BYLAWS
OF THE
West County Democratic Club

Article I
Name

The name of this organization shall be West County Democratic Club, herein after
referred to as WCDC is comprised of the following: The cities of El Cerrito, Pinole, Richmond,
San Pablo, Hercules; and the unincorporated areas of El Sobrante, Kensington,
North Richmond, Montalvin Manor, Tara Hills, Rodeo, Port Costa and Crockett.

Article II
Purpose and Goals

Section 1.     The purpose of the WCDC is to promote participation in government and civic affairs.
 

Section 2.     The goals of this organization shall include, but not be limited to,
participating in the delegate and committee process at all levels of the Democratic Party;
identifying and promoting Democratic candidates; registering Democratic voters which includes
promoting fair and equal access to precinct sites; taking appropriate public stands on
issues relevant to our communities; and posing, supporting, and when necessary,
opposing legislation relevant to the community.

Section 3.     The goal of the WCDC shall include the development and training of new emerging
Democratic leaders.

Article III
Full Voting Membership and Dues

Section 1.     Full membership shall be open to all registered Democratic voters who work
or live in the West Contra Costa County and who support the purposes and goals as stated in
Article II.

Section 2.     Dues shall be paid annually for the following members: $20.00 for
individual general members, $5.00 for students, and $5.00 for seniors aged 55 or over.

Section 3.     A member is in good standing when his or her application has been
accepted and the dues have been paid according to Article III, Section 2.

Article IV
Non-Voting Associate Membership

(Individuals, Small Business, Corporate or Group)
Section 1.     Associate Membership shall be open to all individuals, small business and
corporations who support the purposes as stated in Article II.
Section 2. Dues:
a. Small Business- $125.00 per year.
b. Corporate- $250.00 per year. c.
Group- $125.00 per year.
d. Individual - $20.00

Section 3.    An associate member who does not live or work in the West Contra Costa County is
in good standing when his or her application has been accepted and the dues have been paid
according to Article IV, Section 2.

Section 4.    Applications for membership shall be on a form that states the goals and purposes
of the WCDC.

Section 5.    Associate members shall have limited privileges as defined below:
a. Will receive all notices of this organization.
b. May attend all meetings of the organization and participate in any
deliberations.
c. May not vote on any issues before the full membership.
d. May not hold an office.
e. May volunteer to participate in committees of this organization.

Article V
Meetings

Section 1.     The general membership meetings shall be held on the second Thursday of the month.

Section 2.     Special and emergency meetings may be called by the Chapter President, a majority
of the WCDC Executive Board, or by petition of those members in good standing.
Petitioners must consist of at least 10% of the total membership or a minimum of 9 members in
good standing.

Section 3.    Notice of the date, time, location, and the proposed agenda for all meetings
shall be mailed by the secretary of his or her designee at least 10 days prior to the date of the
meeting.

Section 4.    10% of the membership or a minimum of 9 members in good standing,
three of which must be executive officers, shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of
voting at any meeting of the general membership.

Section 5.     Unless otherwise specified in these bylaws, meetings shall be governed by
Roberts Rules of Order.

Article VI
Organization

This organization shall have the following organizational structure:

Section 1.     The Executive Board:
The Executive Board shall meet monthly and exercise all its powers on the behalf of the
WCDC. It shall be composed of the following: officers duly elected by the membership or
appointed by the President to fill a vacancy; Chairpersons of all Standing Committees; and the
immediate past president. The Executive Board shall develop an annual budget for the fiscal
year. The fiscal year shall be defined as January 1 through December 31.

Section 2.     The WCDC shall be composed of all members in good standing. It shall
receive and decide and vote on all recommendations from the standing committees and
special committees, and the Executive Board.

Section 3.    Standing Committees:
a. Any of the following Standing Committees shall be established to advise and report
to the Executive Board at its monthly meetings and at general membership monthly
meetings:
(1) Issues & Legislation
(2) Youth Issues
(3) Special Events/Fundraising
(4) Political Organization; Candidate Search, Development and Endorsement; and
Voter Development
(5) Publicity/Public Relations
(6) Finance
(7) Membership
b. Standing Committee members and chairs of these committees shall be
appointed by the President of the WCDC with the concurrence of the
Executive Board no later than August of every year.
c. Additional Standing Committees may be formed by majority vote of the
members who attend a general meeting.
d. Members of a Standing Committee are required to attend Standing Committee
meetings; three consecutive absences of a Standing Committee meeting without a
valid excuse may subject that member to removal from the Standing Committee by
the Chair with concurrence of the Executive Board. Illness or temporary absences
from the county shall constitute a valid excuse.
e. Standing Committee Chairs or an alternate shall regularly attend Executive
Committee meetings.

