Hello All,
I'd like to remind you that we're holding a Membership meeting Tuesday evening
(tomorrow), March 16th, at 7 pm at the Adas Israel Congregation at the corner of
Connecticut Ave. and Porter Street.
The primary objective of this meeting is to discuss several of the issues raised
in the "White Papers" recently published by the Governance Committee. I commend
you to go to the CPCA website http://www.ClevelandParkIsUs.org to download a
copy of those papers.
In particular, we want to focus on the organizational issues that are central to
how we might re-write the Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws. To help us
think about these issues, and to encourage a vigorous debate, we've constructed
the following questions. These questions are not intended to endorse any
specific position, merely to help us consider the pros and cons of various
alternatives.
We don't expect we'll cover all these questions tomorrow, so we will be holding
additional meetings over the next several months to continue with these
questions, as well as to explore other matters on which we need your guidance.
Please think about how you would answer these questions and join us tomorrow
night in finding the right answers. Of course, please feel free to post your
thoughts right here on this listserv.
Kind Regards,
John
President, CPCA
john.chelen.cpca@...
MEMBERSHIP MEETING GOVERNANCE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Can a better leadership structure be created to enable CPCA to make more
effective deliberative decisions? Shall we elect a Board of 11 to 21 Directors
who will in turn choose the Officers from within that group? What if we voted
for the Officers as well when electing Board members? Or, should we directly
elect 4 to 7 Officers plus an additional 6 to 9 "At-Large Executive Committee
Members"? Or, should we leave well enough alone?
2. How should we make decisions on "normal business matters" (assuming
Membership-wide voting on By-Laws issues and elections)? What kinds of
decisions or policies require direct Membership approval? How would it affect
your sense of membership if you couldn't vote on major decisions but relied upon
a Board or expanded Executive Committee to make decisions for you? Should
Members vote on all positions taken by the Leadership, either before or after
they've acted upon their decision? If some decisions don't require approval,
where's the dividing line?
3. CPCA has specific boundaries within which a person must live in order to
join. People from outside those boundaries have asked to join but their
applications have been rejected. Do the current boundaries of CPCA actually
reflect what is commonly understood to be Cleveland Park? Should the membership
boundaries for CPCA be expanded to include any other areas or should any areas
be eliminated?
4. CPCA is a membership organization. Since its beginning, CPCA has had only a
single kind of Member, with voting privileges and other rights to govern the
organization. While non-members attend some CPCA open meetings, some non-members
have asked to be on the CPCA listserv. Should a new class of non-voting Members,
perhaps called "Associate Members", be created so that those outside the formal
boundaries can have have input to our decision-making processes, have access to
the CPCA listserv, receive mailings, and receive other services?
5. In the past, CPCA, like some other local citizens associations, has not
shared its membership list, presumably to protect the privacy of its Members.
While most DC Civic Associations do not publish their Membership list, other
organizations, such as the Cleveland Park Club, provide membership directories
to their Members to facilitate communications and collaboration. Should a
Membership Directory be maintained and provided to any Member? Should any
personal information (e.g., street and/or email address) be excluded from such a
directory? Should Members be permitted to completely "opt out" of the
Directory and not have their names appear at all? Should the Directory be
provided under only special circumstances, such as to a candidate during a
contested election?
6. According to the current CPCA By-Laws, Members must be present to vote in any
election or for any matter that comes up for a Membership vote. Some Members
have said this is a burden, especially for a wife and husband with small
children, where one parent must remain at home and cannot be present for a vote.
Should absentee or household proxy voting be permitted, so that, for example, a
wife could cast a vote for herself and her husband? Should on-line voting be
permitted, and if so, under what circumstances? How could absentee and proxy
voters participate in deliberative decision-making processes? Should we just
continue with our current "Town Hall" approach that requires Members to be
physically present at Annual Meetings or should we provide for a mailed ballot
or combined mail/electronic ballot procedure?