GMVAC Bylaws

This document includes all amendments through December 4, 2006.

Article I -Name and Purposes

Section A. Name

The name of the organization shall be "Greater Maple Valley Area Council" and is referred to herein as the "Council".Section B. Purposes

The purposes of the Council are:

1. To contribute to the orderly development of greater Maple Valley, while maintaining the historic rural character. Greater Maple Valley is defined by the area of the Tahoma School District No. 409, excluding any portions, which are or become incorporated;

2. To make and publish studies which promote and improve the community;

3. To act as liaison for the community in providing area representation, comments and recommendations to county, state and federal agencies; and 4. To exercise all powers necessary or convenient to effect any of these purposes.

Article II - Composition and Membership

Section A. Community Areas

1. The greater Maple Valley community represented by the Council shall be comprised of four community areas.

2. All residents in the above areas are members of the greater Maple Valley community represented by this Council.

Section B. Area Boundaries:

1. At least once every four years the Council shall review each community area and precincts in each community area.

2. The Council by majority vote shall approve changes to the precincts that define boundaries of the community areas.

3. The precincts, or portions of precincts, which define each of the community areas are set forth in Attachment #1.

Section C. Membership:

1. The membership of the Council shall be comprised of representatives from the community areas.

2. Each community area shall be entitled to four representatives.

3. Each representative shall occupy a position with a term of four years.

4. The terms of the positions in each community are staggered; in every odd year the terms of two positions in each area shall expire on December 31 and begin on January 1 of the following year.

Section D. Qualifications and Residence Requirements:

1. A member is qualified to serve on the Council if he or she is a registered voter in and a resident of the community area from which he or she is elected.

2. Whenever a member in the first year of a term moves from their community area to another community area, the member may complete the first year of the term, after which the position shall be considered vacated.

3. Whenever a member moves after the first year of an elected term from the community area that he or she represents to another community area, the member may complete the balance of the term.

4. The membership of any representative moving outside the boundaries of the Tahoma School District or into an incorporated area, shall terminate automatically upon such a move, and the position held by the member shall be considered vacated.

5. Changes in community area boundaries made after a Council election or appointment of a member shall not disqualify that member during the remainder of his or her elected or appointed term.

Section E. Attendance Requirements:

1. The Recording Secretary shall record a member absent if the member does not appear to the Recording Secretary at the meeting place within one hour of the call of the roll, or before adjournment, whichever comes first.

2. If a member has been absent from three of the regular monthly meetings in a calendar year and is not present for roll call at a fourth meeting in the same calendar year, the Chairperson or acting Chairperson shall declare the absent member's position to be vacated.

3. For the purpose of meeting attendance requirements, a member who, at the request of the Council or its Chairperson, is attending another meeting shall be considered present for the Council meeting, if the scheduled time of the other meeting makes it impractical for the member to attend both meetings. If the conflict in times is in doubt, the Chairperson, subject to review by the entire Council, shall rule on the question.

4. A member whose position declared vacated for failing to meet attendance requirements may apply for re-appointment.

5. Whenever a member cannot attend a regular meeting of the Council, that member may give a proxy in writing to another member of the Council. E-mail communication (to all members) satisfies the proxy requirement; however, the proxy shall be shown to the Chairperson before any vote is taken in which a member intends to cast a proxy vote.

6. Whenever a member cannot attend a regular meeting of the Council, and if that member chooses not to give a proxy vote to another Council member, that member may designate another resident of the same community area to be an alternate member to represent the area. The regular member shall make this designation in writing to the Chairperson before or during the call to order of the meeting.

7. For the purpose of meeting attendance requirements, a member who properly designates an alternate or gives a proxy vote for a regular monthly meeting shall (will) be considered to be present for that meeting provided that the member has not previously designated an alternate or given a proxy vote for three meetings in the current calendar year.

8. Alternate members may participate in all discussions and they may vote and count towards quorum requirements.

Section F. Vacancies:

1. If a position is due to be vacated at the end of the year, or a member declares in writing before September 1 of an election year, that he or she will vacate a position between October 1 and December 31 of that year, the position, or unexpired term of the position, shall be filled at the next regular election.

2. When a vacancy occurs under conditions other than Paragraph 1, above, the Council, at its next regular meeting, shall vote whether or not to fill the position before the next election. If it is decided to fill the position before the next regular election, the Chairperson shall immediately advertise the vacancy in the Voice of the Valley, or other suitable venue, for three consecutive weeks.

3. Candidates for a vacancy shall apply in writing during a period determined by the Chairperson and according to any other terms approved by the Council.