Section 4.     Duties:
a. The Issues & Legislation Committee shall keep the membership informed on
significant issues and pending legislation, research legislation which needs to be
developed, and shall arrange for interaction with public office holders.
b. Youth Issues (To be defined by this committee).
c. The Special Events/Fundraising Committee shall plan, coordinate, and
implement fundraising subcommittees to execute specific events.
d. The Political Organization Committee shall be responsible for planning and organizing
grassroots political activities including voter registration, get-out- the-vote, precinct
organization, mailing list compilation and Democratic Club development.
The Candidate Search & Development Committee shall continuously search for,
identify and advise persons who would qualify as Democratic candidates for public
office. It shall also identify and promote Democratic candidates. This function is not to
be construed as an endorsement.
The Voter Development & Education Committee shall work with the Political
Organization Committee in an effort to register voters; promote citizenship as
a means to register voters; educate the general community about the political
process; and educate the general community about Democratic issues.
The Publicity/Public Relations Committee shall be responsible for planning and
coordinating public relations, Club newsletters; outreach to community constituencies.
Further, the committee shall also be responsible for all printed materials in consultation
with appropriate committees and approval of the Executive Committee.
e. The Finance Committee shall be responsible for the planning and oversight of the
annual budget and shall make recommendations for the management of SCLDC
assets. The Treasurer may be a member of this committee.
f. The Membership Committee shall be responsible for recruitment of new
members and for keeping a membership roster.
Section 5. Chartered Membership:
a. This organization qualifies as a chartered member of the Contra Costa County
Democratic Central Committee upon receipt of:
(1) A list of 20 members in good standing.
(2) Dues for at least 20 members in good standing.
(3) Notice of this organization's liaison for purposes of communication. b.
The annual dues to be a chartered member of the Contra Costa County
Democratic Central Committee will be paid from the WCDC treasury.
c. The WCDC shall operate autonomously although it is a chartered member of
the Contra Costa County Democratic Central Committee.

Article VII
Endorsement Procedure
(adopted 3.10.16)

Article VIII
Officers

No Elected Official shall be elected as an officer during their election year
 

Section 1.     President:
The term of the office of a President shall be set at two years. The President/Chair shall be
spokesperson for the Chapter. The President shall preside over all the general meetings of this
organization. The President shall participate as an ex-officio member of all committees, with the
power to vote in the event of a tie vote, and shall have such other powers and duties as may be
prescribed by the Executive Board, or by the bylaws, including the power to appoint committee
chairpersons and a liaison in consultation with the Executive Board.

Section 2.     Vice-President:
There shall be a Vice-President elected to serve a term of office of two years. The Vice- President
shall exercise the responsibilities of the President upon request of the President, and act in his/her
behalf in chairing general meetings.

Section 3.     Recording Secretary:
The Recording Secretary shall serve a term of two year and shall maintain correspondence as
directed. In addition, the Recording Secretary shall be responsible for the distribution of the
minutes and meeting notices, maintaining copies of all reports and documents pertaining to official
business involving this organization, as well as other duties that may be assigned by the
Chairperson. The Recording Secretary shall keep the official minutes and prepare a draft to
distribute at· the Executive Board and General Member Meetings for final approval.

Section 5.     Treasurer:
The Treasurer shall serve a term set at two years. The Treasurer shall be an ex-officio member
of the Finance Committee. Also, the Treasurer shall maintain custody of all funds received by
this organization, shall maintain a bank account for deposit of funds, and make all disbursements.
The Treasurer shall at each Executive Board meeting and at each regular meeting, submit a report
of all receipts and expenditures. The Treasurer will prepare and submit all legally required financial
reports.

Section 6.     Officer Accountability and Removal
Officers are required to attend all regularly called meetings; three consecutive absences of an
officer without a valid excuse may subject that officer to removal by majority vote of the members in
good standing in attendance during a general meeting. Illness or temporary absence from the county
shall constitute a valid excuse.
When removal is pending, the Executive Committee shall send written notification to the elected or
appointed member in question setting forth the reason(s) for the removal and the date of the
pending removal meeting. The officer in question shall receive a written notice, which states the
date of the removal meeting and the reasons for the pending removal. This officer shall have an
opportunity to make a statement prior to the vote for removal. Said person shall be given a
reasonable opportunity to appeal his or her removal.

