Association of County and City Information Systems
CONSTITUTION
AND
BY-LAWS
of the
ASSOCIATION COUNTY/CITY INFORMATION SYSTEMS
ARTICLE I
Name
Section 1. The name of this organization shall be Association County/City Information Systems.
ARTICLE II
Purpose
Section 1. The primary purpose of this organization shall be to promote a communication link between the Information Systems functions of counties, cities, and other public agencies in Washington State.
Section 2. It shall also be the purpose of this organization to represent county and city Information Systems interests to state officials and to call attention to relevant legislation.
Section 3. This organization will seek to provide education for county/city officers on roles, responsibilities, and requirements of Information Systems departments.
ARTICLE III
Membership
Section 1. The membership of the Association shall consist of five (5) grades having the rights and privileges listed below:
A. Members
One duly appointed Administrator, Director, or Employee of the department responsible for the agency's Information Systems or an employee designated to represent the County/City. Members shall have the right to one vote per agency on all matters of the Association. In the event a Member is not present at a meeting, he/she may designate his/her agency's Associate member or Member of another agency to cast the Members' vote by proxy.
B. Associate Members (non voting)
One or more persons designated by a Member who is an employee of the same agency. Associate Members shall have all the rights and privileges of a Member except the right to vote.
C. Affiliate Members (non voting)
One engaged in Information Systems and/or administration at a political subdivision, state agency, or governmental association (such as MRSC, AWC, WACO, or similar associations) whose interest or policies bring them in contact with Member agency's Information Systems. Affiliate members shall only have the right to attend meetings and participate in discussions.
D. Associate Affiliate Members (non voting)
One or more persons designated by an Affiliate Member who is engaged in Information Systems and/or administration at the same political subdivision, state agency, or governmental association as the designee whose interest or policies bring them in contact with Member agency's Information Systems. Associate Affiliate members shall only have the right to attend meetings and participate in discussions.
E. Honorary Member (non voting)
One who is nominated by a voting member and approved by the membership at a regular business meeting to become an Honorary Member. Honorary Members are former Members or Associate Members no longer eligible to be Members or Associate Members who have provided a high level of service or significant contribution to ACCIS.
ARTICLE IV
Officers
Section 1. The officers of the Association shall consist of the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Immediate Past President, and Board Members-at-large. The President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer will not pay registration fees at the ACCIS conferences while serving in this capacity. All other officers shall serve without compensation.
Section 2. The President shall preside at all meetings of the Association.
Section 3. In the absence of the President, the Vice-President shall automatically succeed and serve as President of the Association until the next regular meeting for the Association.
Section 4. The Vice President shall perform all the duties of the President as they relate to the Association in the absence of the President at any meeting. It shall be the responsibility of the Vice President to oversee all committee activity and make a report on such activity to the President. The Vice President has the responsibility of organizing, based on member input, the fall and spring meetings of the Association. In the event of a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the Officers shall fill the position by appointment, and the appointee shall serve until the next regular meeting of the Association. The Vice President is President elect subject to affirmation by membership vote.
Section 5. The Secretary shall keep the records of the regular meetings of the Association. In the event of a vacancy in the office of Secretary, the officers shall fill the position by appointment and the appointee shall serve until the next regular meeting of the Association.
Section 6. The Treasurer shall be the custodian of the funds of the Association. Also, the Treasurer shall receive, separately account and disburse funds for Special Interest Groups. In the event of a vacancy in the office of the Treasurer, the officers shall fill the position by appointment and the appointee shall serve until the next regular meeting of the Association.
Section 7. The Immediate Past President will serve as an advisor to currently elected officers and chair the nominating committee.
Section 8. Board Members-at-large will serve in special, designated roles. Members-at-large shall attend and participate in all regular and special board meetings in order to coordinate the performance of their designated roles.
Section 9. Board Members may approve purchases of goods and contract for goods and services provided that the funds for such goods and services are in the budget as approved annually by the general membership and a majority of the quorum vote of the Board has approved the specific purchase or contract. The President or Vice President must sign all contracts.
ARTICLE V
Nominations and Appointments
Section 1. At each Spring Meeting there shall be elected a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and not more than ten Board Members-at-large who shall hold office from the time of such election until the next Spring Meeting. A committee composed of at least three Members of the Association shall nominate Members for the office of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Members or Associate Members for Board Members-at-large. The committee shall designate the special roles of any proposed Board Members-at-large. Such nominations and roles shall be certified to the membership at the Spring Meeting. Additional candidates for each position may be nominated from the floor at the opening session of the Spring Meeting.
Section 2. The officers shall each year appoint, not more the sixty (60) days after the adjournment of the Spring Meeting of the Association, the various committees of the Association and shall designate a chairman of each such committee.
Section 3. The Board may temporarily fill vacated Board positions until the following Spring Meeting.
ARTICLE VI
Meetings
Section 1. The Association shall meet semi-annually. In the event the Association deems it necessary, additional meetings shall be called, the time and place to be determined by the officers of the Association. The annual meeting shall be the Spring session.
Section 2. A quorum shall consist of two (2) elected officers and at least fifty percent of appointed officers.
Section 3. All meetings shall be conducted under Robert's Rules of order.
