Bylaws Revision Hearing

The 2017 Philly DSA Local Convention voted organizational restructuring as one of the three chapter priorities for the next two years, along with Medicare For All and Labor Solidarity Work. Our organizational structure has to keep pace with Philly DSA’s shift from having dozens of members to now having over a thousand members.

In order to carry out this priority, the local voted in spring 2018 to create an ad-hoc Committee on Organizational Structure, composed of representatives from Philly DSA’s existing committees. The committee was tasked with studying different bylaws and organizational practices across DSA nationally, surveying members of Philly DSA, and issuing recommendations on a new set of bylaws and organizational practices in order to make our structure adequate to the size of our chapter and scope of our work, as well as to clarify the many ambiguities and confusions in the current bylaws.

After an eight-month process of studying, surveying, drafting, and discussing, the committee has prepared its recommended bylaws revision. The revision will be considered at the upcoming March 2nd General Meeting. You can find the proposed revision here:

Bylaws Revision

The recommended revision document will be open to amendment as fully as if we were adopting bylaws for the first time. In other words, members may make amendments to the recommended revision. Amendments to the recommended revision should be submitted to the Resolutions Commission by Feb 23 at 5:00 PM. It should be noted that amending the recommended revision does not amend the existing bylaws. That is, the recommended revision can be amended but these amendments will only be incorporated if the entire revision (amended or not) is adopted by majority vote. Members can also accept or reject the entire recommended revision without amendments.

Bylaws, written in a staid legalese instead of a lively prose, are long and they are often quite boring. Nonetheless, they are important and we encourage you to cozy up with a cup of coffee and review the recommended revision. The Committee proposing these revisions worked hard reviewing other chapter’s bylaws, DSA’s constitution, the bylaws and constitutions of similar organizations, and consulted members through interviews and surveys in the process. We encourage you to attend the hearing they are hosting and to ask any questions about whatever seems unclear or confusing. Email [email protected] Subject Line “BYLAWS QUESTION” if

Please join the Bylaws Committee for a hearing on Tuesday, February 19th to discuss the revisions, ask questions, and learn more about the committee’s recommendations. In addition, the committee will also present an executive summary of the major changes, and an FAQ sheet.