San Diego Veterans For Peace Chapter Bylaws

SAN DIEGO VETERANS FOR PEACE CHAPTER BYLAWS revised 6-14-2021

NAME
- Organization name. The name of this organization shall be San Diego Veterans For Peace (also known as SDVFP).

PURPOSES

We, as military veterans, and supporters, do hereby affirm our greater responsibility to serve the cause of world peace. To this end we will work, with others both nationally and internationally:

To increase public awareness of the causes and costs of war;
To restrain our governments from intervening, overtly and covertly, in the internal affairs of other nations;
To end the arms race and to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons;
To seek justice for veterans and victims of war; and
To abolish war as an instrument of national policy.

To achieve these goals, members of Veterans For Peace pledge to use non-violent means and to maintain an organization that is both democratic and open with the understanding that all members are trusted to act in the best interests of the group for the larger purpose of world peace.

III. AFFILIATION

3.1. San Diego Veterans For Peace (SDVFP) shall be a chartered chapter of the Veterans For Peace (VFP).

3.2. SDVFP may form temporary coalitions with other organizations of like mind, subject to approval by the Membership or the Executive Committee.

OFFICES

4.1. Principal office. The principal office for the transaction of the business of the organization shall be established at any place within San Diego County, State of California, by resolution of the Executive Committee and approved by SDVFP members.

4.2. Other offices. The Executive Committee may at any time establish branch or subordinate offices at any place or places where SDVFP is qualified to transact business.

LIMITATIONS

5.1 Political Activities. SDVFP has been formed under California Nonprofit Corporation Law for the charitable purposes described in Article 2, and it shall be nonprofit and nonpartisan. No substantial part of the activities of the Chapter shall consist of lobbying and SDVFP shall not participate in or intervene in any political campaign (including the publishing or distribution of statements) on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for public office.

5.2 Prohibited Activities. SDVFP shall not, except in an insubstantial degree, engage in any activities or exercise any powers that are not in furtherance of the purposes described in Article 2. SDVFP may not carry on any activity for the profit of its Officers and/or any member of the SDVFP Executive Committee or other private persons or distribute any gains, profits or dividends to its Officers and any member of the SDVFP Executive Committee or other persons as such. Furthermore, nothing in Article 2 shall be construed as allowing SDVFP to engage in any activity not permitted to be carried on: (a) by a corporation exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) or (b) by a corporation, contributions to which are deductible under section 170(c)(2) of the Code.

MEMBERSHIP

6.1. Members. Membership shall be open to any person who is a member of the national Veterans For Peace and who resides in the San Diego County area. This may include both Full and Associate Members.

6.1.a. Full Membership. Full Members of VFP shall be veterans of the Armed Forces of the U. S., or veterans of the Armed Forces of foreign nations. They may also be Merchant Marines or other U.S. Citizens who have served in a professional capacity with or in service to the Armed Forces of the U.S. in an area and during a period of war, conflict, or other hostile activity. Full Members must subscribe to the purpose, goals, and ideals of VFP and pay annual dues. Eligibility for Full Membership shall be determined by additional rules and regulations adopted by the (national VFP) Board of Directors.

6.1.b. Associate Membership. Associate Members of VFP shall be members who are not veterans, but who subscribe to the purpose, goals, and ideals of VFP and pay national dues. Eligibility for Associate Membership shall be determined by additional rules and regulations adopted by the (national VFP) Board of Directors.

6.2. Voting members and right to hold elective office. The right to vote and to hold elective office or an appointed position within SDVFP shall be limited to members, both full and associate, identified as “Current” by National Veterans For Peace. For the purpose of voting, a member must be identified as “Current” by National Veterans For Peace during the calendar month prior to voting as an SDVFP member. An alternative is that a member may verify his or her National Veterans For Peace membership by providing a membership dues payment receipt from National Veterans For Peace.

6.3. Nondiscrimination. The right to and privileges of membership shall not be abridged in any way because of age, sex, race, color, ethnic group, marital status, national origin, sexual orientation or any other arbitrary discriminatory practice.

6.4 Violations of the Code of Conduct. Members who violate the VFP Code of Conduct may be sanctioned or expelled. Procedures for dealing with members alleged to have violated the VFP Code of Conduct are set forth in the SDVFP Policies and Procedures Manual.

VII. DUES, FEES AND ASSESSMENTS

7.1 Annual dues. The basic annual dues level for members will be set and collected by the national organization of Veterans For Peace.

7.2 Approval of dues. Local Chapter dues, or the absence of local Chapter dues, will be approved by vote of the General Membership, upon recommendation of the Executive Committee, and, if dues apply, will be collected by the Treasurer. In cases of need, provision will be made for membership without local dues.

