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East Boston Land Use Advisory Council By-Laws*


Public Documents

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Are you an East Boston resident who cares about the neighborhood and its future? If so, you should join the East Boston Land Use Council. The LUC is a group of community activists who seek to address long-standing issues of planning, traffic and noise, open space and other quality of life concerns. The LUC meets every Thursday evening at the EB Social Centers, 68 Central Square. All meetings are open to the public. Membership is free. If you are interested in learning more about the LUC, please contact President Joe Mason by e-mail at jmason023@aol.com. Latest schedule is available at eastboston.com.

Table of Contents

ARTICLE 1 -- DEFINITION

ARTICLE 2 -- STRUCTURE

ARTICLE 3 -- OFFICERS

ARTICLE 4 -- DUTIES OF OFFICERS

ARTICLE 5 -- VOTING REGULATIONS

ARTICLE 6 -- MODUS OPERANDI

ARTICLE 7 -- ADOPTION OF BY-LAWS


ARTICLE 1 -- DEFINITION

The East Boston Master Planning, Recreation, and Land Use Advisory Council  (hereinafter referred to as the "Land Use Council", "Council", or "LUC") is a not for profit, unincorporated association of East Boston residents concerned with the planning, recreation, land use and other matters affecting the East Boston community which the Council may deem appropriate for consideration. In order to address the issues affecting the community, the Council will hold regular meetings open to the public which shall be governed by these by-laws. The goal of  the Council shall be to enhance the quality of life for the East Boston community, to protect the community from exploitation, discrimination, and uses of resources and property that are considered to be a threat to the general welfare of East Boston.

 

ARTICLE 2 - STRUCTURE

SECTION A. Composition

Members of the LUC shall be residents of East Boston ages 14 years and over, with residency determined by domicile, not place of work.

For purposes of these Bylaws and Council meetings the following terms shall be governed by the definitions contained in Section B of this Article, unless otherwise provided.
 

SECTION B. Defintions

1.1     "Regular business meeting" -the meetings at which regularly scheduled general business of the Council shall be conducted.

1.2     "Special meeting"- meetings held for an affected neighborhood and further described in Article n, Section D.

1.3     "Designee"- any person designated to act on behalf of another

1.4     "Organization"-Any administrative entity with a regular membership and purpose conforming to standards and requirements.

1.5     "Sealed Ballot"-A pre-printed form which shall be used for voting purposes.

1.6     "Domicile"-The fixed, permanent and principal home of an individual.

1.7     "Resident"-Any person who is domiciled in the community of East Boston, Massachusetts.

1.8     "Open Meeting"-A meeting governed by the Open Meeting Law as described in the General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

1.9     "Quorum"-The number of voting members required to legally and competently transact business.

1.10      "Member"-Any person meeting the qualifications of Article n, Section A.

1.11      "Voting Member"-Any person meeting the qualifications of Article n, Section B.

SECTION C. Schedule of meetings

The LUC shall agree to conduct a business meeting in a public place at least once a month.

SECTION D. Neighborhood Meetings

Before the LUC offers any formal endorsements or rejection of any proposal for development, or of any proposal which would be of a particular concern to a neighborhood within East Boston, the LUC must hold an open meeting in the affected neighborhood to learn the opinions of local residents concerning the proposal presented. The proposal shall be on the agenda for discussion purposes only at the next subsequent LUC business meeting. No note shall be taken on the proposal sooner than the second upcoming business meeting. No binding vote may be taken by the LUC at the Neighborhood Meeting. Leafleting the affected neighborhood should be done whenever possible when a special meeting is to be held.

SECTION E. Public Notice of Meetings

The President of the LUC shall be responsible for publicizing notice of business meetings and neighborhood meetings to be held in public session at least one week in advance and at least one time prior to the meeting -- containing information on the agenda, time and place of the meeting. The President shall be responsible for submitting a press release to the local newspapers summarizing the proceedings of each LUC meeting. As a minimum requirement, this report may be occasionally take the form of a monthly report. The President may delegate these responsibilities to any other person.

SECTION F. Time and Place of Meetings

The President of the LUC shall be responsible for determining the time and place of all LUC meetings.

ARTICLE 3 -- OFFICERS

SECTION A. Elected officers

The LUC shall have a President, Vice-President and a Secretary elected by the membership.

SECTION B. Process of Election

The officers shall be elected by a simple majority of all voting members who voted at the election meeting. In a case of a tie vote, additional ballots shall be taken to determine the results. The President, with the consent of the membership, may specify in the public notice of the election hours in which balloting is allowed.

SECTION C. Eligibility for Officers

Any member as defined in ARTICLE 2 SECTION A may be nominated for an office in the LUC. An officer may succeed himself/herself. No person may hold more than one office in the LUC.

SECTION D. Term of Office

Election of Officers shall occur annually in September.

SECTION E. Nomination of Officers

Nomination of officers shall occur at the LUC meeting prior to the election meeting and may also occur at the election meeting. Officers may be nominated by any voting member in attendance at these meetings. Nominees must indicate their willingness to accept the nomination at the time they are nominated. Any number of nominations may be made for each category. If no nomination is made for a category, the President is responsible for appointing a pro-tem officer to the vacant office.

