Obl.ong

ARTICLE I: NAME

1. The name of the organization shall be Obl.ong, hereafter referred to as "the Organization."

ARTICLE II: PURPOSE & MISSION STATEMENT

1. The mission of the Organization shall be to build, develop, operate, organize, coordinate, or otherwise enable computer networking, systems administration, and software development charitably for the general public.

ARTICLE III: MEMBERSHIP

1. Membership in the organization shall be open to any person whose membership has not been terminated previously.
2. Eligibility for membership or officer positions in this organization may not be limited on the basis of race, sex, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, physical or mental handicap, ancestry, or medical condition.
3. Membership is defined by any person who has an approved registration for a domain listed in the Organization's directory and meets the eligibility criteria set forth in the bylaws herein.
4. The term of each membership shall be one (1) year commencing on the date when the member has an approved registration for an obl.ong domain listed in the Organization's directory.
5. Memberships may be renewed within 30 days of the expiration date, or any time after the membership has expired, upon continued use of the domain registrar service, which is defined as any log-in to the service by the member, or appearance to any regular meeting of the organization.
6. For the purposes of calculating some vote thresholds in the rest of the document, we define "Active Members" as members who have attended at least 50% of the last four meetings (or however many meetings have been had, whichever is lower).
7. Any membership may be terminated permanently or reinstated by the Steering Committee at any time, unless two-thirds (2/3) of Active Members vote to reinstate or terminate the membership.
8. The organization shall provide members with written or electronic notice of upcoming membership expirations at least fourteen (14) days prior to the expiration date.

ARTICLE IV: STEERING COMMITTEE & DUTIES

1. The Steering Committee shall be composed of two (2) Co-Chairs, one (1) Secretary-Treasurer, and two (2) Regular Members.
2. To be eligible for the Steering Committee, candidates must be members of the Organization.
3. Candidates will nominate themselves no later than one week prior to the date of the election.
4. Elections shall occur on a meeting date during the month of December.
5. All elections shall be single-transferable-vote, with voters ranking all candidates.
   • In the event of a tie in the final round, a runoff will take place between the top candidates immediately afterward.
6. The term of the Steering Committee shall last one calendar year.
   • Steering Committee vacancies shall be filled via a special election, to be announced within one week of a Steering Committee seat becoming vacant, and held no later than two weeks after the announcement.
     1. Announced at one (1) regular meeting, at least one (1) week, in advance of the election.
     2. An email be sent to all members by the Steering Committee upon scheduling the election.
7. Steering Committee members may be subject to recall by petition with signatures of one-third (⅓) of the Organization's membership or two-thirds of Active Members.
   • Submission of such a valid petition shall trigger a recall election to be held no later than 30 days from receipt of that petition by the Steering Committee.
     • The meeting for a recall vote shall be properly noticed to the membership, at a minimum doing the following:
       1. Announced at one (1) regular meeting, at least one (1) week, in advance of the election.
       2. An email be sent to all members by the Steering Committee upon receipt of the petition.
8. Along with the recall process which may be initiated by members, members of the Steering Committee may be removed as a result of a grievance when they have been found to be negligent or mishandle their power and responsibilities. a. Unilateral decision making, abuse of power, domineering discussion/coercing decisions in conversations, breaches of confidentiality or discretion and/or any other actions which constitute the need for an investigation into undemocratic behavior fall under the category of malicious mishandling of vested power. b. The accused party(ies) of the Steering Committee shall not be present in any meetings discussing their supposed transgression or the resolutions to follow any investigations they are involved in. c. Membership shall be notified in all cases of a change in the composition of the Steering Committee, at a minimum doing the following:
   1. Announced at the next regular meeting following the change of composition.
   2. An email be sent to all members by the Steering Committee upon change of composition.
9. The duties of the Co-Chairs shall be: a. To facilitate meetings. b. To write updates to send via email to everyone on the organization's email list at least once per month.
10. The duties of the Secretary-Treasurer shall be: a. To take minutes at general meetings. b. To send meeting minutes to everyone on the organization's email list within ninety-six (96) hours of a meeting's end. c. To maintain a list of active members and build an email list. d. To send email updates written by the Co-Chairs to membership. e. To manage any funds of the organization. f. To maintain an active log of the Organization's income and expenditures. g. To serve as the lead organizer for all fundraisers.
11. The duties of the General members shall be: a. To attend meetings and be informed about the operations of the Organization. b. To support the committee in its operations and decision-making.

