SPDC By-LAws
BY-LAWS OF THE DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE
TOWN OF STONY POINT, ROCKLAND COUNTY, NEW YORK
​
PRINCIPLES
We, the Democrats of the Town of Stony Point, united in common purpose hereby rededicate ourselves to the principles which have historically sustained our Party. Recognizing that the vitality of the Nation's political institutions have been the foundation of its enduring strength, we acknowledge that a political party which wishes to lead must listen to those it would lead, a party which asks for the people’s trust must prove that it trusts the people and a party which hopes to call forth the best the nation can achieve must embody the best of the Nation’s heritage and traditions.
​
What we seek for our nation and our town, we hope for all people individual freedom in the framework of a just society, political freedom in the framework of meaningful participation by all its citizens. Bound by the United States Constitution, aware that a party must be responsive to be worthy of responsibility, we pledge ourselves to open honest endeavor and to the conduct of public affairs in a manner worthy of a society of free people.
​
Upon these principles do we establish and adopt this set of by-laws of the Democratic Party of the Town of Stony Point, New York.
​
ARTICLE I
COMPOSITION OF THE TOWN COMMITTEE
Section I. The Democratic Town Committee of the Town of Stony Point, Rockland County, New York (“Town Committee”), shall consist of all the County Committee people from the Election Districts of said Town, duly elected as prescribed by law and the Rules of the Democratic Committee of Rockland County and amendments thereto.
ARTICLE II
OFFICERS AND THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES
Section I. The Officers of the Town Committee shall consist of the following: Town Chairperson and Associate Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Treasurer, Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary and Representative to the County Executive Committee. These officers shall be elected by the Town Committee at its organization meeting and serve until the election of their successors at the next following organization meeting. Such officers shall be enrolled Democrats residing in the Town of Stony Point. The officers of Associate Chairperson, Vice chairperson and Representative to the County Executive Committee must be Town Committee persons. No elected officials shall serve as an Officer while in office.
Section II. Death, declination, disqualification, resignation, or total disability of an officer shall create a vacancy in his or her office. The Town Chairperson may fill such vacancy by appointment of a temporary “acting” replacement, to act until the first Town Committee meeting convened after such vacancy occurs and the call for such meeting must include notification of election to fill such vacancy; provided, however, that in the event of a vacancy shall occur for the office of Town Chairperson, a special meeting for the purpose of filling that office shall be convened not later than twenty (20) days after such vacancy shall occur. Any officer may resign with the condition that such resignation is to take effect upon election of a successor.
Section III. The Town Chairperson shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the Town Committee. As such he or she shall preside at all meetings of the Town Committee and shall be responsible for designating the time and place and for determining the agenda for all regular and special meetings of the Town Committee or its Executive Board. He or she shall discharge all such duties as may be assigned to him or her by the Town Committee in addition to the duties stipulated by the Rules of the Democratic Organization of Rockland County, subject only to the limitations which may be established by the Town Committee or its executive Board. The Town Chairperson shall, between sessions of these bodies, act for the Democratic Organization of the Town of Stony Point as his or her judgment indicates and shall report all such actions to the Executive Board at its next meeting. The Town Chairperson shall have the right to disburse unencumbered Town Committee funds up to a limit of One Hundred ($100.00) Dollars per incident without the prior approval of the Town Committee. Such disbursements shall not exceed Two hundred ($200.00) Dollars between meetings of the full Town Committee. None of these funds noted above may be disbursed to a candidate for public office, nor may be deemed cumulative in nature.
In addition, when authorized by the Committee in advance, the Town Chairperson shall have the right to disburse up to One Thousand ($1,000.00) Dollars in unencumbered Committee funds during the course of a campaign for Town officers.
​
Section IV. The Town Associate Chairperson shall serve as Acting Town Chairperson in the event of the absence, effective resignation or disability of both the Town Chairperson and Town Vice-Chairperson, and shall in addition have such other duties and obligations and act in such
capacity, as the Town Chairperson, Executive Committee or Town Committee shall determine. The Town Associate Chairperson shall attend all meetings of the Rockland County Executive Committee and shall cast the vote of the Town Chairperson in the event of the absence of said Town Chairperson.
Section V. The Vice-Chairperson shall serve as Acting Town Chairperson in the event of the absence, effective resignation or disability of the Town Chairperson and shall, in addition, have such other duties and obligations and act in such capacity as the Town Chairperson, Executive Board or Town Committee shall determine. The Town Vice-Chairperson shall serve as liaison to all Town Democratic Clubs, including, but not limited to the “Women’s Division.”
