Constitution

Bylaws of the Prince George's County Municipal Association

ARTICLE I. NAME

The name of the organization shall be the Prince George's County Municipal Association, hereinafter called the PGCMA.

ARTICLE II. PURPOSE

The purpose of the organization shall be to promote through investigation, discussion, and cooperative effort the interest and welfare of the municipalities in Prince George's County and its citizens, to preserve the powers of municipalities, to improve the enforcement of local ordinances, to consider or act upon all matters of common interest to the municipalities in Prince George's County, to take positions on and work for legislation to promote the interests of the municipalities, and to strive for closer relations among citizens and towns, Prince George's County, the State of Maryland and other governmental bodies.

ARTICLE III. MEMBERSHIP

Any municipality (whether city or town) of Prince George's County, upon payment of membership dues, may become an active member of the PGCMA. All duly elected municipal officials and administrative employees of active member municipalities shall be entitled to membership in this organization.

Any person who has rendered conspicuous service for the improvement of municipal government may, by vote of the executive board, be recommended for honorary membership in the PGCMA to the general membership for approval. All presidents of the PGCMA not presently holding elected municipal office shall be honorary members. Honorary members shall have a voice but not a vote in any proceedings of the PGCMA.

ARTICLE IV. ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Election of officers shall be held at the annual meeting in May of each year. Only elected officials of a municipality shall serve as president, vice president, secretary and treasurer. Term of office is (12) twelve months. The president shall be elected for only one full term of office. An officer shall serve until a successor is duly elected and qualified. Vacancies will be filled immediately by special election. The highest-ranking official present shall cast the vote for the city or town in all elections of officers.

ARTICLE V. OFFICERS AND THEIR DUTIES

The Officers of the PGCMA shall be president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and seven (7) members-at-large.

Section 1. President - the president shall preside at membership meetings, and the executive board meetings, exercise general supervision over the affairs of the PGCMA, appoint ad hoc committees as he or she may from time to time deem necessary to conduct the affairs of the PGCMA with the approval of the executive board, shall be ex officio member of all committees except the nominating and audit committee, and perform other duties as are directed by the PGCMA.

Section 2. Vice President - the vice president shall serve in place of the president during his/her absence, incapacity or in the event of a vacancy, to perform the duties of the president as defined in article v., section 1.

Section 3. Secretary - the secretary shall notify the membership of and take the minutes of all organization meetings and perform such duties as may be prescribed from time to time.

Section 4. Treasurer - the treasurer shall act as custodian of all organization funds which are received, and pay out such funds as may be required.

ARTICLE VI. EXECUTIVE BOARD

The executive board shall be composed of the above named officers and the most immediate past president, who shall be an elected official of a municipality. The past president shall not have a vote. All members of the executive board shall be elected officials, except one who may preferably be a city or town administrator or a person of equal status.

The duties of the executive board shall be to assist the president, to cooperate with the Maryland Municipal League or other organizations in carrying out the directives of the PGCMA and to perform other functions as the PGCMA may direct. A majority of the board membership shall constitute a quorum for board meetings.

In an emergency situation, when general membership approval is not feasible, the executive board is empowered to take such action(s) as necessary for the good of PGCMA. All actions taken at such meetings shall be presented to the members for ratification at the next general meeting.

A vacancy on the board will exist when a member of the board (1) ceases to meet the qualifications of board membership as provided for in Article III of these Bylaws, (2) resigns from the board, and (3) has two unexcused absences from meetings of the board.

ARTICLE VII. STANDING COMMITTEES AND THEIR DUTIES

A majority of each committee shall constitute a quorum and a majority vote of those in attendance and voting may decide any question. No proxies shall be allowed. Vacancies shall be filled by the president of the PGCMA. Members of the PGCMA who are not elected municipal elected officials may serve on all committees except the nominating committee.

The Standing Committees shall be appointed by the president of the PGCMA and shall consist of:

1. LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE - it shall be the duty of this committee to consider and/or formulate county or state legislation of concern to municipalities and make recommendations to the membership for action and further promote the legislative goals and coordinate the lobbying efforts of the PGCMA. The legislative committee shall be empowered to create such subcommittees as it deems appropriate. Legislators making significant contributions to promote the legislative goals of the PGCMA may be recommended by the legislative committee to the executive committee to receive the legislator(s) of the year award.
2. NOMINATING COMMITTEE - It shall be the duty of this committee to present a slate of nominees for office in April of each year. Further, this committee shall select the recipient of the "Annual Outstanding Municipal Official Plaque".
3. POLICY COMMITTEE - It shall be the duty of this committee to make recommendations to the general membership on resolutions concerning policies of a non-legislative nature.

ARTICLE VIII. MEETINGS

The regular monthly meetings will be held on the third (3) Thursday of each month. If the meeting falls on a legal holiday or for other good and sufficient reason, the president may cancel the meeting or shall designate an alternate date, time, and place, with appropriate notice given to the member municipalities.

ARTICLE IX. REPRESENTATION

On all matters, except the election of officers and amendments to the Constitution, Bylaws, each individual member present shall be entitled to vote, and a majority vote shall govern in all cases. Those present constitute a quorum; no proxies shall be allowed.

ARTICLE X. FINANCES

The dues of the PGCMA shall be fixed by resolution adopted at a general membership meeting. The PGCMA shall have the power to receive form all agencies both public and private, federal, state, county and municipal bequests, grants donations and gifts of all kinds of property in fee simple. PGCMA shall also have the power to act as necessary to carry out by resolution the purpose of such bequests, gifts, grants, and donations with the power to manage, sell, convey, contract, lease or otherwise dispose of same in accordance with the terms of the bequest, gift, grant, or donation of trust absolutely and without condition.

ARTICLE XI. AUDIT

There shall be an annual audit of the accounts of the PGCMA by a CPA. A report shall be made to the general membership for reading at the first meeting following the election of officers. A new CPA shall be selected every three years.

ARTICLE XII. AMENDMENTS

Amendments to the Constitution may be made at any general membership meeting, by two-thirds (2/3) vote of active member municipalities present and voting on the same, provided that written notice of such amendments have been distributed to the membership thirty (30) days prior to the date of that meeting. For the purpose of voting on amendments to the Constitution, each active member municipality shall have one vote.

ARTICLE XIII. RULES OF ORDER

The rules contained in the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order will be adhered to when conducting a meeting providing that they are not inconsistent with these Bylaws and any special rules of order the PGCMA may adopt.