DRAFT APA FL Emerald Coast Bylaws

APA

BY LAWSBYLAWS of the EMERALD COAST SECTION of the FLORIDA CHAPTER of the AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION Adopted March 18, 1987 Amended December 7, 1994 Amended May 25, 2002 Amended November 15, 2002 Amended August 7, 2003 Amended August ___,18, 2023

ARTICLE 1: SECTION NAME AND JURISDICTION The name of this Section shall be the Emerald Coast Section of the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association. The area served by this Section shall be the Counties of Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Washington, and Holmes.

ARTICLE 2: SECTION PURPOSES SECTION PURPOSES: The purposes of the Section are to facilitate the individual participation of members of the American Planning Association (APA) in the affairs of and to further the purposes of the APA in the Section area. The further purposes of this Section shall be to: (1)

Aadvance the art and science of planning within the Section area;

(2)

Eencourage the exchange of information and experience in the Section area;

(3) Rrepresent and advance the interests and welfare of the Association, its members, and the planning profession in the Section area; (4)

Eencourage and guide the younger members of the profession; and,

(5) Pprovide an opportunity for fellowship among the members and an opportunity for professional growth and development.

(6) Provision of professional development programs with a major emphasis on Certification Maintenance approved programs.

(7) Promote and encourage planning best practices for developing areas of concern facing Florida and the area within our section.

Notwithstanding any other provision of these articles, this association will not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on by (1) an organization exempt from Federal income tax under sections 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue law or (2) an organization, contributions to which are deductible under section 170 (c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, or any other corresponding provision of the future United States Internal Revenue law.

Said association is organized exclusively for charitable, education and scientific purpose, including, for such purposes, the making of distributions to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue law).

ARTICLE 3: MEMBERSHIP TYPES OF MEMBERSHIP There shall be three (3) types of membership in the Emerald Coast Section: Bylaws of the Emerald Coast Section as amended August 7, 2003

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APA MEMBER: Persons who are members of the APA are automatically members of the Florida Chapter. Such member who ceases to be a member of the APA will be required to pay a chapter fee to be a member of the Florida Chapter.

LOCAL MEMBER: Persons may become a member of the Section by submitting a Section membership application with annual membership dues. A local member who ceases to pay the annual membership dues shall be removed from the membership rolls of the Section.

STUDENT MEMBER: Persons who are enrolled full-time at the College or University level may become a member by submitting a Section membership application with the annual student membership dues.

Definitions.

American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). The national organization of certified professional planners within the American Planning Association.

American Planning Association. The national organization serving as the parent organization to the Florida Chapter, and all other State Chapters within the APA, and as such the parent organization to the Emerald Coast Section described herein, for which these Bylaws are intended.

Certification Maintenance (CM) Program. The mandatory continuing education program required of all professional planners who are AICP members. This program requires 32 CM credits over a two-ear perio d.

The CM Program includes all education programs provided by the Section where CM credits are approved.

The provision of CM credits for any event must be approved by the APA. Section. An affiliation of the Chapter (APA Florida) members approved by the Chapter’s Executive Committee and formed to represent a specific and distinct geographical region of Florida to further the purposes of the APA and APA Florida on behalf of the members in the region.

MEMBERSHIP QUALIFICATION Qualifications for a Section membership shall be an interest in planning development and growth management in the Emerald Coast Section area and adherence to the AICP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. APA members not residing in the Section shall be eligible for Section membership. Such potential members shall indicate Section membership by submitting a Section membership form to the Section Secretary and paying the Section annual dues.

ARTICLE 4: DUTIES OF OFFICERS & EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE SECTION 1: OFFICERS The officers of the Section shall be a Chairperson, Chair Elect, SecretarySecretary, and a Treasurer. Officers shall be elected for a period of two years.

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SECTION 2: QUALIFICATIONS All officers shall be members of the American Planning Association.

SECTION 3: DUTIES CHAIRPERSON: The Chairperson shall call meeting of the Section, and the Executive Committee; appoint committee members and chairperson; administer the program of the Section; serve as an ex-officio member of the committees; prepare an annual report of the Chairman’s activities; and,and perform such duties as required by the Bylaws or customary to the office.

CHAIR-ELECT: The Chair-Elect shall actively assist the Chairperson in the guidance and coordination of the committee activities; direct the preparation of a program; carry out duties assigned by the Chairperson; and act as Chairperson in the absence of the Chairperson.

SECRETARY: The Secretary shall maintain an accurate list of all members of the Section; notify members of meetings; prepare and report minutes of Section and Executive Committee meetings; and,and transmit to the Secretary of the Florida Chapter and to the Executive Director of the Association copies by Section Bylaws, publications and resolutions concerning matters of Association policy.

TREASURER: The Treasurer shall collect Section dues; receive and disburse Section funds; prepare an annual budget for review by the Executive Committee; maintain accounts which shall be open to inspection by officers and subject to audit; and,and perform such other duties required by these Bylaws or customary to the office.

SECTION 4: ANNUAL REPORT The officers of the Section shall prepare an annual written report, which shall be presented to the Section membership at the Annual Meeting of the Section and thereafter be forwarded to the Secretary of the Florida Chapter and to the Executive Director of the Association.

ARTICLE 5: ELECTION OF SECTION OFFICERS SECTION 1: NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS A Nominating Committee of three or more Members shall be appointed by the Chairperson at least two Executive Committee meetings in advance of the Annual Meeting during an election year. One APA member shall be nominated by this Committee to fill each office. The Committee report on nominations shall be submitted to the membership one Executive Committee meeting prior to the Annual Meeting, at which time additional nominations will be accepted from the floor. Officers shall be elected by majority vote of the local membership at the Annual Meeting. The new Executive Committee shall be installed at the Annual Meeting.

