Bylaws Revision -- Spring/Summer 2004

This page will present revisions and updates to the SOSNA bylaws and news on the revision process, most recent first:

June 10, 2004

• Revised as accepted by the community June 9

June 7, 2004

• Latest bylaws draft, currently with the Office of Housing and Community Development for legal review. Assuming that OHCD mandates no changes, this draft will be presented to the community for ratification at the June 9 general meeting. Adobe Acrobat version.

May 13, 2004

• Alternative draft in process. SOSNA member Matt Corcoran, an attorney and long-time resident of our neighborhood, presented an alternative draft based on conversations with some community residents at the May 12 general meeting. [view draft in Adobe Acrobat format]
• Deadline to present suggestions for changes -- May 19. To participate in the next bylaws committee meeting, SOSNA members must send their comments and suggestions to the SOSNA office in writing by this date so that they can be gathered together and circulated.

May 10, 2004 -- working draft online. This draft is based on meetings of the SOSNA board bylaws committee and representatives from the Office of Housing and Community Development. The draft is being presented to the SOSNA board and to the general membership for discussion at the May 12 meeting. Download draft in Adobe Acrobat format.

The May 12 bylaws review will be a discussion of broad general concepts on the structure and content of the bylaws, not a line-by-line or word-by-word revision. This will take place at a subsequent working meeting, which interested SOSNA members are welcome to attend, providing they are willing to send their comments and suggested revisions to the SOSNA office in advance so that comments can be assembled into one document and circulated prior to that meeting. The date of that meeting will be determined at the May 12 general meeting.

Three important changes in the current draft of the bylaws allow for greater transparency and encourage broader member participation in SOSNA's governance

• a change in terms to provide uniform three-year terms and term limits, to provide regular rotation off the Board;
  
  
• the opening of committee membership to SOSNA members not currently serving on the board, in order to tap a broader talent pool, including drawing on the services of members who may not necessarily be able to attend scheduled general or Baord meetings;
  
• an affirmation of the public status of Board meetings.

The community's thanks are due to William Pearson, chair of the bylaws committee, for his considerable work in interpreting the sense of several meetings and producing three interim drafts of the bylaws to date.

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SOSNA is the Neighborhood Advisory Committee for the area from South Street to Washington Avenue, Broad Street West to the Schuylkill River, funded by the Office of Housing and Community Development to provide citizen input into their redevelopment process in our community. SOSNA is a registered nonprofit corporation exempt from Federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Site contents copyright SOSNA except where indicated.