7.3 Payment of local Chapter dues optional. While the Chapter may assess dues, payment of any Chapter dues is voluntary and optional, and does not replace national dues. Member failure to pay Chapter dues may not be used to deny participation in any membership activities.

VIII. POLICY-MAKING BODY

8.1. Policy making body. The policy-making body of the SDVFP shall be the General Membership meeting of members. Between General Membership meetings, the policy-making body of the SDVFP shall be the SDVFP Executive Committee.

8.2. Regular meetings. Regular meetings of the SDVFP shall be at least every other month. The place and time of meetings shall be decided and announced by the Executive Committee.

8.3. Special meetings. Special meetings of the SDVFP may be called by the President, the Executive Committee, or by the petition of twenty percent (20%) of the General Membership.

8.4. Emergency meetings. For emergency meetings of the SDVFP during crisis situations, the Executive Committee shall adopt procedures to notify members of meeting dates, places, and times.

OFFICERS AND AT LARGE MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

9.1 Officers. The officers of the SDVFP shall be a President, a Vice President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. The President and Vice President shall be full members. The Secretary and Treasurer positions may be occupied by full members or Associate Members.

9.1.a Terms. Officers shall be elected for a term of one year, commencing on the first meeting of any calendar year, and may be reelected for not to exceed five consecutive terms.

9.1.b Officers shall be and remain members of the SDVFP as a condition for nomination to and service in their respective positions during their terms of office.

9.2 At Large members of the Executive Committee, number, and term.

9.2.a. Number and membership status. The number of elected At Large members of the Executive Committee shall be three. Elected At Large members of the Executive Committee shall be full or associate members of the SDVFP.

9.2.b An At Large Member of the Executive Committee shall be elected for a term of one year, commencing on the first meeting of any calendar year, and may be reelected for not to exceed five consecutive terms.

9.3 Requirement to be a member of the Executive Committee. Officers and At Large members of the Executive Committee shall be and remain members of SDVP as a condition for nomination to and service in their respective positions during their terms of office.

9.4. Vacancies. A vacancy shall be deemed to exist in the case of death, resignation, or inability to serve in any of the offices of the SDVFP. In the event of a vacancy occurring in the office of the President, the Vice President shall assume the office. In the event a vacancy occurs in the other offices, a special election shall be held to elect successors to fill the unexpired terms. An Officer or At Large Member of the Executive Committee shall be deemed to have resigned by his or her failure to attend three (3) consecutive Executive Committee meetings, or four (4) Executive Committee meetings in a calendar year. The Secretary shall provide written notification of such absences to the Executive Committee. In the event of a vacancy in an elected Executive Committee position, other than the president, caused by death, resignation, or inability to serve, the Executive Committee shall schedule, announce, and conduct a special election to fill the vacancy within one month of declaring the position vacant.

9.5 Duties.

9.5.1. President. The President shall be the chief executive officer of the SDVFP and its policy leader. The President shall:
(a) Preside at all meetings of the SDVFP and the Executive Committee;
(b) Prepare the agenda for the meetings of the SDVFP and the Executive Committee;
(c) Be the official spokesperson for SDVFP;
(d) Be familiar with the governance documents of VFP and SDVFP;
(e) Call meetings of the SDVFP and Executive Committee; and

(f) Serve as a voting member of the Executive Committee for one year past termination of his/her full term as President.

9.5.2 Vice President. The Vice President shall:
(a) Serve as assistant to the President in all duties of the President;
(b) Assume the duties of the President in the absence of the President;
(c) Be responsible for formation and distribution of the SDVFP’s calendar of activities; and
(d) Serve as coordinator of committee activities at the direction of the President.

9.5.3. Secretary. The Secretary shall:
(a) Keep a careful and accurate record of the proceedings of each meeting, regular or special, of the SDVFP and the Executive Committee;
(b) Be responsible for the timely distribution of minutes, notices of meetings, and agendas for all meetings to members of the Executive Committee and the General Membership as appropriate;
(c) Carry on the correspondence pertaining to the affairs of the SDVFP as directed by the President; and
(d) Prepare ballots for all elections.

9.5.4. Treasurer. The Treasurer shall:

(a) Receive all funds belonging to the SDVFP and be responsible for their safekeeping and accounting;

(b) Pay out such funds upon orders of the President;

(d) Keep an accurate roster of the General Membership of the SDVFP; and

(e) Submit membership and financial reports to VFP.

