Bylaws of the Prairie Greens

These Bylaws were adopted by consensus on September 5, 2000 at a regularly scheduled meeting of the Prairie Greens at the Red Herring Coffeehouse.

1. The Prairie Greens of East Central Illinois is an organization dedicated to a politics and way of life centered around respect for life and the Earth and the desire for a cooperative community centered approach to government. We recognize the healthy inter-relationship of living beings is central to a good human society. The Ten Key Values of the Prairie Greens are:

1. Ecological Wisdom. The Greens recognize that the Earth sustains all life processes. Green ecology moves beyond environmentalism by understanding the relation between abuse of people and abuse of nature.
2. Social Justice and Equal Opportunity. Greens want to replace the worldwide system of poverty and injustice with a world free of oppression based on class, gender, race, citizenship, age, sexual orientation, disability, or belief.
3. Grassroots Democracy. The powerless suffer the most from resource depletion and toxic pollution. Greens believe in direct participation by all people in the environmental, political, and economic decisions that affect their lives
4. Nonviolence. Greens reject violence as a way of settling disputes -- it is shortsighted, morally wrong, and ultimately self-defeating.
5. Decentralization. Power and responsibility must be restored to local communities within an overall framework of ecologically sound and socially just values and lifestyles.
6. Community Based Economics. Greens seek a new economics based upon the limits of our natural resources, which meets the basic needs of everyone, under democratic, localized community control.
7. Gender Equity and Cooperative Values. The ethics of cooperation and understanding must replace the values of domination and control over others. Our primary focus is in the nurturing of our world and each other.
8. Respect for Diversity. Greens honor the biological diversity of the Earth and the cultural, sexual, and spiritual diversity of Earth's people. We aim to reclaim this country's finest ideals: popular democracy, dignity of the individual with liberty and justice for all.
9. Personal and Global Responsibility. Greens are committed to global sustainability and international justice through political solidarity and in personal lifestyles based on self-sufficiency and minmal resource impact.
10. Future Focus. Greens seek a society where the interests of the seventh generation are considered equal to the interests of the present. We must reclaim the future for our children and ourselves.

2. Members of the Prairie Greens subscribe to the above basic purpose, and agree to participate in its pursuit in--as much as possible--a mutually respectful spirit. They will pay $5 annual local dues for students and those on fixed/low incomes, $10 for others.

3. The annual meeting of the Party shall be held within a week of May 1, with regular meetings held usually the first Tuesday of each month, except except in cases provided for below.

4. Officers elected at the annual meeting (and provisionally at the first regular meeting after these bylaws are enacted) shall include a Convenor, a Secretary-Treasurer, a Membership Steward, and an Outreach Committee, as well as any representatives and alternates as needed to state and national organizations. As much as possible these offices shall be filled by different individuals. The officers shall be elected by a plurality of those present and voting at each annual meeting (or for a term until the first annual meeting, beginning when these bylaws are enacted).

• The Convenor shall be responsible for convening and presiding over meetings;
• The Secretary-Treasurer shall keep minutes and financial and other records, and help with correspondence as delegated by officers and/or membership meetings;
• The Membership Steward shall maintain and keep in touch with, and work>to expand, membership;
• The Outreach Committee will work to monitor ecological and social issues in the region, educate and reach out to the public, and network with local environmental and community groups, as directed by the membership.

5. The above officers shall be responsible for determining the time, place, and exact date of the annual meeting, and for re-scheduling the regular meetings when necessary due to conflicts with holidays or emergencies, by a majority vote, as well as any special meetings. Ten percent of the members may also call a meeting by presenting a petition with their signatures to the Convenor. Notice shall be sent to members two weeks in advance of any membership meeting, via their preferred medium of e-mail, post, or phone message. Twenty percent of members shall constitute a quorium for conducting business at special meetings, while annual and regular meetings require a minimum of five members present in order to conduct business.

6. The officers can meet as a council to coordinate activities approved by the membership, but the membership has ultimate authority to approve, alter or end party activities, as is legally possible. Bylaws can only be amended by two-thirds of those present and voting at the annual meeting,provided that written notice of any proposed bylaw changes is made to members at the same time as the meeting call, at least two weeks prior to the meeting. All decisions of the Prairie Greens shall be made by consensus of those attending an official meeting of the Prairie Greens. Meetings should be conducted with an ethic of consensus and mutual cooperative respect. If a decision of the Prairie Greens should reach an impasse, a vote of 3/4 of the members present shall bind the proceedings to Robert's Rules of Order for the duration of the current item of business. WHen the discussion is so bound an authoritative recent edition of Robert's Rules, adpoted by the council, shall be the final authority for procedural issues at council and membership meetings.