4. Unless it will be filled at the next regular election, the Council shall vote to appoint a member to fill the vacancy.

a. If no candidate for appointment to the Council receives a majority vote, the candidates receiving no votes and the candidate receiving the least number of votes (but at least one vote) shall be eliminated from consideration and the Council shall choose from the remaining candidates.

b. The procedure of eliminating one candidate at a time from consideration shall be repeated until one candidate has a majority vote.

c. The Chairperson shall break any tie votes in this appointment procedure.

d. The Council shall only consider applicants from the community area that the vacated position represents, unless there are no candidates from that community area.

e. If there are no candidates from the community area, which is represented by the vacated position, candidates from all other community areas may be considered.

5. Membership on the Council by appointment is effective upon the candidate's receiving a majority vote of the Council, and the appointee shall be sworn in before any other business.

6. Appointed members shall serve the remainders of the unexpired terms of the positions to which they have been appointed so long as they are qualified to represent the community area that the positions represent.

7. Otherwise qualified appointed members who are not residents of the community areas, which their positions represent, shall serve out the remainder of the calendar year after which the position shall be considered vacated again.

8. Elected or appointed Members to the Council, as well as elected Officers, will take the following Oath of Office before they are recognized as Members or Officers of the Council:bottom: I (FULL NAME), promise to uphold the Constitution and laws of the United States of America; the Constitution and laws of the State of Washington; the charter and laws of King County, Washington, and the bylaws of the Area Council, so help me God." 

Section G. Membership Duties

Each member is expected to participate and to contribute in a responsible way and, among other responsibilities:

1. To participate on at least one standing or ad hoc committee;

2. To maintain communication with residents of his or her community area;

3. Where appropriate, to serve as a representative of the Council when participating in other community organizations. Council members often appear at meetings with government officials or attend meetings of other organizations. When acting as representatives of the Council, members may only describe those policies and decisions that have been agreed to by the full Council. They must make clear they are not authorized to make commitments unless the full Council has already authorized such a commitment. Finally, should they decide to speak as individual citizens, they must first state they are doing so and, thus, are not presenting Council positions

4. To maintain a file of all relevant materials on Council matters, such as minutes of Council and committee meetings, and

5. To exercise diligence in protecting the Council against charges of conflict of interest or appearance of conflict of interest. In meeting this objective a member shall abstain from any Council deliberations or votes out of which such charges should reasonably arise. If a member believes that another member may be subject to such a charge, he or she may state that belief as a point of order.

6. A conflict of interest exists when a member accepts, directly or indirectly, anything of value, which is given for the purpose of obtaining special consideration in the Council's activities; or whenever a member, business associate of the member, or someone in the member's household has a financial interest in an issue, and the person with that interest could benefit differently than other Council members or the public.

7. Area Council members shall make it clear when they as members of the Council are expressing their own opinions and when they are speaking or writing in behalf of the Council. The Chair and the Corresponding Secretary are the usual Council spokespersons; however, any member when authorized by the Council to do so, may speak or write on its behalf.

Section H. "At Large" Members

1. As the need arises, the Council may vote to designate past members as "At Large" members for the remainder of the calendar year.

2. Upon acceptance a so-designated "At Large" member shall take a seat on the Council as a non-voting member.

3. "At Large" member duties shall be determined by Council vote, but could include: Policy Strategist, Advisor, and/or Spokesperson.

4. Upon a vote by the Council, an "At Large" membership can be revised or revoked.

5. "At Large" member duties shall be drafted by the Council's Executive Committee and finalized and approved by a full Council vote.

Article III - Elections

Section A. Ballots

At each regular election the Vice Chairperson shall place on the ballot for each community area the name of any person who is eligible to be a member of the Council and who has met the filing requirements.

Section B. Filing Requirements

Eligible candidates shall file for election to the Council by notifying the Vice Chairperson in writing on, or before the first Monday in October preceding the election and by paying a filing fee of ten dollars.

Section C. Time and Notice of Elections

Elections shall be held every odd year. At least 30 days before the election, the Vice Chairperson shall publish the election rules, including, where possible, voting hours and voting places.

Section D. Voter Eligibility

All registered voters in each community area are eligible as voters within that community area.

Section E. Counting Votes

1. Where there are more candidates than vacancies, the candidates getting the most votes shall be elected. Election shall be by majority vote. Tie votes shall be decided by a coin toss.

2. Write-in votes shall be counted for candidates not listed on the ballot if the candidates are otherwise eligible to serve on the Council.

