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Revised 10/2000
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Minnesota
Association of County Social Service Administrators
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CONSTITUTION
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ARTICLE I.
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Name
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The name of this Association shall be:
Minnesota Association of County Social Service Administrators.
Hereinafter it may be referred to as the Association.
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ARTICLE II.
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Purposes
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I.
To gather, study, and disseminate facts and information which will be
helpful to decision makers in the enactment and implementation of sound and
constructive State and Federal welfare legislation.
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II.
To sustain a partnership with the Department of Human Services for the
purpose of improving the development and implementation of social/welfare
programs.
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III.
To adopt position statements on issues affecting the administration of
public welfare.
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IV.
To effect affiliations with other organization to achieve the
aforementioned purposes.
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V.
To provide for information exchange and relationship building among the
counties.
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VI.
To enhance the knowledge and skills of the membership by conducting no
less than two workshops annually.
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ARTICLE III.
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Membership
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Membership of the Association
shall be open for Minnesota County Public Welfare Directors, County Community
Social Services Directors, County Human Service Directors, or other
administrative designees. All such
members shall have voting privileges. Although
voting privileges are limited to official MACSSA members, the attendance of
other county human services administrative staff at MACSSA events is encouraged.
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The allocation of MACSSA
membership seats shall dictated by the following system:
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Counties
that are eligible for more than one membership shall submit the names of the
members to the Executive Committee annually.
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Counties that had declared by
name, more members than the above, prior to December 30, 1994 shall have those
individuals remain as members.
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All population estimates for determining the allocation
of membership seats shall be based on: 1.) official U.S. Census Reports of
county population for the Census year and the two years following the Census;
2.) in other years, the most recent official estimate by the Minnesota State
Demographer’s Office. The
number of seats allocated to any county shall be re-assessed annually.
In the event that two counties have identical population reports, both
counties shall have equal representation.
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ARTICLE IV.
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Meetings
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Meetings of the Association shall be conducted in the
manner provided for in the subsections of this article and shall be open only to
members or their guests.
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Section 1.
Annual Meeting
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The annual meeting of the Association shall be held in
conjunction with the second yearly workshop prescribed in Article II above.
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Section 2.
Executive Committee
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The Executive Committee shall
meet monthly at a time and place to be determined by that committee.
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Section 3.
General Membership
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The general membership shall meet not less than nine
times yearly, excluding the annual meetings.
General membership meetings shall be held at a time and place determined
and published in advance by the Executive Committee.
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ARTICLE V.
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Amendments
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The constitution of the Association may be amended at an
annual meeting by a two-thirds vote of the members present, provided that such
meeting has a quorum described in the Bylaws and provided that the amendment had
been submitted in advance to the members in writing.
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ARTICLE VI.
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Adoption of
Constitution
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This constitution shall become effective January 1, 1975,
upon ratification by two-thirds of active members voting on the adoption.
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BYLAWS
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ARTICLE I.
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The Association shall elect, tenure, prescribe duties for,
and replace its officers as provided for in the sub-sections of this article.
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Section 1.
Officers
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The officers of this Association shall be a President, a
Past-President, a President-Elect, a First Vice-President, a Second
Vice-President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer.
All officers shall take office on the first day of January, following
their election and shall hold office for one (1) year except the Treasurer who
shall serve for three (3) years. The
office of Secretary shall be appointed by the President-Elect.
The President-Elect may appoint an individual or individuals to
accomplish the responsibilities of Secretary.
Officers and committee member shall give their service gratis.
Expenses necessary for the discharge of their duties shall be paid out of
the Association treasury upon submittal of statements to the Association
Treasurer, who together with the remainder of the Executive Committee shall
audit them for payment.
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Section 2.
Elections
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The Nominating Committee
Chairperson shall present a slate of nominees at the regular meeting of the
Association two months prior to the annual meeting. After presentation of the slate of nominees by the Nominating
Committee Chairperson, the Association President shall call for additional
nominations from the floor for each office.
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The ballot listing all nominees,
as well as providing designated space for write-in nominees, shall be mailed to
the Association members at least thirty days (30) days in advance of the annual
meeting. Ballots must be returned
no later than the annual meeting, to be tabulated and announced at that time.
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Section 3.
Duties
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The President shall preside at all meetings of the
Association. The President shall
appoint members to chair the standing committees. The President shall name such other special committees as
necessity dictates. The President
shall present the Association’s budget for approval at the annual meeting.