Section VI. The Treasurer shall receive and disburse the monies of the Town Committee and shall keep an account of receipts and disbursements. He or she shall make a written report to the Executive Committee bi-annually on or about January 1st and July 1st of each year showing receipts and expenditures for the preceding six (6) months. The Treasurer shall also render a current financial report upon request of any officer of the Town Committee at any meeting of the Town Committee or its Executive Board. The Treasurer will disburse all funds by check. All checks will require two (2) signatures – one must be that of the Treasurer, the second will be that of the Town Chairperson, or in his or her absence, the Town Vice Chairperson. The treasurer shall serve as Chairperson of the Budget and finance Committee. He or she shall keep him or herself aware of all State mandated duties and he or she shall also inform candidates for office of same.
Section VII. The Recording Secretary shall keep written minutes of the Town Committee and the Executive Board in a regular book and the same shall contain the record of those present and the business transacted at every meeting.
Section VIII. The Corresponding Secretary shall, upon instructions from the Town Chairperson, notify all members of meetings and shall be responsible for all outgoing correspondence, upon instruction from the Town Chairperson. He or she shall deliver a copy of these rules and of the County Rules to each new member of the Town Committee, hereafter elected.
Section IX. The Representative to the Rockland County Democratic Executive Committee shall represent and act as liaison from the Stony Point Democratic Town Committee to the Rockland County Executive Committee.
ARTICLE III
MEETINGS
Section I. An Organizational meeting of the Town Committee shall be held within twenty (20) days after the Primary Election of the members of said Town Committee, but prior to the organizational meeting of the County Committee for the purpose of electing a Town Chairperson and all other Town Committee Officers. This meeting shall be called to meet at a time and place designated by the Town Chairperson or, in the event of his or her absence, by the Town Vice-Chairperson.
​
Section II. The Town Committee shall meet at regular meetings a minimum of four (4) times annually, with no more than one hundred twenty (120) days elapsing between meetings. The meetings shall be held at a time and place to be designated by the Town Chairperson or, in the event of his or her absence or incapacity, by the Town Vice-Chairperson.
Section III. Special meetings may be called by the Town Chairperson at his or her discretion in the event he or she deems it necessary to do so. The Town Chairperson shall also call Special Meetings upon receipt of a petition signed by at least fifteen (15%) percent, or if such percentage be less than five (5), by five (5) members of the Town Committee. Such a request shall be hand delivered to the Town Chairperson. The petition must state the purpose for which the meeting is requested. Such a meeting must be called within fifteen (15) days after receipt of the petition by the Town Chairperson.
Section IV. Notice of meetings shall be sent by electronic communication to all Committeepersons and their Alternates of Record within seven (7)- days prior to the date of the meeting. Meetings can be held in-person or by online meeting platforms. The notice shall include a statement indicating whether said meeting is "Regular" or "Special" and note all items which will be discussed at said meeting. Such a statement of purpose or agenda shall preclude the conduct of business other than that contained in the notice or agenda. This does not preclude discussion of a new idea or business, but this new idea or business cannot be brought forward for a vote at said meeting.
Section V. The Town Chairperson, at his or her discretion, or the Town Committee, by majority vote, may call for a meeting of the Executive Board of the Town Committee. The composition of the Town Executive Board is defined in ARTICLE VII, Section I.
ARTICLE IV
CONDUCT OF MEETINGS
Section I. The rules contained in "ROBERTS' RULES OF ORDER, REVISED" shall govern the Town Committee in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with the by-laws of the Committee.
​
Section II. No meeting of the full Town Committee shall be held, nor business conducted, unless at least thirty (30%) percent of the incumbent committee persons are present in person or by proxy.
Section III. No election of officers, nominations for candidates, change of By-Laws, or reversal of business previously passed shall be allowed to take place at any meeting unless specifically stated in the Notice of said meeting to be sent to each Committee person and Alternate.
ARTICLE V
VOTING
Section I. Each Committee person shall be entitled to one vote on all matters which come before the Town Committee. A Committee person may vote by proxy by filing of said proxy with the Chairperson or Secretary, duly signed and witnessed, providing the proxy is held by a registered democratic. No one may vote more than one proxy at each meeting.
Only Committee persons may vote on Committee matters. The Chairperson, if a Non-Committee person, may vote to make or break a tie.
​
Section II. All votes shall be made by voice, show of hands or roll call.
​
Section III. A majority vote shall be required to elect an officer or designate a candidate.
