And Then There Are These CHCA Amendments

The CHCA Board has offered 13 amendments to the association membership for approval or rejection in the spring 2007 election. They are posted here as a public service. We'd like to see you vote Approve on 1, 2 and 11.

1. The following sentence shall be inserted into Article I, C, 3a of the CHCA Bylaws, immediately following the statement that publication of the Chestnut Hill Local is an integral function of the Association:
"The Local acts as a forum for community discourse as set forth in the Lentz Policy, which reads, in part: 'It is the policy of the Local to publish all responsible points of view on the various issues presented in The Forum.'"

2. Article I, C, 3c: Editorial Independence
"Any form of prior censorship expressed or implied is prohibited. Any person may suggest to the Editor subjects to be covered but the Editor has sole authority to decide what is ultimately published."

3. Article I, C, 4: Community Fund
"The Trustees of the Fund shall issue two reports per year to the Association regarding the status and activities of the Fund. The reports shall be presented in person by the President of the Fund, or his or her designee, at the Annual and October meetings of the Board."

4. Article IV, A, 4a: Cause for Removal (Director)
“The Board, with cause, may remove any Director by a two-thirds vote of the entire Board at any Special or Regular Meeting of the Board. The Board in so doing must comply with the due process provisions of Robert’s Rules of Order, Chapter XX, 'Disciplinary Procedures.'”

5. Article IV, C, 1: Regular Meetings of the Board
"The Board conducts regular meetings every month on a date and at a time and place determined by the Board."

6. Article IV, C, 3: Notice of Meetings of the Board
"The President or designee must give written notice of the date, time, location, and agenda of all meetings of the Board. The agenda shall provide such information as is necessary to understand the agenda item to be discussed, as reasonably determined by the President or designee. Where possible, notice shall be given at least seven days prior to the meeting. Notice may be given by e-mail or regular mail. In addition, posting of meetings shall be printed in the issue of the Chestnut Hill Local the week prior to the meeting, as well as the week of the meeting."

7. Article IV, C, 5a: Public Meetings of the Board
"Except when the Board meets in executive session, all meetings of the Board are open to the public. The Board may not resolve into executive session until it has first voted in open session to do so. The Board may so thus resolve into executive session on matters related to employee conduct, personnel policy or salary, and on other matters of an unusually sensitive nature. If the presiding officer has anticipated the need for executive session when the Notice of the Meeting was issued and published, then that Notice shall include that on the agenda with as much specificity as possible without compromising the sensitivity of the matter."

8. Article V, A, 2: Eligibility of Officers
"All officers of the Association, except the Treasurer, must be members of the Board and must have one year of Board service prior to the election. The Treasurer must be a member of the Association."

9. Article V, A, 7: Cause for Removal (Officer)
"The Board, with cause, may remove any Officer, as an Officer, by a two-thirds vote of the entire Board at any Special or Regular Meeting of the Board. The Board in so doing must comply with the due process provisions of Robert’s Rules of Order, Chapter XX, 'Disciplinary Procedures.'”

10. Article VI, B, 3b: Membership of the Land Use, Planning and Zoning Committee
"The committee consists of up to 12 members."

11. Article VI, B, 5: The Publisher's Committee
Strike Article VI, B, 5: the Publisher's Committee in its entirety as a Standing Committee; i.e., disband the Publisher's Committee.

12. Article VI, B, 7a: Budget and Finance Committee, Purpose and Duties
"The Budget and Finance Committee recommends, reviews, and on an ongoing basis monitors the budgets of the Chestnut Hill Community Association, the Chestnut Hill Local, and the Chestnut Hill Community Fund. Disbursements from the Fund shall fall within the purposes set forth in Article I C 4 of these Bylaws and in the Fund Declaration of Trust and before disbursed shall be approved by the Trustees of the Fund as properly falling within those purposes. The Committee meets monthly to monitor the budgetary operations of all three entities and the financial health of the Association and Local, and reports monthly on those matters to the Board."

13. Article VI, B, 8g: Meetings of the Bylaws Committee (this is a new addition to the bylaws)
"The Bylaws Committee must meet a minimum of three times during the year, the ‘year’ beginning at the Annual Organizational Meeting and finishing two weeks prior to the next Annual Organizational Meeting."


To view the current CHCA Bylaws, go to CHCA. Click on "About CHCA" and then click on "Bylaws."