The President or their designee shall act as the liaison with affiliate
groups specified in Article IX of the By-Laws.
The Past-President shall serve as a member of the Executive Committee and
advise the Executive Committee in the furtherance of the Association’s
purposes.
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The President-Elect shall serve
as a member of the Executive Committee.
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The First Vice-President shall
fulfill the duties of the President in the event of the President’s temporary
absence or disability, present the recognition awards at the annual meeting, and
shall assist the president as requested.
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The Second Vice-President shall
serve as a member of the Executive committee and chair the Special Programs
Committee.
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The Secretary will be
responsible for Association correspondence in accordance with instruction from
the President and or the Executive Committee.
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The Treasurer shall be
responsible for the receipt, deposit, disbursal, and withdrawal of all funds of
the Association in accordance with instructions from the Executive Committee,
shall submit a written financial report at the annual meeting, shall collect the
dues from the Association membership, and shall assist the President in
preparation of the annual budget. The
Treasurer shall be bonded.
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Section 4.
Vacancies
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A vacancy in the office of President shall be filled by
the First Vice-President. A vacancy
in the office of Past-President shall go unfilled. A vacancy in the
office of President-Elect shall be filled as follows:
a) the Association
Administrative Coordinator shall receive a nomination from the Nominations
Committee within ten (10) days after the vacancy; b) the nomination shall be
placed on an election ballot, which will also provide designated space for
write-in nominations, and be mailed to the membership by the Administrative
Coordinator within five (5) days thereof; c) the membership shall vote on and
return-mail the ballot to the Administrative Coordinator within five (5) days of
their receiving it; d) the Administrative Coordinator will tabulate the results
and notify the membership of the election outcome within five (5) days of
receiving the ballots. A vacancy in
the office of First Vice-President, Second Vice-President, Secretary, and
Treasurer shall be filled for the remainder of the term by the Executive
Committee.
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ARTICLE II.
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Executive
Committee
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The Executive Committee shall be
composed of the President, Past-President, President-Elect, First
Vice-President, Second Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer; the
Chairpersons of the Legislative, Policy, and Rules Committees; and three
additional members from the most populous counties. Each of these three
additional seats is to be filled by a representative of one of the three
counties with the largest population size in the State of Minnesota as of May 1
of the year prior to the Committee’s service.
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If any of the Executive Committee officers (defined as
President, Past-President, President-Elect, First Vice-President, Second
Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer; and the Chairpersons of the
Legislative, Policy, and Rules Committees) represents one of the three most
populous counties, a seat on the Executive Committee shall pass to the next most
populous county, that would not already have representation on the Committee.
If that county would already have an Executive Committee representative,
then the seat shall pass to the next most populous county that would not already
have representation on the Committee until all three seats are filled.
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All population estimates for
determining the allocation of seats shall be based on: 1.) official U.S. Census
Reports of county population for the Census year and the two years following the
Census; 2.) in other years, the most recent official estimate by the Minnesota
State Demographer’s Office. The
number of seats allocated to any county shall be re-assessed annually.
In the event that two counties have identical population reports, both
counties shall have representation.
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The Executive Committee shall
meet monthly to conduct the business of the Association and to plan for regular
meetings of the Association’s membership as set forth in Article IV of the
Constitution. Such plans shall
include setting meeting times and places as well as developing the agenda for
the next meeting of the general membership.
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The Executive Committee shall
have the power to act on behalf of the Association, if a delay in action would
result in adverse effect. Such
actions shall require a two-thirds majority of the Executive Committee, and a
report shall be made to the membership at the next regular meeting.
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ARTICLE III.
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Quorum
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A quorum of the annual meeting shall be thirty percent
(30%) of the paid membership. A
quorum of the Executive Committee shall be five members of the committee.
A quorum of the general membership meetings shall be those members in
attendance.
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ARTICLE IV.
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Order of
Business
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The order of business at the annual meeting and so far as
possible at all other meetings of the Association shall be:
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(a)
Reading of the minutes of the previous meeting
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(b)
Report
of standing committees
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(c)
Report of special committees
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(d)
Election
of officers (annual meeting)
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(e)
Unfinished business
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(f)
New business
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(g)
Adjournment
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ARTICLE V.
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Finance
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Dues are payable on January 1 of
each year and shall be established at the annual meeting, based upon the adopted
budget for the following year. Payment
shall entitle the member to vote, receive Association publications, and to hold
office. Individuals who have not
paid their dues by June 28 of each year will be dropped from the active
membership and not entitled to any of the above responsibilities or benefits of
the Association.