If no person receives a majority vote on the first ballot, the results shall be announced and
a second ballot with the same persons shall be held immediately. If no person by then has received a majority, then that person who received the fewest votes and anyone receiving no votes shall be disqualified from receiving votes on the next ballot. Additional Ballots shall be taken as necessary, each time dropping that person who received the fewest votes, until one person receives a majority.
If on any one ballot the fewest number of votes were received by two or more persons such tie shall be disposed of as follows:
(A) The tied low-vote persons shall be disqualified only if there will still remain two or more qualified persons on the ensuing ballot.
(B) If all persons· receive the same number of votes, none shall be disqualified at such ballot.
(C) If a disqualification of the tied low-vote persons would leave only one remaining son, none shall be disqualified at such ballot.
ARTICLE VI
ALTERNATE COMMITTEEPERSON
Section I. Each duly elected Town Committee person shall submit an enrolled voter of the Democratic Party from the Town of Stony Point as an alternate Committeeperson.
Section II. The Corresponding Secretary shall keep a list of all alternates and shall include same, on the mailing list for meetings.
Section III. It shall be the duty of the Alternate to assist the regular Committeeperson in all aspects of his or her work.
Section IV. Each duly elected Town Committeeperson must submit for approval his or her candidate for Alternate no later than sixty (60) days after his or her admission to the Town Committee.
ARTICLE VII
COMPOSITION OF EXECUTIVE BOARD – RIGHTS AND DUTIES
​
Section I. The Executive Board of the Town Committee shall consist of the following: Chairperson, Associate Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Treasurer, Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, Representative to the County Executive Committee and the Area Chairperson, elected as provided in ARTICLE VIII, Section I, from each of the following three (3) geographical areas of the Town of Stony Point:
Area I: Districts 1, 2, 3
Area II. Districts 4, 5, 6, 8
Area III. Districts 7, 9, 10, 11,12,13
​
In the event that any of the aforesaid election districts shall be split and a new district thereby created, such new District shall, for purposes of this ARTICLE, be included within the geographic area within which it was originally situated.
​
Section II. In the deliberations of the Town Executive Board each of the aforesaid Officers of the Town Committee shall be entitled to cast one (1) vote, and each Area Chairperson shall be entitled to cast one (1) vote. No member of the Town Executive Board shall vote by proxy.
Section III. The Executive Board of the Town Committee shall, between meetings of the town
Committee, exercise the duties and functions of the Town Committee in all matters not reserved by these rules or by law for action by the full Town Committee, such as the nomination of candidates for public office or party position. A quorum of the Executive Board for the transaction of business shall be a majority of the members thereof, including a majority of the officers of the Town Committee. A majority vote of the members present and entitled to vote, shall decide all matters before the Executive Board.
Section IV. The officers of the Executive Board shall be the duly elected officers of the Town Committee and they shall serve thereon in their respective capacities. The Recording Secretary shall keep minutes of each session of the Executive Committee so as to include a record of the business transacted and the attendance of all members. These minutes and attendance record shall be reported to the full Town Committee at the next regular meeting of the latter.
​
ARTICLE VIII
AREA CHAIRPERSON-ELECTION, DUTIES
AND REMOVAL PROCESS
Section I. The Area Chairperson shall be one of the Committee persons from an Election District within the area designated, elected by a majority vote of the Committeepersons from the Election District within said area. Officers of the Town committee shall not be eligible to be elected as Area Chairperson. Election of said Area Chairperson shall take place either in caucus of the Area Committeepersons at the organizational meeting, or in a separate area meeting held on five (5) days written notice within thirty (30) days after the organizational meeting. The Area Chairperson so elected shall serve until election of successor as herein provided. The first election of Area Chairperson, pursuant to these rules, shall be held within thirty (30) days of the effective date of these rules.
Section II. Each Area Chairperson shall keep the involved Committeepersons aware of what is going on between the regular meetings of the full Committee and to give full disclosure of the meetings of the Executive Board. If a meeting is to be held, he or she will inform the own Chairperson, Associate Chairperson and Vice Chairperson in advance of all such meetings.
Section III. The Area Chairperson is to make him or herself aware of all problems and issues within his or her area and to bring forth recommendations with respect to these problems to the Executive Board.
Section IV. Each Area Chairperson shall be responsible for all political activities in his or her area and will have such other duties and obligations as the Town Chairperson shall determine.
Section V. Any Area Chairperson may be removed for malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance within his or her area. Upon charges being brought by five (5) fellow Committeepersons within said area, a special meeting of said area shall be called by the Town Chairperson to consider the validity of such charges against the Area Chairperson, and at which time a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Committeepersons within this area must vote for recall.