SECTION F. Notification of Elections

The President shall be responsible for giving public notice of time and place of the nominating meeting and the election meeting in all local papers, thirty days prior to the nominating meeting.

SECTION G. Vacancy of Officers

In the event an office becomes vacant, the voting membership, at the meeting immediately following the public announcement in a local newspaper of the vacancy of the office shall elect a successor.

SECTION H. Appointed Officers

The President, with the consent of the membership, may appoint up to two additional officers as necessary, with the term and duties of the office determined with membership consent.

ARTICLE 4 -- DUTIES OF OFFICERS

The duties of the LUC President shall be to set the time and place of all the meetings. To give public notice of the meetings when required. To develop an agenda for the meetings and to conduct the meetings in accord with the agenda.

The President shall perform his/her duties in a manner dutifully responsive to the LUC membership and other officers.

The President shall be responsible for maintaining order at the meetings.

The President shall be responsible for appointing heads of the LUC Sub-committees.

The President shall provide leadership and encourage public participation in LUC meetings and shall communicate with City Hall on matters regarding the LUC. In its discretion, the chair may express in speeches, or in writing, the adopted policies of the LUC. The President may delegate any of the above duties to the to the Vice-President.

SECTION B. Duties of the Vice President

The duties of the Vice President shall be to act on behalf of the President in the absence of the President.

SECTION C. Duties of the Secretary

The duties of the secretary shall be to keep minutes of the LUC meetings which will include an attendance sheet, indicating eligibility to vote. To post those minutes to the proper agencies, to draft letters of the LUC (Unless otherwise directed by the President), to monitor postage of those letters, and to supervise in the clerical working of the LUC (such as providing members with copies of minutes or correspondence if requested).

ARTICLE 5 -- VOTING REGULATIONS

SECTION A. Quorum Requirements

A LUC quorum shall consist of ten voting members. No action may be taken on LUC business unless a quorum is present.

SECTION B. General Voting Requirements

To vote at a LUC Business meeting, one must be a member of the LUC as defined in ARTICLE 2, SECTION A, and must have attended two out of the past or present consecutive LUC meetings. A member must be present in order to vote.

SECTION C. Voting in Elections (of officers)

To be eligible to vote at one election meeting of the LUC, a member must have attended six LUC meetings during the past 12 months.

SECTION D. Special Voting Requirements

Attendance at a special neighborhood meeting, as described in ARTICLE 2, SECTION D shall be considered for the purpose of meeting the voting requirement to vote on the subject matter discussed at the neighborhood meeting regardless of the number of intervening meetings on any matter other than this subject. A member must have observed the requirements in ARTICLE 5, SECTION B, in order to vote.

SECTION E. Proxy Voting or Absentee Voting in the LUC

There will be no proxy voting or absentee voting in the LUC.

SECTION F. Conflict of Interest

A person with a direct financial interest in a particular vote, or people employed by such firms, shall be considered in conflict of interest on a particular vote and denied the right to vote. Likewise persons attending LUC meetings as PAID staff through any agency or governmental body will be so considered. In the event of a dispute over conflict of interest, the voting membership, excluding the disputed person, shall determine whether the conflict exists. PAID staff members of the East Boston Community Development Corporation (CDC) OR ANY OTHER SIMILAR ORGANIZATION, shall be deemed in conflict of interest on all matters which come before the LUC and denied the right to vote.

ARTICLE 6 -- MODUS OPERANDI

SECTION A. Decision Making

Decisions of the LUC shall be made upon any seconded motion of a member requesting action, unless that member is declared out of order by the President. Decision may be made by a hand vote, roll call vote or a secret ballot.

The presiding officer shall determine the method of voting. Robert Rules of Order shall be observed at all LUC meetings.

SECTION B. Acting upon decisions

The necessary action resulting from a LUC decision may be proposed by any member of the LUC. It is the responsibility of the President to delegate persons to carry out that action, once approved by the voting membership.

SECTION C. Delegated Authority

No member of the LUC shall speak, write or act on behalf of the LUC without the consent of the membership. Exceptions to this include the specified duties of the officers.

ARTICLE 7 -- ADOPTION OF BY-LAWS

SECTION A. Adoption

The duty of the By-Laws Committee of the LUC shall be to recommend to the General Membership adoption of the By-Laws. Adoption shall be decided by a simple majority vote of voting members attending.

SECTION B. Amending

The By-Laws of the LUC may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the voting membership in attendance. Before such a vote is taken, notice of the recommended changes must appear in a public medium at least two weeks in advance of the meeting.

Amended 11/87

(*Source: Robert Strelitz of the LUC, May 1996; Introduction submitted by Joe Mason, June 2002  - Corrected on December 30, 2009  -- HTML encoding by Frank Conte)

The document above is a copy of the by-laws of the East Boston Land Use Advisory Council. The by-laws were amended 11/87. eastboston.com eastboston.com  assumes no responsibility for inaccurate, dated information. This document (in HTML form) is presented by eastboston.com as a public service.



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