Section 7.    Financial Oversight
a. Expenditures over the proposed and approved budget shall be voted on as
follows:
1. Checks written over the amount of $250.00 and under the amount of
$1,000.00 must receive approval of the Executive Board and must be
co-signed by the President and the Treasurer. Any expenditure over the
amount of$1,000.00 must receive approval by the general membership;
and when approved, must be co-signed by the President and the
Treasurer. If the President is not available, then the Vice President may
co-sign.
2. An annual internal audit is to be conducted by the Executive Board. The
auditing committee shall be appointed by the President.
All resignations from office shall be submitted to the Chair, or to the Executive Committee if
the Chair is resigning, within 30 days of the date the resignation is to take meeting.
Section 8. Executive Board Meeting Quorum:
A quorum for Executive Board meetings shall consist of 3 Standing Committee Chairs
and three WCDC Officers serving at that time.

Article IX
Elections

Section 1.     The President shall appoint an ad hoc nominating committee three months prior to
the election of officers.

Section 2.     The election of officers shall occur every other year during the month of July.

Section 3.     The terms of officers shall be set as follows: the President, Vice-President
Secretary and Treasurer shall be set at two years.

Section 4.     Any person wishing to have a vote in the WCDC shall be a full member in good
standing. Voting may be done in person, by written proxy, or mailed to the official WCDC
mailbox. If a ballot is mailed, it must be postmarked at least three working days prior to the
issue in question with the exception of Sundays and holidays.
Section 5.     The President will appoint a Sergeant-at-Arms, i f needed to keep order during
elections.

Section 6.     Voting shall be by secret ballot.

Section 7.     In case of a tie, a new vote will be taken immediately.

Section 8.     The election for each office shall be won by the candidate who receives a majority
of all votes cast for that office. If there is no candidate who receives a majority then the two (2)
candidates with the highest number of votes will be resubmitted to the membership.

Section 9.     An ad-hoc Election Committee shall be formed prior to each annual election in
order to conduct the elections. It shall consist of a minimum of 3 members in good
standing. This committee shall collect and submit nominations for each office; formulate the
ballots; count the ballots; and reports the results.

Article IX
Elections

Section 10.     Selection of representatives to the California Democratic Party (CDP) Pre-endorsing
Conferences (revised 2.11.16)
1. Club representatives shall be allocated as follows: one representative, resident in the
Assembly District and duly registered as a member of the Democratic Party, for each full
(not a fraction thereof) 20 members in good standing registered to vote in the Assembly
District who were listed on the roster submitted to the Contra Costa Democratic Party and
appropriate Regional Director of the CDP no later than July 1 of the year immediately prior
to the endorsing process.
2. For purposes of this Section:
a. Only members in good standing, who are registered Democrats, as of the July 1
deadline shall be included on the roster;
b. “Member in Good Standing” shall mean a member who’s dues are current, or have
been waived due to economic hardship;
c. The status of such members shall be certified by the Club’s President, Secretary
and Treasurer; and;
d. The Club’s representatives to any particular pre-endorsing conference be from the
roster described above and that the overall list of representatives to all
conferences be equally apportioned between men and women, to the extent
possible.
3. Said representatives shall be selected by majority vote of the membership in good
standing.

Article X
Amendments to the Bylaws

Section 1.     The President may select one or more persons from the membership to
periodically review and update the bylaws and make any recommendations for amendments.
Section 2.     Whenever practical, the membership should receive proposed changes to
these bylaws, in writing, at least two weeks before the meeting at which time they are to be
considered.
Section 3.     A change in the bylaws may be approved by the affirmative vote of two- thirds
of those voting at a properly called meeting and at which a quorum is known to be present.
--oOo--
 

West County Democratic Club
ENDORSEMENT PROCESS
(adopted March 10, 2016)

Criteria for WCDC Endorsement:
All Races (Federal/State Partisan/Non-Partisan/Local Races)
Candidates must be a registered Democrat and meet at least one of the following criteria:
• resident of West County.
• dues paying member of WCDC.
• exemplary record of supporting the purpose and goals of the WCDC.
Voting Eligibility
• Dues paying members in good standing who live in the jurisdiction and who have been in good standing
for 30 days prior to voting.
Endorsement Process
• Request candidate to complete endorsement questionnaire.
• Invite the candidate to a candidate forum or general membership meeting to respond to member
questions. Candidates will be interviewed by a quorum of at least 15 members.
• Endorsement voting to take place immediately following the candidate interviews.
• Voting members must be in good standing for a period of at least 30 days prior to voting.
Threshold for endorsement
• The endorsed candidate must receive the vote of 60% of voting members present at the endorsement
or general membership meeting.
• A single vote is taken with each voter choosing one of the eligible candidates or “no endorsement”.
• All votes are public per the Democratic National Committee (DNC) By-Laws