3. Whenever there are two or more vacancies in a community area in addition to the four year positions normally being filled, the candidates receiving the most votes shall be elected to the positions with full terms of four years; the candidate with the third highest number of votes shall fill the position with the longest unexpired term; and the candidate with the fourth highest number of votes shall fill any remaining position.

4. At each election, the Vice Chairperson shall appoint three members, none of whom are running in the election, to count the votes, or votes will be tabulated and election results certified by a private CPA or by King County Records and Elections Division.

5. Candidates serving as poll watchers shall not serve at polling places within their community area.

Section F. Election Challenges:

1. The result of an election to the Council may not be challenged unless, within 15 days of the publication of the results of the election, an eligible voter provides written notice of the challenge to any officer of the Council and pays a $25.00 fee to the Council.

2. The Vice Chairperson shall investigate all election challenges.

3. As promptly as is practical, the Council shall notify in writing any person being challenged of the existence of the challenge. The Council shall promptly notify in writing the person being challenged and the person making the challenge of the results of any investigation.

Article IV - Officers

Section A. Composition

Council officers are: Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, and Treasurer.

Section B. Election of Officers

As its first order of business at the first regular meeting in the calendar year, after the swearing in of newly elected Council members, the Council shall elect its officers from among its members by majority vote. Election challenges shall be decided before the election of officers.

Section C. Nominations

1. The Chairperson of the Greater Maple Valley Area Council shall, at the December meeting, appoint a nominating committee. Such nominating committee shall be composed of one member from each of the Districts that make up the Area Council, where possible, and further that no member indicating intention to run for office shall be a part of the committee. Such intention shall be determined by show of hands at the direction of the Chairperson, of those wishing to seek office for the next year, before the nominating committee is formed.

2. Each duly elected and sworn member may run for any office with the exception of the Chairperson. Chairperson nominees shall have served a minimum of one full year on the Greater Maple Valley Area Council.

3. The Nominating committee shall elect one of their number as Chair of the committee and one of their number as Secretary of the committee. It shall be the job of the Nominating committee to determine which members of the Council are intending to seek office. They shall make note of such intention and shall at the January meeting of the Area Council, report the slate of candidates to the current Chairperson, who shall run the election of officers.

4. Any member may make nominations from the floor, and on acceptance of the nomination by the nominated person his/her name shall be added to the list of candidates for that office, for purposes of balloting.

5. Election of the Chairperson shall be conducted first. On election of the Chairperson, the elected Chairperson shall conduct the remaining elections for officers.

6. All balloting shall be by secret ballot except that where there is only one candidate for office, the election may be by acclamation, after proper motion and second from the floor. Passage of the motion shall be deemed election of that candidate to office.

Section D. Vacancies

In case of the resignation, disqualification or removal of an officer a special election shall be held at the next regular meeting of the Council to fill the vacancy.

Section E. Duties of the Officers

1. The Chairperson shall oversee all activities of the Council; execute all instruments on its behalf; prepare the agenda; preside at all meetings of the Council and of the Executive Committee; call emergency meetings, other than the regular meetings of the Council; and perform other duties usually inherent in such an office.

2. The Vice Chairperson shall serve in the absence of the Chairperson and perform other duties as the Chairperson, or the Council, shall direct. He or she administers the election of members.

3. The Recording Secretary distributes the agenda of each regular Council meeting and prepares and distributes the minutes of the prior meeting. Committee reports from the prior meeting should also be included with the minutes. The Recording Secretary also schedules rooms for regular meetings. The Recording Secretary shall keep all records of the Council, except those of the Corresponding Secretary and the Treasurer, and shall perform such other acts as the Chairperson shall direct.

4. The Corresponding Secretary shall prepare and transmit all correspondence from the Council, and shall perform other duties as the Chairperson shall direct.

5. The Treasurer shall receive and be accountable for all funds belonging to the Council; maintain bank accounts in depositories designated by the Executive Committee; render periodic financial reports; and pay all obligations up to, and including $100.00 , as deemed necessary, and, by approval of one other officer all obligations over $100.00.

6. The Executive Committee consists of the five officers and the past Chairperson, if he or she is still a member of the Council. The Committee manages the affairs of the corporation. At the discretion of the Executive Committee, meetings may be held, up to once per month to review active business of the Council, to set the agenda for the upcoming Council meeting, etc. The meetings are open to all Council members. Three members constitute a quorum of the Executive committee for the transaction of official business.

Article V - Committees

Section A. Standing Committees;

1. The Council may establish a standing committee by a majority vote.

2. Each standing committee shall have: a name, a description of its area of oversight, no more than 14 members, and at least two & no more than seven Council members, one of whom shall serve as chairperson of the committee.