Section 4. The order of business shall be as follows:
1. Call to order by the President
2. Reading of the minutes of the last meeting.
3. Report of the Treasurer. The report shall include the total cost for Board travel expenses in the prior year and the amount to be expensed for the same purpose in the upcoming year. The membership shall approve a travel budget for the upcoming year.
4. Committee reports.
5. Unfinished business.
6. New business.
7. Election of Officers (if Spring Meeting).
Section 5. The officers may hold quarterly board meetings of which two will coincide with the semi-annual conferences. Officers may be provided a meal, cost to be borne by the Association, during the board meeting.
Section 6. The non-conference quarterly board meetings will be conducted at a site to minimize cost to the Association. They may be held remotely by telephone or other real-time electronic media.
Section 7. The Association may provide travel expenses for the officers to attend the non-conference board meetings. The one-way travel distance must exceed 180 miles to qualify for airfare and/or overnight accommodations. Travel distances of 180 miles or less shall qualify for mileage. Travel expenses are limited to hotel accommodations for one night, roundtrip coach airfare based on state contract pricing and/or mileage at the IRS rate. The board of officers must authorize all reimbursements upon submission of appropriate documentation and may authorize additional travel expenditures in extreme cases. Examples of extreme cases are flight cancellations, illness and extreme weather conditions.
ARTICLE VII
Dues
Section 1. Membership dues shall be established by the board. Types of memberships include
A. Member
B. Associate Member
C. Affiliate Member
D. Associate Affiliate Member
E. Honorary Member
Section 2. Members who have not paid dues within 30 days of the Spring Meeting will be dropped from membership in the Association.
Section 3. The dues shall be expended as the officers and the membership determine.
ARTICLE VIII
Standards
Section 1. Recognizing the decentralized nature of city and county local governments, the Association may sponsor voluntary standards. Participation by members will enhance logical interfaces among applications, databases and network nodes; serve to help reduce costs of technical support; and reduce the need to develop multiple complex interfaces. The Association seeks to work closely with state agencies to assure compatibility with state efforts.
Section 2. Standards are voluntary and members are encouraged to support and use them within their organizations.
Section 3. Any Member, or Association recognized Special Interest Group, may sponsor a standard. The Association Vice President shall receive proposals and process them, or may forward them to an Association committee (see Article VI, Section 2). Proposed standards will be submitted to the voting membership at least 30 days prior to the next business meeting. Members shall vote on the standard(s) at the next business meeting. A simple majority of those voting are required for adoption. The Secretary/Treasurer shall maintain a list and details of each standard. The list shall be appended to the minutes of each regular meeting.
ARTICLE IX
Revisions
Section 1. These By-laws may be amended, revised, added to, or subtracted from by a favorable vote of at least two-thirds (2/3) of the voting members present at any duly constituted meeting.
Revisions.
1) Added Article IV, Special Interest Groups; 2) Changed Article V, Sections 1 and 5 to reflect Special Interest Groups; and, 3) Renumbered old Article III through VIII. Approved by the Association membership on October 27, 1994.
4) Added a new Article, IX, Standards, and renamed the old Article IX to Article X. Approved by the membership on October 25, 1996.
5) Changed Article V, Sections 1, 4, 5 & 6 adding Immediate Past President to officers and making Immediate Past President chair of nominating committee. The Vice President was given specific responsibility for organizing fall and spring meetings. Approved by the membership on October 24, 1997. Note: data communications standards will be added in next revision.
6) Added Appendix I, Inter-Government Networking Principles. Approved by the membership on May 23, 1997.
7) Changed Article III, Section 1-C to clarify Affiliate Membership to include only individuals from a political subdivision, state agency, or governmental association. Added Section 1-D to create an Associate Affiliate Membership grade. Changed Article VIII, Section 1-C raising membership dues from $40 to $50. Added Section 1-D, setting the Associate Affiliate Membership dues to $0. Approved by the membership on October 19, 2001.
8) Added Section 1-E in Article III to create an Honorary Membership Grade; 9) Removed Article IV, Special Interest Groups; Changed Article V, Section 1, Article VI, Section 1, and added Article V, Section 7 to include language for Board Members-at-large; Changed Article VII, Section 4-3 and added Sections 5 through 7 for travel expenses to be paid by the Association for Board Meetings; Renumbered old Article V through X. Approved by the Association membership on April 4, 2003.
9) Added IV.8 to allow the board to purchase goods and contract for goods and services. Changed Article VI Section 2 to change the quorum to reflect the at-large board positions (to be a minimum of 2 elected and half of the appointed board members). Added a sentence to Article VI Section 6 to allow non-conference Board meetings via telephone or other electronic media. Changed article VII to allow the Board to set dues. Misc. format clean-up performed that makes no substantive changes, Approved by the Association membership on October 26th, 2006.
10) Changed Article IV Section 1 to waive conference registration fees for the President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Changed Appendix I Governance from State and Local ACCIS/CAB Subcommittee to Washington Intergovernmental Network Governance Committee. Approved by the Association membership on October 30th, 2009.
11) Modified language throughout Bylaws to describe the broader non-county/city membership. Modified the maximum number of board members to ten from eight. Removed Appendix regarding the IGN and will replace the Appendix with an MOU. Approved by the Association on 4/17/2015.