1. The General Assembly is a gathering of all the existing members of NYMAA, along with non-voting observers. It operates according to an agenda finalized one week prior and meets monthly until May 2006, after which it will meet every two months.
2. Functions: The main functions of the General Assembly are:
3. Quorum:
A quorum of 50% of the average number of members in attendance at the previous three General Meetings is necessary for the General Assembly to make a decision. Quorum for an emergency General Assembly (as called by the Communications Group) is 30% of the average number of members in attendance at previous three General Assemblies. The presence of a quorum must be verified prior to each decision.
4. Proposals:
5. Association: Anarchist or social justice groups interested in working on specific projects with NYMAA are encouraged to contact the Communications Group and/or attend a General Assembly and propose a project.
6. Emergency General Assemblies: If situations arise that require immediate attention, emergency General Assemblies may be called by the consensus of an established NYMAA local, working group, or caucus. It is the responsibility of the consensing local, working group, or caucus to clearly state the purpose of the emergency General Assembly, prepare its agenda, and organize it in coordination with the Comms Group.
1. The Comms Group consists of three people. It is responsible for all aspects of NYMAA communication, as well as preparatory duties for the General Assemblies. It can delegate tasks to other NYMAA members, although final accountability and responsibility for those tasks reside with the Comms Group itself.
1.2 The Comms Group is responsible for organizing Nuts and Bolts Working Group meetings, where the day to day, interim (between GAs) operations of NYMAA are carried out. This working group is open to all NYMAA members. Its decisions, like those of the Comms Group, are overseen and ratified at the GA. Please see below for Nuts and Bolts duties.
2. Comms Group members are chosen by "lot" from a pool of volunteers of NYMAA members, and 'blind ratified'* by 75% of NYMAA members attending a General Assembly. Members serve one-and-a-half year terms maximum. A new Comms Group member is elected every six months, or when a vacancy requires it.
(* Blind ratification: the nominee leaves the room and is accepted or rejected while they are absent.)
Detailed procedure:
3. In the event of a catastrophic failure, the largest local will assume the functions of the Comms Group in order to immediately call an emergency General Assembly, at which a new Comms Group will be elected.
4. More specifically, the responsibilities of the Comms Group are:
a. To maintain and moderate the NYMAA listserv and maintain the NYMAA website.
b. To organize General Assemblies, find facilitation for General Assemblies, and organize periodic facilitation trainings (Comms Group members cannot facilitate).
c. To collect, prepare, and distribute the agenda for General Assemblies.
d. To assist in the clarification and dissemination of proposals.
e. To record and distribute General Assembly minutes, with a particular emphasis on publicizing approved proposals.
f. To call emergency assemblies (process to be determined).
g. To collect dues and contributions and report on finances.
h. To arrange arbitration/mediation for internal disputes (Comms Group members cannot arbitrate/mediate).
i. To maintain an up to date membership list and phone tree, and keep track of members attendance at Assemblies.
j. To give a report of its and the Nuts and Bolts WG's activities at each General Assembly.
5. Revocation: Comms Group members can be revoked by a blind vote of 75% of a General Assembly. Proposals for revocation are made and deliberated upon at General Assemblies in the same manner as standard proposals.
C. Nuts and Bolts Working Group.
Because of the nature of the Communications Group and its relationship with the day to day functioning of NYMAA, it is critical for a Nuts and Bolts Working Group to be formally tied to the Comms Group, to ensure the sharing of tasks, as well as the transparency and oversite of the Comms Group's efforts. The Nuts and Bolts WG is open to all members of NYMAA, is "pointed" by the Comms Group, and has its work overseen at the GA. The Nuts and Bolts WG assists with all tasks held as a responsibility of the Comms Group, with the addition of the process of hashing out proposals for changes to the structure document.
D. Funds
1. NYMAA funds are held by the Comms Group, and it is the responsibility of the Comms Group to maintain accurate records regarding funds taken in and funds given out.
2. The Comms Group may use funds, at its sole discretion and without further approval, for essential, functional expenditures, such as expenses pertaining to the organization of General Assemblies, etc.
3. In other instances, in order to gain access to NYMAA funds, a local, working group, or caucus must petition the Nuts & Bolts working group (and post their request to the NYMAA general listserv) as to the amount of money required, its purpose, and how soon it is needed. The matter will then be discussed at the next scheduled Nuts & Bolts meeting, and if consensed upon, the requisite funds will be made available as soon as possible.
4. All expenditures are subject to after-the-fact oversight by the General Assembly. Thus, if a NYMAA member feels that a certain funding decision was unwarranted, or that disbursed funds were used irresponsibly, she is free to make a proposal for reimbursement at a General Assembly.
E. Global Communicator.
Interim position associated with all global commuications with groups outside the NY metropolitan area. This position is the point person of the Global Networks working group. [While fact and title were ratified at the 3rd GA, the details of the position are yet to be determined.]
F. Media Liaison Group:
The working group that developed this document recognizes the need for further discussion in order to address media and "public relations." Therefore, the formation of a working group to examine these issues will be encouraged.
G: The nymaa-promo mailing list:
i. The purpose of this mailing list is to disseminate NYMAA announcements to a broad range of lists. It is not for dissemination of activities of other groups not explicitly affiliated with NYMAA.
ii.Posting to the list is done by COMMS. Requests to post a message via this list are presented to any member of COMMS; if there is any question as to whether the message should be posted, it will be brought to the next Nuts and Bolts meeting for review. If there is no consensus at Nuts and Bolts, the issue will be brought before the entire membership.
iii. Posts that present a position must be properly attributed. A post attributed to NYMAA should normally be approved at a GA. Working group posts should be approved by the Working Group.
iv. In general no more than one post will be sent per week. Multiple announcements can be combined in a single post.