3. The Council Chairperson shall appoint a temporary chairperson for each standing committee whose members can then select a permanent Chairperson.

4. The Council Chairperson shall appoint the members of the standing committees unless the Council decides otherwise.

5. Non-members of the Council may be members of standing committees subject to confirmation of the Council.

6. The Executive Committee is a permanent standing committee as described in Article IV, Paragraph E6.

Section B. Ad Hoc Committees

The Council or its Executive Committee may form ad hoc committees for any purpose. Persons serving on such committees need not be members of the Council. The Executive Committee shall determine the size and duration of ad hoc committees. The Council Chairperson shall appoint the members and the chairpersons of the ad hoc committees unless the Council determines otherwise.

Section C. Committee Chairpersons

At each regular monthly Council meeting, the committee chairperson shall report on all pertinent matters

Article VI - Meetings

Section A. Regular Meetings

1. The Council shall hold regular meetings on a consistent day and hour each month.

2. The Council may change the date or the hour of any or all regular meetings by majority vote, provided that reasonable efforts are made to notify all members of any change at least ten days in advance of any meeting affected by the change.

3. The Chairperson may cancel or postpone a regular meeting in case of serious emergency provided that all reasonable efforts are made to notify all members of the change.

4. The first regular meeting in each calendar year is considered to be the annual meeting of the Council.

Section B. Special Meetings

1. The Council may hold special meetings for any purpose in addition to the regular monthly meetings.

2. The Council shall notify all members at least 7 days in advance of the time, place, and purpose of a special meeting.

3. The Council may hold emergency meetings for any emergency purpose provided that reasonable efforts are made to notify all members of the time, place, and purpose of the meeting.

4. In all special or emergency meetings, the Council may transact business only on those matters, which are germane to the announced purpose of the meeting.

Section C. Open Meetings

All meetings shall be open to interested members of the community. Written notice of each meeting shall be provided to the news media in time to permit publication prior to each meeting (or election).

Section D. Quorum and Rules of Order

1. At any Council meeting the presence of more than half of the members in good standing shall constitute a quorum.

2. The rules contained in the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order shall govern the Council whenever they are applicable and when they do not conflict with these by-laws or any other rule that the Council adopts.

Section E. Emergency Action

1. When the Executive Committee determines that Council action is required before the next regular meeting of the Council, the Executive Committee may call a special meeting of the Council or it may pass motions in its own name.

2. When the Executive Committee takes action in its own name on behalf of the Council, all such motions shall be presented to the Council at its next regular meeting.

3. If the Council votes to reject any Executive Committee action, the Council must take all reasonable and appropriate steps to rescind the action and to counter its affect.

Article VII - Rules of Operation

Section A. Offices

The place of business of the Council is the home of the Recording Secretary using the Council's official address.

Section B. Non-Discrimination

The Council, or any individual or committees acting on behalf of the Council, shall not discriminate in any of its activities deliberations, or communications with regard to race, sex, religion, ethnic origin, disabling condition, sexual orientation, national origin, income, age, or political affiliation.

Section C. Contracts

The Council may authorize any officer or agent of the Council to enter into any contract or execute and deliver any instrument in the name of and on behalf of the corporation.

Section D. Negotiable Instruments

The Treasurer shall sign all checks, drafts or orders for the payment of money, notes or other evidence of indebtedness issued in the name of the corporation. The Treasurer and one other officer shall sign all checks over $100.00.

Section E. Depositories

All funds of the corporation shall be deposited from time to time to the credit of the corporation in such banks, trust companies or other depositories as the officers may select.

Section F. Gifts

The officers shall accept on behalf of the organization any contribution, gift, bequest or device for any purpose of the corporation.

Section G. Compensation

All members and officers of the Council shall serve without compensation.

Section H. Audits

The Executive Committee shall audit the financial records before the first regular meeting of the calendar year and copies of the results shall be made available at the first regular meeting.

Section I. Removals

1. An officer or member may be removed for cause from office or membership by a two-thirds vote of the members voting in favor of a motion stating the cause for removal. This requirement does not apply to vacancies created by a member's becoming ineligible to serve in his or her position on the Council.

2. No vote may be taken on a removal motion until the Council has made reasonable efforts to notify the member of the motion and to provide an opportunity for the member to respond to the motion. A member may not delay the vote by refusing to respond in a timely manner.

Article VIII - Amendments

Section A. Required Votes

1. The Council may amend these by-laws by a two-thirds vote of the Council.

2. A proposed amendment shall be read at one meeting of the Council and acted upon at the next regular meeting.