BYLAWS OF THE LAMOND-RIGGS CITIZENS ASSOCIATION, INC. IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

 

ARTICLE I:  NAME AND NATURE OF THIS ORGANIZATION

This organization shall be known as the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as “Association” or “LRCA”), a corporation duly organized under the laws of the District of Columbia on September 4, 1957, under book 0165, page 415, with the Office of Superintendent of Corporations, District of Columbia, formerly known as the Chillum Castle Manor Citizens Association in the District of Columbia, organized June 29, 1948, and later as the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association, an unincorporated association.

ARTICLE II:  ORGANIZATIONAL AND JURISDICTIONAL AREA

SECTION 1. The organizational and jurisdictional area of this association shall be defined, bounded and limited as follows: starting from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad tracks at Underwood Place to Kansas Avenue, Northeast; then northerly on Kansas Avenue, Northeast to Eastern Avenue, Northeast; then southernly on Eastern Avenue, Northeast to where it intersects Galloway Street, Northeast; then westerly along Galloway Street, Northeast until it meets the railroad tracks of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail; then northwesterly along such railroad tracks to where they reach Underwood Place, Northwest, extended; all within the District of Columbia.

See Map, Exhibit A.

SECTION 2. This organization shall be a non-political, non-sectarian, and not-for-profit association.

ARTICLE III:  PURPOSES, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

SECTION 1. The purposes, aims and objectives of this association are to promote the general welfare of the District of Columbia, participate in common District of Columbia endeavors seeking to effect civil improvements therein for the benefit of its inhabitants; to further the general welfare of residents who reside within the boundaries of the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association, Inc. as described in Article II, Section 1 of these Bylaws; to promote by mutual association the improvement of the properties of the neighborhood, and the streets, alleys, sidewalks, schools, playgrounds, and other public facilities of the neighborhood; to advise the residents of the Lamond-Riggs neighborhood of legislation, laws and regulations which affect their interests; to represent the interests of the residents of the neighborhood before appropriate Congressional committees, before the Council of the District of Columbia, the Zoning Board of the District of Columbia, and other appropriate legislative, judicial, quasi-judicial, and investigative bodies; and to perform other acts incidental to promoting the welfare of its members and the residents of the Lamond-Riggs neighborhood in the District of Columbia.

SECTION 2. Please see the separate document for policy papers. The LRCA Policy papers are created to enforce the rules and principles of these bylaws. Please refer to the Policy documents and the LRCA Articles of Incorporation.

ARTICLE IV:  MEMBERS

SECTION 1. Categories of Members: The organization shall have three categories of members: Household, Corporate, and Individual.

 

SECTION 2. Eligibility for Membership:

a. Household: To be eligible for membership, a household must be (1) a resident that currently resides within the boundaries as specified in Article II, Section 1, hereof; (2) eighteen (18) years of age and over (3) and pay the $20 ($15 for seniors aged 62 and up) membership fee. Household is defined as up to two adult persons at the same address. The two adults recognized under household shall have one vote each.

If there are more than two adults at a household, those individuals must each pay an individual membership of $15.

b. Corporate: To be eligible for membership, an active business, church, non-profit, or other organization must be located within the boundaries as specified in Article II, Section 1 thereof and pay the $50 membership fee. The corporate member shall have one vote.

c. Individual: To be eligible for membership, an individual must be (1) a resident currently residing within the boundaries as specified in Article II, Section 1, thereof; (2) eighteen (18) years of age and over (3) and pay the $15 membership fee.

 

SECTION 3. DUES:

a. Membership: All Membership dues shall be an amount set by the general body of the LRCA after a recommendation by the Executive Board and is payable during the LRCA program year, July 1 through June 30 of the following year. The amount of dues may be changed by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the general body. Payments made during the Summer off period (July, through September 30th) must be clearly marked for the current or next program year.

b. Voting: In order to vote for any positions noted in the bylaws, members must pay their dues in full by the first Monday of the public general meeting in April, before that election. Payments must be postmarked by the first Monday in April.

c. Good Standing: No household, individual, or corporation shall be a member in good standing of the LRCA unless and until such dues have been paid. A household, individual, or corporation that fails to pay annual dues, shall automatically cease to be a member in good standing of the LRCA.