9.5.5 At Large member(s) of the Executive Committee. Any At Large Member of the Executive Committee:

(a) Shall participate in all meetings of the Executive Committee;

(b) May serve as the Chair of any committee or task force established by the Executive Committee;

(d) May assist any elected officer with performance of assigned duties if authorized to do so by the Executive Committee.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

10.1 Composition elected Executive Committee positions. The Executive Committee shall be composed of the officers, the immediate past president, and any elected At Large member(s) of the Executive Committee.

10.2 Unelected Voting members of the Executive Committee. Any SDVFP member who holds an elected or appointed National VFP office or is the chairperson of any National VFP committee may be appointed, by the SDVFP Executive Committee, to be an unelected voting member of the Executive Committee. Termination of appointment shall occur: (a) if the member terminates his/her elected or appointed office or is no longer the chairperson of a National VFP committee; or (b) in the case of death, resignation, or inability to serve. An unelected member shall be deemed to have resigned by his or her failure to attend three (3) consecutive Executive Committee meetings, or four (4) Executive Committee meetings in a calendar year.

10.3. Responsibility. The SDVFP Executive Committee, composed of members of Veterans For Peace, derives its powers from and shall be responsible to the General Membership.

10.4 Duties. The duties of the Executive Committee shall be:

(a) To make proposals to establish SDVFP policies and objectives;

(b) To make necessary decisions between General Membership meetings of the SDVFP;

(d) To propose the annual budget of the SDVFP for approval on or before the first meeting of the calendar year;

(e) To propose the annual dues of the SDVFP, or the absence of local Chapter dues, for approval by the General Membership; and,

(f) To exercise all of the business and organizational powers and duties for SDVFP as prescribed by law and these bylaws, subject to any restrictions which may be imposed by the General Membership.

MEETINGS OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

11.1 Quorum. A quorum for all meetings of the Executive Committee shall consist of a majority of voting members of the Committee.

11.2 Notice of regular and special meetings of the Executive Committee.

11.2.1 Notice, regular meetings. The date, time and place for any Executive Committee meeting shall be announced to all SDVFP members in a variety of ways that assure communication occurs. Except when the time and place of a regular meeting is set by the Executive Committee by resolution in advance, notice of the time and place of all regular meetings shall be given to each Executive Committee member by one of the following methods:

(a) Personal delivery of oral or written notice;

(b) First-class mail, postage paid;

designed to record and communicate messages; or

(d) Facsimile, electronic mail (“email”) or other means of electronic transmission if the recipient has consented to accept notices in this manner. Notice of regular meetings may be given in the form of a calendar or schedule that sets forth the date, time, and place of more than one regular meeting.

11.2.2 Notice, special meetings of the Executive Committee. A special meeting of the Executive Committee for any purpose may be called at any time by the President, the Vice President, or by the Secretary, or by any two Members of the Executive Committee. Notice shall be provided before the start of the scheduled meeting and notice of the time and place of the special meeting shall be given to each Executive Committee member by one of the following methods:

(a) Personal delivery of oral or written notice;

(b) First-class mail, postage paid;

(c) Telephone, including a voice messaging system or other system or technology designed to record and communicate messages; or

(d) Facsimile, electronic mail (“email”) or other means of electronic transmission if the recipient has consented to accept notices in this manner.

11.3 Place of Executive Committee meetings. Regular and special meetings of the Executive Committee may be held at any place within San Diego County, California.

11.4 Meetings by Telephone or Similar Communication Equipment. An Executive Committee meeting may be held by conference telephone, video screen communication, or other communications equipment. Participation in a meeting under this Section shall constitute presence in person at the meeting if all of the following apply:

(a) Each member participating in the meeting can communicate concurrently with all other members;

(b) Each member is provided the means of participating in all matters before the Executive Committee, including the capacity to propose, or to interpose an objection to, a specific action to be taken by the SDVFP;

(c) The Executive Committee has adopted and implemented a means of verifying that a person participating in the meeting is an Executive Committee member or other person entitled to participate in the Executive Committee meeting, and that all actions of or votes by the Executive Committee are taken or cast only by the elected Executive Committee members and not by persons who are not elected Executive Committee members.

11.5. Open Meetings. Meetings of the Executive Committee are open to the General Membership, with the exception that closed meetings may be held on matters involving personnel, litigation, contractual negotiations, or similar matters on a recorded vote of the Executive Committee. When a meeting or part of a meeting is to be closed, the purpose shall be included in the distributed meeting notice. A member may challenge closure of a meeting or part of a meeting. The Executive Committee shall publish a procedure for challenging closure of a meeting or part of a meeting.

11.6 SDVFP member agenda topics. SDVFP members may request consideration of specific agenda topics by contacting the President.