SECTION 2: VOTING PRIVILEGES All voting shall be done by student and local members of the Section.

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SECTION 3: ELECTRONIC VOTING Because of the area of the Emerald Coast Section, attendance may be cumbersome; therefore, the Section may use electronic voting with the following provisions: 1. Members must have access to necessary equipment for participation in the e-vote. A minimum of 24 hours notice shall be provided by the Section Secretary. Notice must include the motions and supporting documentation for the e-vote. Notice shall provide who made the motion, who seconded the motion, and how voting is achieved (i.e. link for vote, etc.)

2. Subject line of the notice shall be the issue of the vote and the body of the e-notice must include the deadline to vote. If the vote is purely by responsive email, the members shall use “Reply All” in all messages with the affirmative “I vote yes” or the negative of “I vote no.”

3. The Secretary shall tally the votes and report the result of the vote to the Section Chair and Committee, including the number of votes cast, the outcome (for and against) and the percentage of approval/denial.

4. Chair may call for a special meeting to discuss further.

5. Subsequent motions can be made by electronic mail “Reply All”. Secretary shall prepare minutes of the voting event and outcomes and maintain the records in the Section electronic cloud (Google) files.

ARTICLE 6: SECTION COMMITTEES EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: The Executive Committee shall consist of the officers of the Section. Members of the Executive Committee shall be full members of the APA. The Executive Committee shall: a) b) c) d) e) f) g) h) i)

transact the business of the Section between meetings, and report thereon to the Section; effectuate the motions and policies agreed upon by Section membership; approve the annual budget; be custodian of all Section property and funds; to authorize and approve all contract and expenditures but not to incur liabilities exceeding the amount of unappropriated funds in the Section treasury; approve or reject applications for local membership; cause an audit to be made of the accounts of the Secretary and Treasury; approve or reject appointments to the Committees of the Section; fill vacancies in officers occurring between elections, officers so elected to hold office for other functions as are delegated herein or by the voting members of the Section.

Meetings of the Executive Committee shall be called by the Chairperson or a majority of the Committee members. There shall be, in each year, at least four meetings of the Executive Committee. A majority of the members of the Executive Committee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at meetings of the Committee. The passage of a resolution shall require a majority vote of the Executive Committee.

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STANDING COMMITTEES: The Section shall have the following standing Committees: Nominating; Membership, and Program. The Chairperson, with the advice and consent of the Executive Committee, shall appoint members to these committees. Membership on all standing committees shall expire thirty (30) days after a new Chairperson takes office. The new Chairperson my reappoint or make new appointments.

AD HOC COMMITTEES: The Chairperson, with the advice and consent of the Executive Committee, may appoint ad hoc committees to study, report and recommend on specific issues.

The presentation of the report to the Executive Committee or Section Meeting shall terminate the committee.

NOMINATING COMMITTEE: The Nomination Committee shall consist of three (3) members of the Section, one of which shall be a member of the Executive Committee. ((Do we want terms of office?)) ((Do we want explanation of removal from office?))

ARTICLE 7: MEETINGS ANNUAL MEETINGS: The Annual Meeting represents the overview of efforts of the Section for the preceding year, and program-goal setting for the forthcoming year, with installation of officers every year. There shall be an Annual Meeting at a time and place to be determined by the Executive Committee. At least aA thirty ( 30)- days notice of this meeting shall be mailed or sent by electronic mail to all Section members.

QUARTERLY MEETINGS: There shall be at least four Section meetings a year, with one to be known as the “Annual Meeting”. The time and place of the quarterly meetings shall be set by the Chairperson with approval of the Executive Committee. A fifteen (15) day notice of all quarterly meetings shall be mailed or sent by electronic mail to all Section members. Additional meetings may be called by the Chairperson, and upon failure of the Chairperson to call required meeting, by the Executive Committee. At all meetings, parliamentary procedures shall be governed by Robert’s Rules of Order.

ARTICLE 8: FINANCES BUDGET: The fiscal year shall be from July 1 until the following June 30. The Section Treasurer shall prepare, and the Executive Committee shall review and adopt or modify and adopt, not later than June 30 of each year, a budget setting forth objectives for which funds of the Section may be expended and the amount authorized to be expended for such objectives. The budget may be modified from time to time by a majority vote of the Executive Committee. The original budget and any subsequent modification shall, after adoption, be published in the next edition of any Section publication or other mailing.

ANNUAL DUES: Section dues shall be payable on July 1. The amount of dues shall be set by the Executive Committee.

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Persons who are not members of the APA may become Section members upon payment of the established dues and are eligible to vote in Section elections.

ARTICLE 9: AMENDMENTS Upon authorization of the Executive Committee or upon petition of at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the voting members of the Section, any proposed amendment to these Bylaws shall, after discussion at a Section meeting, be submitted by the Secretary together with a ballot to all eligible voting members of the Section, and for adoption, shall require a two-thirds vote of those voting. A period of fifteen (15) days from the date of mailing of such ballot shall be allowed for return of ballots. Two copies of these Bylaws and all subsequent amendments shall be filed with Secretary of the Florida Chapter American Planning Association. At least one copy of all formal publications of the Section, including such materials as the Chairman’s Annual Report, adopted reports of the Section Committees, Newsletters, Rosters and other similar reports, shall be filed with the Secretary of the Florida Chapter at the time they are distributed to the Section membership.

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