Bylaws of the Missouri Progressive Action Group
May 2018
ARTICLE I: NAME
The name of this organization will be Missouri Progressive Action Group (MOPAG).
ARTICLE II: GOVERNMENT
The Bylaws will govern this organization in all practices.
ARTICLE III: MISSION STATEMENT
The purpose of the organization is to educate members and engage them in actions that will strengthen the voice of working and middleclass families in public discourse and decision making. To accomplish these goals, the members’ focus will be on the following specific strategies:
sharing progressive values with voters and candidates for office
providing elected officials with information in support of progressive goals
providing issue talking points and other tools for messaging
establishing and coordinating a coalition effort with other progressive organizations
recruiting and supporting candidates for elective office
ARTICLE IV: MEMBERSHIP
Any person who is interested in the purpose of this organization is eligible for membership upon payment of the yearly dues. Membership privileges include voting rights and ability to post on mopag@googlegroups .
ARTICLE V: FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION
Section 1. Fiscal Year: The fiscal year will begin on January 1 and end on December 31. Members who join in the months of November or December will be credited with a full year’s membership for the following year.
Section 2. Amount of Dues: Annual dues are set by the organization’s leadership after consultation with the general membership.
ARTICLE VI: MEETINGS
General Meetings will be held monthly with exceptions at the discretion of the Board. The Board will meet at least four times a year. Placing speakers on the agenda does not signify MOPAG endorsement of the views, products/services, or any candidacy of speakers.
ARTICLE VII: QUORUMS
General meetings: Twenty-five percent of the membership, as of January 31 of the current year, shall constitute a quorum for the remainder of that year.
Board meetings: Fifty percent of Board members present will be a quorum.
ARTICLE VIII: OFFICERS AND BOARD
Officers will be elected at the first general meeting of each calendar year. These officers will be Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. Members may also elect up to five members of an Advisory Board to help the officers with organizational business. The officers and advisors will, collectively, be called the Board. The Board will act as the leadership team using consensus and input from the general membership. The Board will make decisions when time is of the essence on behalf of the general membership. The term of all Board members is one year.
ARTICLE IX: DUTIES OF OFFICERS
The Chair will preside at all general meetings of the organization and at meetings of the board. The Vice Chair will act in the absence of the Chair. The Secretary will keep minutes of general and board meetings. The Treasurer will collect dues, make bank deposits and sign checks approved by the leadership team.
ARTICLE X: COMMITTEES AND WORKING GROUPS
Committees and working groups will be established/disestablished on an “as needed” basis by quorum vote in general meetings.
ARTICLE XI: ELECTIONS
The election of officers will take place at the annual general meeting in January. At this time nominations may be presented from the floor with prior consent from the nominee. Elections will be made by voice vote when a candidate is unopposed. If there are two or more candidates for a particular office, the vote will be taken by ballot. The new officers will assume their duties upon election.
ARTICLE XII: PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY
The rules contained in the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order: Newly Revised will serve as the final authority for conducting business.
ARTICLE XIII: AMENDMENTS
These Bylaws may be amended by a majority vote of members present and voting at any monthly meeting of the organization or at any special meeting called for this purpose. The proposed amendment(s) shall have been presented at the previous meeting.
ARTICLE XIV: DISSOLUTION
The Missouri Progressive Action Group will use its funds and/or properties to accomplish the objectives and purposes specified in these Bylaws, and no part of said funds and/or properties will revert, or be distributed to, the members of the organization. On dissolution of the organization, any funds and/or properties remaining shall be distributed to progressive issue groups by a vote of the membership.
ADDENDUM A:
OFFICER RESPONSIBILITIES AND OPERATING PROCEDURES
Chair: Conducts MOPAG monthly general meetings and convenes board meetings monthly or as required.
Ensures meeting agendas are developed in coordination with the board, speakers are invited and coordinated with, and approved agendas distributed to the speakers and public. The agenda distribution goal is at least 10 days prior to meeting.
Approves with Vice Chair the monthly meeting minutes for secretarial posting to MOPAG.org and mopag@googlegroups.