ARTICLE V: FUNDING

1. The organization shall be funded through the following means: fiscal sponsorship, fundraisers, contributions from any organization or individual that supports the Organization's mission, fundraisers, and any approved financial assistance granted by the Organization's steering committee.
2. All money transactions must be approved by the Secretary-Treasurer.
3. All money transactions over $100 must be approved by a majority vote at a regular meeting.
4. The Steering Committee shall maintain a record of all financial transactions and accounts. These records shall be made available at any time by the request of any active member of the Organization and the general public.
5. All Steering Committee members shall be added to the HCB organization.
6. All Steering Committee members shall be added to the HCB organization.

ARTICLE VI: MEETINGS

1. Regular meetings of the organization shall be held on the second Sunday of each calendar month.
2. Special meetings may be called by the Steering Committee. Elections may not occur at such meetings.
3. Agendas for meetings shall be prepared by the Steering Committee and will be available at the request of members before a meeting.
4. Votes that require a threshold of members more than the number that are present at the meeting shall be taken by means of an online platform available for 24 hours.
5. Two-thirds of the number of Active Members shall constitute a quorum and is required for the transaction of business (i.e. voting) at any meeting of the Organization. a. If a quorum is ever not present, votes may be taken by means of an online platform available for 24 hours. b. Should a meeting fail to meet quorum on three consecutive meetings with formal motions, the Steering Committee shall be permitted to modify this formulation, subject to a majority vote of the members present at the next planned regular meeting.

ARTICLE VII: POWERS

1. The Organization shall have committees created if deemed necessary by membership. The formation of such committees shall be approved by a majority vote of the membership at a regular meeting.
2. The Organization shall operate as a non-profit association, and no profits may accrue to any individual within the organization.
3. Unless otherwise provided in these bylaws, decisions of the organization shall be made by a simple majority of those present and voting, with those abstaining from the vote not figuring into the determination of the majority required.
4. For purposes of any vote, the determination of the current eligible voting membership shall be private ballot. Votes will be counted immediately by the Steering Committee in the presence of members.
5. The rules contained in the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern the Organization in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with this Constitution, the Bylaws, or standing rules of the organization.

ARTICLE VIII: AMENDMENT OF BYLAWS

1. These bylaws may be amended by a two-thirds (⅔) vote conducted through an online voting platform available for 24 hours.

ARTICLE IX: CODE OF CONDUCT

1. All members and contributors to the organization are expected to abide by the Organization Code of Conduct, which can be found at https://github.com/obl-ong/code-of-conduct
2. The Steering Committee shall investigate grievances brought to them by any member. If the grievance concerns a member of the Steering Committee, that member shall recuse themselves.
3. The chapter's grievance process shall aim to uphold principles of fairness, inclusivity and respect for all parties.
4. In the case of serious or pressing grievance allegations, the Steering Committee may authorize immediate, temporary suspensions of accused members, including those on the Steering Committee which may be overturned, extended, or otherwise altered after an investigation takes place.

ARTICLE X: DISSOLUTION CLAUSE

1. Should the organization be dissolved due to lack of interest or other reasons, it is the responsibility of the current president and/or signers on HCB to notify the fiscal sponsor The Hack Foundation (d.b.a. Hack Club), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN: 81-2908499) that they have disbanded. The treasurer is responsible for ensuring all fundraising dollars are appropriately reallocated to a nonprofit organization specified in the dissolution motion. Dissolution of the organization must be approved by a three-quarters vote of the Active Members at a regularly-scheduled meeting.
2. The Steering Committee shall maintain a list of all members and their contact information, as well as the contact information for anyone that needs to be notified on dissolution.