Rules of Procedure for the

Green Assembly of

San Benito County

(Adapted from the Rules of Procedure for the Green Assembly of Santa Cruz County 
in November 2005)

Rule (Rule of Procedure)

Rules designed specifically for the internal workings of meetings. Rules do not apply outside of any meeting for which they are written. It will take at least a 2/3 vote to change or implement any rule. The GA is obligated to abide by any rule it has approved.

GA = Green Assembly of San Benito County. Green Assembly and General Meeting are synonymous.

Rule 1. MEETING PROCESS

A. DEFINITIONS AND DUTIES OF FACILITATION TEAM

There are six roles to be filled by members of the Green Assembly (GA) at every meeting. These roles are: Facilitator, Co-Facilitator, Notetaker, Timekeeper, Vibes Watcher(s), and Doorkeeper. The Co-Facilitator of one meeting shall be the facilitator of the next, if possible. Any member of the GA may volunteer for any of these roles. The filling of these roles shall rotate between members as much as possible.

1. ROLE OF THE FACILITATOR

a) Before the Meeting, the Facilitator shall:

·  Prepare Agenda --- The Facilitator shall receive the agenda from the Facilitator of the most recent meeting or, if an agenda is not forthcoming, the Facilitator will use the minutes from the previous meeting to determine what agenda items are to be carried over as old business, and will contact Working Group coordinators to inquire about requests for agenda time. The Facilitator will create the final agenda, determining the order of items and the time allotted for each one, maintaining relative continuity with the agenda from the previous meeting. Agendas will be posted in a manner consistent with direction from the Green Assembly (GA).

·  The Facilitator should arrive 5 to 10 minutes before the meeting begins to put the agenda items on the board. Before starting the meeting, the facilitator calls for new agenda items from members, adjusting the times if necessary.

b) During the Meeting, the Facilitator shall:

· Recognize speakers (See Guidelines for the Facilitator).

·  Move through the agenda items.

·  Keep the discussion focused (See Guidelines for suggestions).

· Work with the Timekeeper, contracting for more time if necessary. Follow the consensus procedure when a proposal is made.

· Clarify who is going to carry out the agreed upon proposal if it is action oriented, and exactly what is to be done.

· Maintain order. If a person or group of persons are disrupting the meeting, the Facilitator may ask them to leave. If they refuse, the Facilitator shall call for an immediate vote (a 2/3 vote of the Green Assembly is needed for ejection of disruptive person(s)).

2. ROLE OF THE CO-FACILITATOR

a) The Co-Facilitator shall keep the list of speakers (the stack) for the Facilitator during the meeting.

b) She/He shall offer help to the Facilitator in preparing the agenda before the meeting.

c) She/He shall act as public scribe when necessary - e.g. listing items on the board when this would be helpful to the discussion.

d) She/He shall take over facilitating the meeting and recognize the Facilitator when the Facilitator wishes to speak or if the Facilitator is unable to fulfill her/his duties.

e) She/He shall collate items for discussion from small groups.

f) She/He shall become the Facilitator of the next meeting, unless she/he is unable to fulfill that role.

g) She/He shall accept written Time Critical Items at the beginning of each GA meeting and make them known to the GA by posting, circulating or other method.

3. ROLE OF THE NOTETAKER

a) The Notetaker shall write down an outline of the agenda, role rotation, tasks of members and anything that was bumped off the agenda for the next meeting.

b) She/He shall write down every proposal as consensed to in its exact wording.

c) She/He shall give the notes to the Website Manager in digital format within 7 days of the meeting or otherwise post them in a way consistent with instructions from the GA.

4. ROLE OF THE TIMEKEEPER

a) The Timekeeper shall keep track of the times which have been allotted to each agenda item.

b) She/He shall signal the Facilitator when half the allotted time is up and again when two minutes are left.

5. ROLE OF THE VIBES WATCHER(S).

a) The Vibes Watcher(s) shall pay attention to the overall mood or tone of the meeting.

b) If tensions increase, anger flares out of control, or someone interrupts a speaker in a disrespectful or threatening manner, the Vibes Watcher(s) must intervene to remind the group of its common goals and commitment to cooperation.

c) She/He may call for a moment of silence or a short break to help keep people focussed and relaxed.

d) The Vibes Watcher(s) is the only person with prior permission to interrupt a speaker or speak without first being recognized by the Facilitator.

e) She/He shall not act in her/his own interest, but in the interest of group harmony. All members of the group also have the responsibility to watch vibes and to help the Vibes Watcher(s) maintain harmony.

6. ROLE OF THE DOORKEEPER

a) The Doorkeeper must be aware of any new person attending the meeting and shall try to make that person feel at home.

b) If no explanation of process has been made at the beginning of the meetings, the Doorkeeper may take new members aside and explain GA procedures or give them a copy of the process rules and guidelines and other available literature.

B. POINTS OF ORDER

Any member of the Green Assembly, during any meeting, may signal the Facilitation Team on a point of order by raising two hands. The Facilitation Team will rule on the point of order if necessary. After being recognized,, the member should state which point of order is being raised:

1. Point of Clarification: Raised when a member does not understand the procedure.

2. Point of Procedure: Raised when a member has a procedural suggestion to aid or improve the facilitation of the discussion, or when a member believes there has been a violation of accepted procedure.

3. Point of Information: Raised when someone has an item of information that is important to the discussion or by an individual (such as the Notetaker) who needs to record an item if information.

