shall be put to vote and shall become a part of this Constitution if approved by three-fourths of the members present and voting. |
Bylaws
Article I - Membership | |
| Section 1. | Charter membership in the Association shall be closed and limited to those members in good standing at the time of the adoption of the original Constitution of the Association. |
| Section 2. | Membership in the Association shall be available to any person who is eligible as defined in ARTICLE IV of the Constitution and any person desiring to become a member shall pay dues, and shall be furnished with a membership card and copy of the Constitution and By-Laws. |
| Section 3. | A person shall retain membership as long as he remains eligible as defined in ARTICLE IV of the Constitution and pays yearly dues to the Association. |
| Section 4. | Possession of a current valid Association membership card shall be sufficient evidence of membership in good standing. |
Article II - Dues | |
| Section 1. | The annual membership dues shall be ten dollars ($10.00) per individual or per household, payable in the first quarter of each year. Those who joined in months other than the first quarter shall pay dues on a pro-rata basis for the months or parts of months up to the following January 1, except that the minimum for part-year membership shall be five dollars $5.00). |
Article III - Meetings | |
| Section 1. | The regular meetings shall be held on the fourth Tuesday of each month except July August and December. The Board of Directors may change the date of any regular meeting, provided one month's notice is given to the membership. The Board shall have the power to dispense with regular meetings for a period not to exceed three months. |
| Section 2. | Special meetings of the membership may be called by the President when deemed necessary by a majority of the members of the Board of Directors or upon written request of twenty-five members of the Association. Only such business as the special meeting is called to consider, as set forth in the notice thereof to the membership, shall be discussed and acted upon at the given special meeting. |
Article IV - Quorum | |
| Section 1. | A simple majority of the members of the Board of Directors shall be required to constitute a legal quorum at any regular or special meeting. |
Article V - Duties and Powers of Officers | |
| Section 1. | The President shall be the chief executive officer of the Association, and shall preside at all meetings of the membership of the Association, and shall have the privilege of casting a deciding vote in cases of tie. The President shall also have the duty to sign or authorize the signature of all official documents and orders necessary to carry out the will of the Association; to appoint, on the advice and consent of the Board, membership of all committees and delegates and alternates to the Fairfax County Federation of Citizens' Associations; to act as Chairman of the Association's delegation to the Fairfax County Federation of Citizens' Associations; to act as an ex-officio member of each committee, and to perform such other duties as devolve upon his office. |
| Section 2. | The Vice-President, in the absence of the President, shall assume the responsibilities and duties of that office as set forth in this Article, and it shall be his or her duty to assist the President in the discharge of this official duties when requested to do so. |
| Section 3. | The Treasurer shall have the care and custody of all Association funds and property and shall keep an accurate record thereof, shall be responsible for the receipt and maintenance of all Association funds and for the disbursement thereof, subject to the provisions of Article IX of these By-Laws. |
| Section 4. | The Secretary shall keep correct and complete records of the proceedings of the Association and of the Council from which he shall prepare official minutes for submission at the next regular meeting; maintain a roll of members and guests present at each regular, annual and special meeting of the Association membership and of the Council. He or she shall file all communications and copies of correspondence for preservation. Upon the conclusion of his or her term of office, the Secretary shall be responsible for the completion of records of the Association and the rendering of all the completed minutes and historical records of the Association and the Council to the incoming and succeeding Secretary. He or she shall prepare all notices of meetings of the Association as required in the By-Laws. He or she is authorized to prepare and sign in the name of the Association as approved by the Board or the membership, and shall acknowledge correspondence received by the Association. |
| Section 5. | Any officer of the Association may be impeached by the unanimous vote of the other officers or by twenty percent (20%) of the vote of the members in good standing, and may be removed from office by a two-thirds vote of the membership after he has been accorded a hearing upon the impeachment charge. |
| Section 6. | Any elected officer of the Association who, without just cause and without prior notification to the President or Vice-President, absents himself from three (3) meetings of the Association during the course of his tenure of office shall forfeit his office automatically and without recourse. |
| Section 7. | While it is the responsibility of the Chairman of each committee to carry out the duties of his office and to assure that the responsibilities of the committee of which he is Chairman are carried out in full, it shall be the duty of the members of the Board as a whole to take all action necessary to insure that the duties of each of the committees is carried out in full. |
Article VII - Committees | |
| Section 1. | The committees of the Association shall be formed to implement the aims and objectives of the Association. Each committee shall be appointed in accordance with Article V, Section I of these By-Laws. |
| Section 2. | All matters considered by any Committee shall be reported in writing at the next regular meeting and a copy of each such report shall be filed with the Secretary and a further copy shall be provided for publication in the news media of the Association. |
| Section 3. | Any member in good standing introducing a new subject shall have the right to appear before the committee to which the subject is primary interest, before the said committee files its report on the subject, as provided for in Section 2 above, and/or before the committee files its recommendations with the Board. |
| Section 4. | No committee, member or delegate shall commit the Association to the advocacy or opposition to any subject without prior confirmation by the Board. |
| Section 5. | Any member of any committee who, without just cause and without prior notification to the Chairman of said committee, absents himself from three (3) committee meetings during the course of his tenure of office shall be removed from the committee automatically and without recourse. |
Article VIII - Representation on the County Civic Federation | |
| Section 1. | The Association shall have representation in the Fairfax County Federation of Citizens' Associations. The President shall appoint, subject to the provisions of Article V or these By-Laws, delegates to represent the Association. |
| Section 2. | Delegates will be uninstructed in exercising their powers and privileges as delegates, except when instructed by the Board on a specific issue. |
Article IX - Disbursements and Audits | |
| Section 1. | The Treasurer shall collect and receive all monies of the Association; he or she shall deposit all funds of the Association in a local bank to the account of the Association. Only the Treasurer shall disburse funds from this account, and then only in payment of authorized expenditures. Payment shall be made by check drawn on the Association account and shall be signed by one of the three following officers of the Association: Treasurer, President and Vice-President. |
| Section 2. | All disbursements, whether by check or by cash, shall be supported by an itemized invoice and receipt, signed by the vendor as paid in full and signed by the Treasurer as having received stated material or services. |
| Section 3. | The Treasurer shall submit a financial report at each regular meeting. He or she shall also submit, at the annual meeting in March, a written annual report, audited by an Audit Committee. Such committee shall be composed of no fewer than three members in good standing, one of whom shall be an officer of the Association at the time of the audit, and each of whom shall be elected to the Audit Committee by a majority vote of the Board present at the regular meeting next preceding the annual meeting. In the event of the resignation of the Treasurer, the prescribed auditing procedures shall be followed |
| Section 4. | All expenditures shall be authorized or approved by the Board. |
Article X - Procedure at Meetings | |
| Section 1. | Robert's Rules of Order, Revised, shall be parliamentary guide and shall govern the proceedings of the Association when not in conflict with the specific provisions of the Constitution and these By-Laws and such amendments thereto as may be adopted. The Association may establish a set of standing rules on procedures which may be suspended at any meeting by a majority vote. |
| Article XI - Amendment | |
| Section 1. | Proposed amendments to these By-Laws may be presented in writing at any regular meeting of the Association to the Secretary and shall be read at the same meeting. The proposed amendment shall be distributed in writing to all resident members prior to the next meeting, at which meeting the proposed amendment shall be put to vote and shall become a part of these By-Laws if approved by three-fourths of the members present and voting. |