Has authority to represent and commit MOPAG when coordinating with other organizations and individuals. Ensures needed changes made to MOPAG.org and Facebook page. Responds to messages from the public. Develops in conjunction with the Board, procedures, policies, and marketing or other materials to support MOPAG goals. Approves Letters to Editor with MOPAG byline.
Ensures MOPAG metrics (membership and attendance, social media traffic, on-hand funds, etc) are tracked and made available to membership.
Takes lead to resolve operational, financial, personnel, or policy issues that arise in the normal conduct of business.
Vice Chair presides at monthly meetings of the organization and the Board in the absence of the Chair. Fulfills all other Chair functions as requested by the Chair or in the absence of the Chair.
Treasurer: Controls MOPAG’s money and disbursement. Maintains MOPAG mailbox (PO BOX 220743 Kirkwood MO 63122), a running total of assets, and annual budget expenses. Collects dues, makes bank deposits, and writes checks at the direction of the board. Annually or as needed secures the general meeting at HQS St Louis County library or alternate locations.
Maintains the list of paid members and date of payment.
Fills out the Missouri Ethics Commission quarterly report reminders.
Because MOPAG is a registered non-profit with the state of MO, the treasurer pays a state fee every 5 years to file “fictitous” name and file an annual report with Sec of State (SOS).
Secretary: Takes minutes at monthly general and Board meetings. Distributes the approved general meeting agenda and minutes to agree upon recipients.
All Board members: Participate in board meetings and perform actions as requested by the board. Develop new initiatives and support action teams and member actions with resources. Recommend, review, revise MOPAG policy, goals , metrics, and procedures for improvement. Refer some matters to membership vote as appropriate. Provide topic and speaker recommendations for upcoming meetings and approve future meeting agendas. The Board may act to end a person’s membership by majority vote if in its judgment the person’s acts are detrimental to mission goals.
The Board may provide recommendation to the general meeting for MOPAG endorsement of positions, organizations, and/or candidates upon majority/quorum vote of the membership.
The Board can authorize commitments and make expenditures of MOPAG general funds up to $300 for a specific purpose without prior quorum approval of membership when timeliness is an issue. Commitments to spend more than $300 require approval by general membership.
Membership Committee
The membership committee maintains the membership list, and a list of prospective members based on their sign-in at general meetings. Maintains member name tags and emails meeting notice reminders to members and prospective members. The membership list is updated monthly in an Excel spreadsheet. The membership committee keeps track of dues paying members on the Excel spreadsheet. The treasurer is consulted periodically to ensure that information about dues paying members is up to date. The membership committee creates and brings monthly sign in sheets to all meetings and maintains attendance records by bringing a copy of the Excel list to meetings and checking in people who have previously attended meetings. Only members who pay dues are considered voting members. New attendees who are prospective members as well as members’ email addresses are emailed to the MOPAG listserv coordinator to be added to mopag@googlegroups to receive listserv messages. However, only members can post messages to the listserv.
The committee will advance ways to retain and increase membership.
Nominating Committee
Every October the chair shall ask for volunteers to serve on the nominating committee. The nominating committee shall recruit candidates to serve as officers and at-large members of the Board for the coming year. The nominating committee will be supplied with a list of current members for recruitment purposes. The nominating committee will present the slate of officers and Board nominees for approval by the general membership at the first general meeting of the calendar year. The nominating committee can be reconvened as needed to fill vacancies at any time during the year.
Webmaster: Updates and revises the website mopag.org at the direction of the Chair/Vice Chair or others delegated in writing by the Chair or Vice Chair. Administrator of mopag@googlegroups listserv. Pays website billing. Blocks and removes spam and those that send it from the group.
Receives and applies to the listserv a current list of members and prospective members from the membership committee. Only paid up members will have posting rights to mopag@googlegroups. Coordinates on information and procedures needed by an alternate webmaster as backup to ensure continuity of operations.
Provides recommendations and raises issues to the Chair or Vice Chair for fixing.