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An annual budget shall be
prepared by the President with the assistance of the Treasurer and the approval
of the Executive Committee. The
budget shall be presented and voted upon by the general membership at the annual
meeting. The budget may be amended
by a simple majority vote at a general membership meeting and the final adoption
of the budget shall be by simple majority vote at the annual meeting.
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A written financial report shall
be prepared by the Treasurer and submitted to the membership at the annual
meeting.
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There shall be an annual review
of the financial records by the Executive Committee.
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ARTICLE VI.
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Committees
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There shall be the following standing and special
committees:
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(a)
Standing committees:
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(1)
Policy
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(2)
Legislative
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(3)
Rules
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Standing committees shall be composed of one
representative from each economic region in the state, in addition to one member
from each of the three largest counties, as measured by population size.
“Population size” shall be determined by the method described in the
MACSSA Constitution, Article II, paragraph 3.
Each representative will serve for the period of time determined by the
members from that region or county, with the exception that members appointed
based on county population size shall be re-assessed annually by the method
described in the MACSSA Constitution, Article II, paragraph 3.
It shall be the responsibility of the committee chairperson to recruit
members for vacant positions from the respective region and present these
nominations to the Executive Committee for confirmation.
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(b)
Special
committees:
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(1)
Nominating
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(2)
Special
Programs
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(3)
Others
As Needed
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Duties and appointment of the chair of these committees
shall be as follows:
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(A) POLICY - The Policy
Committee shall review, analyze, identify and develop matters of public
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policy as may
come before the Association. They
shall study and formulate recommendations to the membership concerning public
policy.
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The chair of
this committee will be appointed by the President-Elect in December to serve
during the next organizational year. The
President-Elect shall consider both geographic and gender balance when making
this appointment.
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(B) LEGISLATIVE - The
Legislative Committee shall review proposed legislation and inform themembership
about legislative issues which affect county human service programs.
The committee shall, upon advice of the membership seek to promote
legislation consistent with the purposes of the Association and may seek other
organizational assistance in support of or opposition of proposed legislation.
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The term of this committee shall be from July 1 to June 30 in the next
organizational year. The
chair shall be appointed by the President, with the consent of the
President-Elect, in June prior to the beginning of the committee term.
The President and President-Elect shall consider both geographic and
gender balance when making this appointments).
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(C) RULES - The Rules Committee shall review rules proposed by the State
Department of Human Services and act as a resource to the Association’s
membership in identifying the potential impact on the counties, point out major
issues to be addressed by the Association and individual counties, and at the
direction of the Association respond in writing to proposed rules and rule
changes.
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(D) NOMINATING - The Nominating Committee shall be made up of the
President-Elect, who will
chair the committee, the last three Presidents of the Association and the
Association Secretary. In the event
of a vacancy in the office of President-Elect, the President shall appoint a
committee member to chair the committee until the elections are completed.
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(E) SPECIAL
PROGRAMS - The Special Programs Committee shall be responsible for all
arrangements, programs, and content of the two workshops and may seek
consultation as is necessary from the Department of
Human Services in so doing. This
committee shall also make
such other special arrangements as the President may direct.
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This committee shall be chaired by the Second Vice-President who may
appointment other such
committee members as is necessary.
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(F) OTHER
- As needed, special committees may be appointed by the President for a
particular function
and these committees shall determine their own size, membership, and length of existence.
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ARTICLE VII.
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Reports
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Reports shall be submitted to the membership at the
annual meeting from the President, Second Vice-President for the Special
Programs Committee, Secretary, Treasurer, and committee chairs.
Oral reports from Association officers may be requested from time to
time. No written reports shall be
submitted to non-members.
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ARTICLE VIII.
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Amendments
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These bylaws may be amended in the manner prescribed in
Article V of the Constitution except that only a majority vote of the required
quorum present shall be necessary.
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ARTICLE IX.
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Affiliations
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The Association may seek to affiliate with any agency,
corporation, or group to seek the purpose described in Article II of the
Constitution.
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ARTICLE X.
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Parliamentary
Authority
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The matters outside the scope of the preceding bylaws
shall be governed by Roberts Rules of Order-Newly Revised.
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ARTICLE XI.
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Organization
Year
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As is necessary, the organization year for the
Association, its officers, committees, and members, shall be from January 1
through December 31.
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