ARTICLE V:  MEETINGS

SECTION 1. Executive Board Meetings: The business of this association shall be conducted, and its affairs administered by its duly elected and appointed officers and trustees, who shall comprise the Executive Board and shall meet in executive session at such date, time, and place as shall be determined by the Executive Board through a majority vote of the Executive Board. The Board shall meet at least once per month before regularly scheduled meetings.

SECTION 2. Regular Meetings: Regular meetings of the members shall occur at such date, time, and place as determined by the members after recommendation of the Executive Board but shall occur no less than once each month except during the months of July, August, and September, at such place as designated by the Executive Board.

Any change in the regular meetings date, time, and location must be approved by the General Body unless there is an unforeseen circumstance, and the site is not available. The President in conference with the Vice Presidents can change the meeting date, time, and location.

If this occurs, it is the responsibility of each member of the Executive Committee to assist in notifying the general body as quickly as possible of the change.

SECTION 3. Special Meetings of the Membership: May be called for any stated purpose by or at the request of the following members in good standing:
(a) The President of the Association,
(b) At least five members of the Executive Board, or
(c) At least one-third (1/3) of the members of the Association.

The request shall be submitted in writing to the Communications Committee of the Association. The President shall call such meeting for the purpose specified in the request. The Communications Committee shall send out written, electronic, or phone call notices of the date, time, place, and subject matter of such special meeting. The notice shall be transmitted at least ten (10) business days prior to the special meeting. The business of such special meeting shall be restricted solely to the purpose for which such special meeting was called.

SECTION 4. Special Meetings of the Executive Board: The Association President or at least five (5) members of the Board may call special meetings of the Executive Board.

The Communication Committee, upon receipt of a written request from those identified above, shall transmit written, electronic, or phone call notices of the date, time, place, and subject matter of such special Executive Board meeting. The notice shall be transmitted at least five (5) business days prior to the special meeting. The notice shall state the agenda and the business of such special meeting shall be restricted solely to those matters.

SECTION 5. Manner of Voting: Except as otherwise provided by these Bylaws, the act of a majority of the members present and voting at a meeting at which a quorum is present, shall be the act of the Association.

SECTION 6. Quorum: The presence of at least fifteen (15) members, and at least three (3) officers, constitutes a quorum at a membership meeting. Five (5) Executive Board Members present at an Executive Board meeting shall constitute a quorum.

ARTICLE VI:  OFFICERS, TRUSTEES AND DELEGATES

SECTION 1. The business of the Association shall be conducted, and its affairs administered by its duly elected and appointed officers and trustees, who shall comprise the Executive Board and shall meet in executive session; no less than one week prior to the regularly scheduled monthly Association meeting. Each officer and trustee shall Chair or Co-Chair a Standing Committee, except for the Nominating Committee. All officers are responsible for the distribution of the newsletter on the block where they reside. If more than one officer lives on the same block, an agreement must be made to distribute on another street.

SECTION 2. Required Officers: The Association shall have the following officers: President, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Treasurer, Recording Secretary, and Parliamentarian. The President must also appoint Delegates to represent LRCA at the D. C. Federation of Civic Association and other events/organizations as requested by the President. The Association may create additional officers as needed. The duties of the officers are as follows:

A. PRESIDENT: The President shall conduct the regular, special, and Executive Board meetings of the Association and shall be an Ex-Officio member of all standing and temporary committees, except for the nominating committee. The President shall have such other responsibilities as may be assigned to them by the members.

When quick decisions are needed on critical issues, the President must contact a total of two (2) Executive Committee members in this order: the two Vice-Presidents or if not available, the Secretary or Treasurer to get a majority vote on the action in question. The issue and resulting vote must be presented at the next Executive Board and Regular Body meeting. This must also be the order of the check approvers and persons who receive bank account updates via text and have access to the banking app.