Section VI. Copies of the above-mentioned charges must be signed by the involved Committeepersons and hand delivered to the Town Chairperson and Area Chairperson.
ARTICLE IX
STANDING COMMITTEE
Section I. The Town Chairperson Shall appoint and remove the Chairperson of all Standing and Special Committees, except Budget and Finance, and upon consultation with the respective Chairperson, shall appoint and remove members of the several Committees. The Chairpersons of Standing or Special committees must be members of the Town Committee, but members of such
Committees need not be Town Committeepersons. The Town Chairperson shall be a member, Ex-Officio, of each Standing and Special Committee.
There shall be five (5) Standing Committees, each consisting of a Chairperson and not more than ten (10) members. These Standing Committees shall be:
A) Program Committee -- Whose duty it shall be to develop activities aimed at interesting individuals in the Democratic Party, educating political workers and providing opportunities for social events and entertainment. Where such activities involve the raising of funds, the Treasurer shall be advised.
B) Liaison Committee – Whose duty it shall be to represent the entire Democratic Party in Stony Point and keep it informed as to the thinking of the Town Board and County Legislature, and vice versa.
C) Election Day Committee -- Whose duty it shall be to plan
Election Day activities and to see that polls are covered by inspectors, watchers and other workers as needed.
D) Public Relations Committee – Whose duty it shall be to gather
and distribute all information relative and pertinent to Committee business after approval of the Town Chairperson. The Committee shall keep a scrapbook of news-paper and other clippings.
E) Budget and Finance Committee -- Whose duty it shall be to devise, direct and formulate operating budgets for the Town Committee.
The Chairperson of this Standing Committee shall be the treasurer of the Town Committee. All fund-raising activity shall be under the direct supervision of this Standing Committee. In addition, this Standing Committee shall formulate all campaign budgets. This budget must be approved by the full Town Committee prior to any disbursements. Over-expenditures in any campaign which have not been approved in advance by the full Town Committee will be billed to the Candidate for whom the expenses were incurred. Each candidate will be required to sign a statement that he or she is aware of this provision and willing to accept the pending liability.
Section II. All Standing 'Committee Chairpersons must be appointed within sixty (60) days after the election of the Town Chairperson.
ARTICLE X
NOMINATIONS FOR TOWN OFFICES
Section I. Democratic Party nominations of candidates for Town offices shall be made by Primary Election in accordance with the provisions of Article Six of the election law of the State of New York.
Section II. Designation of the Democratic candidates, subject to the aforementioned primary process, shall be made at a meeting of the Town Committee called for that purpose on proper notice, which meeting shall be held no later than the eighth (8th) Tuesday preceding such primary election. Designating petitions for such party candidates shall thereafter be filed as required by law.
​
Section III. The Town Committee may by a two-thirds vote of Committee Members provided a quorum is present, chose to designate candidates for Town Board by a town caucus conforming to the Dates, Laws, and Provisions of the New York State Board of Elections determined each year and published in the New York State Board of Elections Political Calendar.
ARTICLE XI
NOMINATIONS FOR OTHER THAN TOWN OFFICES
Section I. Designation of those Democratic candidates who are subject to the primary process as outlined in those applicable portions of the election laws shall be made at a meeting of the Stony Point Town Committee called for that purpose on prior notice not later than the eighth (8th) Tuesday preceding such primary election. Designating petitions for such party candidates shall thereafter be filed as required by law.
ARTICLE XII
CLUBS
Section I. No corporation, association or other group of persons in the town of Stony Point shall use the name “DEMOCRATIC” or “DEMOCRAT” in its title or name unless such club shall have conformed to the requirements of ARTICLE VI of the Rules of the Rockland County Democratic Committee, as amended.
Section II. Each Democratic Club or Division, etc., is encouraged to furnish the Town Chairperson with a schedule of all meetings and other activities of the club and with a copy of the minutes of each business meeting.
​
Section III. Each Area Chairperson is expected to attend a minimum of three fourth (3/4) of the regular meetings of said clubs.
ARTICLE XIII
LOANS
Section I. No loans will be entered into without the prior approval of the full Town Committee.
​
ARTICLE XIV
AMENDMENTS
Section I. These rules may be amended by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Town Committee at a
meeting at which there is a quorum, provided a copy of the proposed amendment shall be sent to each Town Committeeperson with the notice of said meeting.
[Revised 3/2022 by K.J. CUCOLO]