11.7. Open Meeting Records. The Executive Committee shall maintain minutes of their meetings. The minutes shall be available to SDVFP members through the SDVFP website, or upon request.

XII. NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS

12.1. Notification. Notification of offices open for election, nomination procedures, and election timelines shall be announced at regular meetings.

12.2 Nominating Committee. Annually, and not later than the end of July, the Executive Committee shall appoint a Nominating Committee composed of members. The Nominating Committee shall identify all candidates by the end of October to allow the Secretary time for preparation of the election ballot.

12.2.a Personal nomination. Any member, at his/her request, shall have his/her name placed upon the ballot for an office of the SDVFP.

12.2.b. Nomination by a member. The name of any member may be placed in nomination by any other member, with the consent of the nominee.

12.3 Election. Election of officers and At Large members of the Executive Committee shall be conducted in the month of December by secret ballot of the General Membership. A member may be nominated at the meeting, with the consent of the nominee.

12.4 Election procedure. The Executive Committee shall adopt Standing Rules setting forth the procedures for conducting elections.

12.5 Elections shall be by open nomination and by secret ballot.

XIII. RECALL ELECTIONS

13.1. Initiation. A recall of any person in an elected position may be initiated by submission of a petition, signed by one-third (1/3) of the General Membership, to any SDVFP Officer member of the Executive Committee. A statement of the reason(s) for the proposed recall shall be part of the recall petition. The Executive Committee shall appoint an Election Inspection Committee of three members who are not elected Executive Committee members to verify member signatures. Additional procedures relating to initiation of a recall election shall be specified in the Policies and Procedures manual of SDVFP.

13.2. Rebuttal request. Within seven (7) days of receipt of a recall petition with verified signatures of one-third (1/3) of the General Membership, the Executive Committee shall request a rebuttal statement from each person named in the recall petition.

13.3. Rebuttal statement submission date. A rebuttal request shall be mailed to each person named in the recall petition, along with a copy of the recall petition. The rebuttal request shall specify a date by which any rebuttal statement(s) must be returned to a specified Executive Committee member. Each person named in the recall petition shall have at least seven (7) days from his/her receipt of the rebuttal request to submit his/her rebuttal statement.

13.4. Recall Election scheduling and notice. Within seven (7) days of the specified rebuttal return date, the Executive Committee shall notify all members, by mail, of the date, time, and method of the Recall Election. With the written notice, the Executive Committee shall provide a copy of the recall petition and a copy of each rebuttal statement received by the Executive Committee.

13.5. Conduct of the special election. If a Recall Election is to be conducted by mail, Recall Ballots shall be mailed to each member with a copy of the recall petition and a copy of each rebuttal statement. The written notice of the recall election shall specify the date voted ballots must be returned to the Secretary or to alternate designated election official appointed by the Executive Committee.

13.6. Secret ballot. Any recall elections shall be by secret ballot and by procedure approved by the Executive Committee. Voted ballots shall be counted by and results of the election shall be announced by the Election Inspection Committee.

XIV. COMMITTEES

14.1 Establishment. Committees may be established and discontinued by the Executive Committee, as needed, and subject to approval of members at a General Membership meeting.

14.2 General Membership responsibility. Members are to be encouraged to recommend establishment of committees needed for accomplishment of purposes identified in Article 2. The General Membership shall be asked to approve establishment of any SDVFP committee.

14.3 Periodic reporting. Each committee shall submit periodic reports to the Executive Committee.

MEETINGS OF THE GENERAL MEMBERSHIP

15.1 Meetings of SDVFP may be called by the President, the Executive, or by written petition of twenty percent (20%) of the General Membership.

15.2 Quorum. A quorum for meetings of the SDVFP shall be 1.5 times the number of voting member positions of the Executive Committee.

15.3 Notice. Notice of meetings of the General Membership. The date, time and place for any General Membership meeting shall be announced to all SDVFP members in a variety of ways that assure communication occurs. Except when the time and place of a regular meeting is set by the Executive Committee by resolution in advance, notice of the time and place of all General Membership meetings shall be given to each Chapter member by one of the following methods:

(a) Personal delivery of oral or written notice;

(b) First-class mail, postage paid;

(c) Telephone, including a voice messaging system or other system or technology designed to record and communicate messages; or

XVI. PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY

16.1. Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised, latest edition, shall be followed at General Membership meetings and the Executive Committee meetings.

XVII. AMENDMENTS

17.1 Supermajority requirement. These Bylaws may be amended by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of members at a regular or special SDVFP General Membership meeting.

Revised 6-14-2021

Revised 10-2-2018