The President shall appoint standing, special, and temporary committees as the need arises and he or she shall designate which of the officers and/or trustees shall be responsible for the operation of each said committee. Each officer and trustee shall Chair or Co-Chair at least one of the Standing Committees enumerated in Article VII, Section 2 as designated by the President and report out to the General Body at least bi-monthly.

B. FIRST VICE PRESIDENT: The First Vice President shall preside in the absence (or at the request) of the President. If the office of the President becomes vacant, the First Vice President succeeds thereto for the unexpired balance of the term. The First Vice President will serve as the defacto Co-Chair of a split of the committees, with an agreement decided among the First Vice President and Second Vice President, and with the approval of the President. The First Vice President will also introduce their appropriate committee chairs, during the monthly meeting for committee updates at the end of the public meetings.

C. SECOND VICE PRESIDENT: The Second Vice President shall preside in the absence of the President and First Vice President. If the offices of the President and First Vice-President become vacant, the Second Vice President succeeds thereto for the balance of the unexpired term. The Second Vice President will serve as the defacto Co-Chair of a split of the committees, with an agreement decided among the First and Second Vice Presidents, and with the approval of the President. They will also introduce their appropriate committee chairs, during the monthly meeting for committee updates at the end of the public meetings.

D. TREASURER: The Treasurer shall keep an accurate and detailed account of all monies received and expended by the Association; shall keep all the financial records of the Association in such form as the Executive Board shall prescribe; shall be the recipient and custodian of all monies of the Association, such monies to be deposited in an FDIC insured brick and mortar banking institution. Such banking institutions may be designated by the Executive Board. It shall further be the duty of the Treasurer to submit a written monthly financial report and a semi-annual detailed financial report to the Association at the regular meetings of the Association. The “Books” must be closed, balanced, and submitted to the Budget/Auditing Committee as provided for in Section VII Section 2 E, in July. All payments and purchases made by LRCA will be made by bank cards or paid for electronically.

The Treasurer will provide a regular report to the Membership Committee chair on updated membership. The Treasurer shall be bonded for $10,000. Two or more Executive Board members (i.e., the President, the Treasurer, and a First or Second Vice President), will have access to online banking and payment processors, and serve as signers on the account and pick up checks, etc. from the Post Office box.

E. RECORDING SECRETARY: The Recording Secretary is the custodian of the Association’s records during their term. They shall keep accurate minutes of the proceedings of the Association at regular, special, and Executive Board meetings; perform all other duties incident to the office of Secretary; and such other duties as may be assigned to the Secretary by the President or the Association members. Copies of the minutes of the proceedings of any meeting shall be submitted to the President and the two Vice-Presidents within one week after such meeting is held. The Recording Secretary shall take the role at all General Body and Executive Board meetings and inform the Executive Board of the absence of any Board member for three successive Board meetings. The Recording Secretary will also audit the online meeting call-in log and pass it on to the Communication Committee.

F. PARLIAMENTARIAN: The Parliamentarian is an elected position and advises the President on the Association Bylaws, Rules of Order, any procedures and helps to maintain the orderly procedure of business of the Association in Regular, Executive, or Special meetings, in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order, where appropriate.

G. HISTORIAN: The Historian is appointed by the President and shall coordinate picture-taking of Association events; maintain a summary of all Association activities in a compiled scrapbook, including photographs, news clippings, programs, and other artifacts as may be necessary; and submit a written chronicle of Association activities, no later than October 1, to be included in the Association archives. The Historian shall have custody of all pertinent material as may be deemed to of historical value to the Association. Pictures and other documents shall be uploaded to an electronic repository/online cloud directory. These roles will be added to the communications part of the policy documents and to the Communication Committee and be a part of an online presence.

H. TRUSTEES: Ten (10) Trustees shall be elected to represent the larger LRCA Community. The Trustees shall serve on the Association’s Executive Board. A Trustee is required to Chair or Co-Chair a committee during their two-year term.
Will add/include one youth delegate (from 16 to 25 years of age). The youth delegate will also serve as a member of the Communication Committee.

