The City's Enabling Ordinance ("The Plan")

PLAN FOR A CITYWIDE SYSTEM OF NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILS

Bylaws

(c)    Bylaws shall be established, including the following information.

    (i)    Neighborhood Council name

    (ii)    Community Stakeholder Membership and the Governing Body

        (1)    The bylaws shall state that the Neighborhood Council membership is open to all Community
            Stakeholders.

        (2)    The bylaws shall include a list of offices of the Governing Body and a method for regularly electing or selecting officers who shall serve as the Governing Body. For the purpose of this Plan, the term Governing Body refers to Community Stakeholders of a Certified Neighborhood Council who are empowered to make decisions on behalf of that Certified Neighborhood Council.

            (a)    A Certified Neighborhood Council’s Governing Body must, to the extent possible, reflect the diversity of the Neighborhood Council’s Community Stakeholders. Accordingly, no single Community Stakeholder group shall comprise a majority of a Certified Neighborhood Council’s governing body, unless extenuating circumstances are warranted and approved by DONE.

            (b)    Terms of members of the Governing Body shall be for two or four years, to be decided upon by individual Neighborhood Councils.

    (iii)    Meeting procedures. Each Certified Neighborhood Council shall:

        (1)    Meet at least once per calendar quarter.

        (2)    Obey any or all sections of the State of California’s open meeting procedures that apply to Neighborhood Councils (Ralph M. Brown Act), which includes posting meeting notices in generally accepted public places or through electronic media, such as e-mail or posting notice on DONE’s Web page.

        (3)    Establish procedures for communicating with all Neighborhood Council Community Stakeholders on a regular basis in a manner ensuring that information is disseminated evenly and in a timely manner.

        (4)    A process for running meetings, including:

            (a)    The number of Governing Body members that constitute a majority and a quorum;

            (b)    The number of votes by a Governing Body for a Certified Neighborhood Council to take an official action, such as adoption of an item or position; and

            (c)    The way in which a vote by the Governing Body or action by a Certified Neighborhood Council can be reconsidered, if applicable.

    (iv)    A grievance procedure shall be established by which an individual Community Stakeholder or group of Community Stakeholders of a Certified Neighborhood Council shall be able to express concerns for their Governing Body about its decisions and actions.