C. DECISION MAKING PROCESS

1. GENERAL

a) A Modified Consensus Process with a fall-back to voting will be used at all Green Assembly (GA) meetings, except for Time Critical Items, as defined below.

b) A proposal may be presented to the GA by any individual or group which has been given agenda time for that purpose. All proposals should exist in written form for the purpose of clarity and so that they may be easily recorded if approved. In general, a long proposal (over half a page) should be merely presented in written form at one meeting and a decision on it postponed until the next meeting.

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2. MODIFIED CONSENSUS PROCESS

STEPS a) Oral or written statement by presenter. b) Facilitator calls for clarifying questions	c) Facilitator calls for concerns, affirmative statements, friendly amendments. d) Facilitator calls for unresolved concerns.	e) If there are still unresolved concerns or only three minutes remain in allotted time	f) Allotted time completed
RESPONSE	Concerns and friendly amendments listed.	The person with the concern may choose to stand aside (concern is recorded by Note-taker) CONSENSUS IS ACHIEVED	Presenter asks for more time
Each question is responded to by the presenter	If no unresolved concerns remain, CONSENSUS IS ACHIEVED
RESPONSE	Presenter (and group) can address concerns, accept or reject any amendments.	If the person with the concern does not stand aside, then presenter may continue to address concerns or choose a closing option	Proposal withdrawn. May be referred to a Working Group or an ad-hoc group for revision.
RESPONSE	Presenter may take a straw poll to check for progress toward consensus.		Presenter calls for vote on the proposal.

 3. VOTING PROCESS

Proposal withdrawn. May be referred to a Working Group or an ad-hoc group for revision.

Presenter calls for a vote on the proposal.

a) The proposal is read aloud in its final (amended) form. (Only amended sections need to be read aloud on long proposals).

b) The Facilitator states clearly who is eligible to vote.

c) The Facilitator asks for a show of hands: Those in favor; those opposed; and abstentions. Voters may choose only one of the three options. The vote totals are recorded so that they are clear to everyone present.

d) Abstentions will not be counted toward the percentage total.

e) If two-thirds or more of those voting vote in favor, the proposal is approved. If not, it is rejected.

4. TIME CRITICAL CONSENSUS PROCESS

A Time Critical Item is one that is not on the regular agenda, is submitted to the facilitation team in writing by the beginning of the GA meeting, and is limited to 2-5 minutes presentation time. Issues presented during the Time Critical segment of the agenda shall be subject to an absolute form of consensus process defined as one which allows, upon presentation of a proposal, with no discussion, for a single blocking concern to deny approval by the GA at that meeting. If Consensus is blocked, the Time Critical Item will be referred to the appropriate Working Group, Caucus or Neighborhood Group

for an immediate hearing. If there is no appropriate group for referral, the Facilitator will call for volunteers to begin an ad-hoc group for this item, which may be formed by a minimum of two members.

Rule 2. PROCESS FOR SELECTING DELEGATES TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA

A. NOMINATION PROCESS

1. Candidates come forward at the delegate selection meeting. Any member of the Green Assembly may nominate her/himself or another. Any candidate unable to attend this meeting may submit a short written statement about her/himself and why they wish to be chosen.

2. Selection of nominees:

a) Each candidate is given one minute to state her/his qualifications and why she/he wishes to be a delegate. Written statements are read aloud (also limited to one minute). After each statement is made, the audience shall be given a short period of time to ask questions of the candidate.

b) After each candidate's statement and answers, the Facilitator shall ask the Green Assembly if there is consensus on this candidate becoming a nominee.

c) If consensus in not reached on a specific candidate, then a vote is taken is which 80 percent, must vote in favor of the candidate in order for her/him to become a nominee.

B. ELECTION OF DELEGATES

1. One delegate and one alternate will be chosen by election from the pool of nominees. These elected delegates will serve for one year. When their terms expire, they must wait one year before being eligible for re-election. All past nominees must be re-approved and new candidates approved as nominees at each annual election of delegates.

2. Voting process:

a) Each attending member of the Green Assembly, who has attended at least one meeting of the Green Assembly within the prior six months, writes the names of two female and two male nominees on a sheet of paper (ballot).

b) Ballots are collected and the votes for each nominee counted.

c) Those nominees receiving the highest and second highest number of votes in each gender shall become the elected delegates.

d) Those of each gender getting the third highest number of votes become the first alternate delegates for each gender category. Should any elected or randomly selected delegate (see [D] below) be unable to attend a state-wide meeting, the first alternate of that gender shall become a delegate. First alternates should plan on attending state-wide meetings in case a delegate drops out at the last minute, is late, or has to leave at some point during the meeting.

C. RANDOMLY SELECTED DELEGATES

1. To complete the county's complement of delegates, the remaining number of delegates will chosen by lot from the remaining pool of nominees. This random selection drawing will be held at least one week prior to each General Assembly meeting.

2. The random selection process shall be as follows:

a) The name of each nominee not elected as a delegate or first alternate will be written on slips of paper. (In subsequent delegate selection rounds, all eligible nominees shall be contacted at least two weeks prior to a meeting at which new random delegates are to be chosen to ascertain whether they wish to be included in the drawing. If a person wishes to be a delegate, but was not previously a nominee, they must be approved as a nominee before this drawing, according to the same nomination process described in section B.1 above).

b) The names are placed into their respective male or female "hats".

c) Beginning with the female, names are drawn out of the "hats" until the number of allotted delegates is reached. These randomly selected delegates shall serve for one meeting only. They must wait until after the meeting following the one for which they were chosen to re-enter their names into the "hats", unless there are not enough names in the pool of nominees to fill the remaining number of allotted delegate seats.

d) Two additional names for each gender will be drawn as second and third alternates for their respective genders. Alternates should plan on attending state-wide meetings (as stated in section C.2.d above).