I. DELEGATES: Delegates shall be appointed by the President to represent the Association to any external groups in all affairs, as requested by the President.

Section 3: Elections/Term of Office

A. With respect to the initial officers and trustees of the Association, each officer and trustee shall serve for a term of two years. Each officer and trustee must remain a dues-paying member in good standing with the Association during their term in office.

B. The Executive Board shall appoint a Nominating Committee at its February meeting and instruct them to bring in slates of officers and trustees to the regular April meeting. Board members who are running for office, cannot participate on the Nominating Committee. Candidates running for positions cannot collect monies or memberships. Multiple membership forms will not be collected from anyone. Membership dues and forms shall only be collected by the Treasurer or Communications Coordinator. See Policy Papers, under Conflict of Interest.

Neither the members nor the Chair of the Communications Committee shall be appointed to the Nominating Committee. Furthermore, anyone with access to membership information or whoever is running for office, cannot be a member of the Nominating Committee, nor choose any members of the Nominating Committee. If the entire board is up for reelection, the LRCA body of paid members will choose the Nominating Committee chair.

C. Nominations from the floor will be entertained with the consent of the nominee at the April Regular Body meeting; the nominations will be closed with a proper motion, seconded, and vote of members in good standing.

D. Officers and trustees shall be elected by a majority vote, by closed ballot biennially at a regular meeting in May.

E. Officers and trustees shall be installed at the regular June meeting and shall assume their duties on July 1. By June 30th, all current and newly elected officers and trustees shall participate in a transition meeting. The transition meeting shall be a Special Meeting of the Executive Committee. When the Executive Committee meets during the summer, the Communications Coordinator will invite all new Officers and Trustees to attend. Changing of the PayPal/payment processor ownership will take place during the transition period (see policy papers). The new administration immediately takes over after the transition meeting, which will take place on or before June 30th.

F. The membership shall elect officers and trustees every two (2) years. Each officer or trustee may succeed themselves in that office for no more than one (1) consecutive term.

 

Section 4: Removal of Officers

A. Any officer or trustee may be removed by the Executive Committee if they miss two (2) consecutive Regular Body meetings and two (2) consecutive Executive Board meetings, or if they miss a total of one-half (½) of all the Regular and Executive Board meetings except July, August, and September. The President must inform the General Body of any such removal at the next Regular or Special meeting.

Officers and trustees must inform the Communications Coordinator of the reason for any absences before all Regular, Special, or Executive Board meetings if they cannot attend. The Communications Coordinator will inform the Executive Board in an Executive Board meeting, where the Board will vote to accept the absence with a simple majority of the Executive Board present. In cases where the Board does not accept the absence, the First Vice-President shall inform the member and the Secretary shall note it as an absence in the official record.

B. Officers and trustees may resign after having submitted such request to the Communications Coordinator. The effective date shall be ten (10) calendar days after receipt of the resignation. The President must inform the General Body of any such removal at the next Regular or Special meeting.

C. Any elected officer or Trustee may be removed by the two-thirds (2/3) vote of members present at a Regular or Special meeting for cause including, but not limited to, conduct which would bring disrepute, damage, or injury to the stature or reputation of the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association. Upon receiving a written or electronic complaint, properly documented by any member of the Association, and presented to the Recording Secretary, or any member of the Executive Board, the Executive Board, acting as a fact-finding committee, shall have the right to recommend the expulsion of any officer, trustee, or member of this Association for good cause. Such recommendation shall be submitted to the membership within two Regular or Special meetings. The member shall have an opportunity to present their views in person or in writing as read by an Executive Board member before the vote. A two-thirds (2/3) majority vote by closed ballot of the members present is required to expel.

D. Filling of Vacancies: Interim vacancies occurring as to officers or trustees other than as provided for in Article VI Section 2, shall be filled for the respective unexpired terms (until the next election) by appointment of the Executive Board, and the appointees shall enter into their duties immediately upon appointment. These new members shall also be sworn in by the next public meeting.

ARTICLE VII: COMMITTEES

SECTION 1. The President shall establish standing, special and temporary committees as the need arises, and shall designate which officers and/or trustees shall be responsible for the operation of each of said committees as noted under Article VII Section 2.

SECTION 2. The Standing Committees and their functions shall be:

A. YOUTH DEVELOPMENT/RECREATION: To further the development, improvement, and maintenance of the recreational facilities, after-school programs, youth leagues, etc. affecting the Association area.

B. EDUCATION: To promote and improve the educational facilities affecting Association youth/area including our schools, libraries, etc.

C. CITY SERVICES/PUBLIC SAFETY: To promote maintenance and improvement of city services as well as a crime-free community in partnership with public safety officials, residents, schools, recreation centers, businesses, and religious organizations.

D. MEMBERSHIP: To solicit membership from residents and businesses in the Association boundaries; to maintain and furnish a list of paid members to the President and Recording Secretary; and to plan and carry out activities to generate interest and membership in the Association.

E. BUDGET/AUDITING COMMITTEE: Obtain financial records of the LRCA, conduct audits, and submit reports to the leadership of the Association. To obtain possession of the books and all financial records of the Association from the Treasurer in July or any date the Executive Board may prescribe; to conduct an audit of said books and financial records; and submit a report to the President and Second Vice-President within sixty (60) days after receipt of records from the Treasurer.

F. NOMINATING COMMITTEE: To nominate all candidates for officers and trustees of the Association. The Nominating Committee shall be appointed by the President at the February Regular meeting with the task of bringing in a slate of officers and trustees to the April Regular membership meeting. The Committee must present the Rules of the Day at the April meeting. Candidates for any elected position must be present during the vote unless the absence is otherwise excused as noted in Article VI, Section 4, Part A, and accepting or declining the nomination.

G. DEVELOPMENT TASK FORCE: To further the development, improvement, and maintenance of a high standard of living for all residents of Lamond-Riggs, from improving the quality of our lives to economic and community planning/implementation/management/oversight to partnerships with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), other law enforcement agencies, residents, schools, recreation centers, businesses, non-profits, churches, developers, and other organizations.

H. SENIORS: To further the development, improvement, knowledge, and use of services targeted at Seniors in our Community. Included but not limited to becoming members of other city senior organizations (i.e., Office of Aging, Ward level senior groups, etc.).

I. COMMUNICATION: Responsible for engagement and outreach to residents through social media, creation/maintenance of LRCA websites, monthly newsletter, and other forms of communication. Assists in developing correspondence (written, phone, or electronic) and is charged with forwarding such correspondence of the LRCA as requested by the President; assists in notifying Association members of regular membership meetings, Executive Board meetings, and other activities as may be necessary; and makes presentations to the Association regarding correspondence for information and action. Monitors all public-facing email accounts, general phone number, the community listserv, and PO box. Notify the board of regular meetings, etc. Technical experience is necessary.

ARTICLE VIII:  AFFILIATION

Any future affiliation of this Association with any organization shall require a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the membership present at a regular meeting. Any withdrawal of any affiliation from any organization shall require a two-thirds (2/3) vote of those members
present at a regular meeting.

ARTICLE IX: PROCEDURE

Unless otherwise specifically set forth in the Bylaws of the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association, Robert’s Rules of Order (newly revised), shall govern the proceedings of this Association where appropriate.

ARTICLE X:  AMENDMENTS

These Bylaws may be amended only in the following manner:

A. A written notice of such proposed amendment(s) shall be given to all members at least two (2) weeks in advance of a Regular or Special meeting.

B. In such a meeting as described above, a motion properly made and seconded and carried by a three-fourth (3/4) majority vote of the members present will constitute an approved amendment to the Bylaws.

These Bylaws were revised, voted on, and passed by a three-fourth (3/4) vote of the members present on March 20, 2023.

 

Approved by:

Barbara Rogers
President
Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association