Page 14 - Work Force October 2020

if it appears to be frivolous in nature, lacking sufficient substantiation or alleging conduct for which penalty is not appropriate. If the Judicial Board determines that there is probable cause to believe that the complaint,
if proven, would sustain a finding of misconduct, the Judicial Board shall then issue formal Judicial Board charges against the member or officer setting forth the specific acts of misconduct and the penalties which may be imposed. These formal Judicial Board charges shall be accompanied by a written statement that the individual charged has a right to object by filing an answer [by certified mail] to the Judicial Board, with a copy to all other parties, within ten (10) days of receipt of the formal Judicial Board charges. The Judicial Board shall notify the President of the Statewide Association who shall determine the extent to which the Statewide Association shall participate in the prosecution of the formal Judicial Board charge. In those instances where the President of the Statewide Association is charged with misconduct, the Judicial Board shall notify the Board of Directors of the Statewide Association who shall make this determination.
(7) Within thirty (30) days of the receipt of an answer to the formal Judicial Board charges, the Judicial Board shall appoint one or more members to hold a hearing on the formal Judicial Board charges. The hearing shall be conducted according to the rules of procedure promulgated by the Judicial Board. Each party may be represented by an attorney and shall be given the right to present witnesses and other evidence [in] on his or her own behalf and to cross-examine witnesses presented by the other parties. A verbatim record shall not be required; however, any party to the proceedings may request a stenographic transcript of the proceedings provided that the party requesting
a transcript bear the cost of such record and furnish copies to the Judicial Board and to the other parties.
(8) – (14) Text Remains the Same.
(b) Trusteeships.
(1) Any Local or Unit may be placed in trusteeship
for any reason deemed good and sufficient by the President or by the Board of Directors of the Statewide Association. Charges against any Local or Unit may
also be deemed charges against the individual officers of the Local or Unit. In such case, all charges will be heard together before the Judicial Board. The President or the Board of Directors of the Statewide Association must serve the Local, Unit, and/or officers thereof with charges [by certified mail, return receipt requested], with a copy to the Judicial Board within ten (10) days
of placing the Local or Unit in trusteeship. Such charges must contain a clear and concise statement of facts constituting the basis for placing the Local or Unit in trusteeship and must be accompanied by a written statement that the Local, Unit or individual officers charged have a right to object by filing an answer
[by certified mail] to the Judicial Board within ten
(10) days after receipt of the charges. If no answer is received, the charges shall be deemed admitted.
(2) – (4) Text Remains the Same.
[(c) Certified Mail/Headquarters.
Any certified mail requirements applying to
Judicial Board mailings shall not apply to materials sent between the Judicial Board and the Statewide President, Executive Vice President, Secretary or Treasurer, in their official capacity at their CSEA Headquarters office. All such materials shall be hand-
delivered directly to the officer’s respective office
in Headquarters. Such delivery shall be docketed to the applicable Judicial Board case file, with notation as to the date and time of delivery, the name and title of the person making the delivery and the name and title of the person receiving the materials so delivered.]
Section 4. PENALTIES. Text Remains the Same. Section 5. APPEALS.
(a) Any person or entity believing himself/herself
aggrieved by a formal decision of the Judicial Board may appeal the formal decision by filing an objection with the Appeals Committee of the Board of Directors of the statewide Association within fifteen (15) days of the receipt of the formal decision of the Judicial Board. The objections must be sent [certified mail, return receipt requested,] to the Board of Directors, Appeals Committee, 143 Washington Avenue, Albany, New
York 12210. The objections must state with specificity, all portions of the Judicial Board decision to which objection is taken, including the specific questions of procedure, fact, law or policy to which objections are taken and the reasons therefor.
(b) Text Remains the Same.
Section 6. REINSTATEMENT OF MEMBERSHIP. Text Remains the Same.
EXPLANATION: This proposal was submitted with the following justification:
“With the wide and acceptable use of electronic submissions across all parts of the Association and across all Courts throughout the state and country,
the use of certified mail is costly, burdensome and unnecessary. The current certified mail requirements are frequently ignored in practice by members filing Judicial Board complaints and only adds costs to CSEA as CSEA complies with the certified mail requirements.”
“Often, the Board receives complaints via email that have been scanned in and are completely legible and acceptable as originals. There is simply no need to keep this archaic requirement. Further, this proposal rids the Board procedures of certified mail just like the delegates did for the election protest process.”
“In addition, this proposal makes two housekeeping (typos) corrections.”
The Committee supports this proposal for the reasons set forth by the proposer.
FOR THE PURPOSE OF PLACING THIS AMENDMENT BEFORE THE DELEGATES, ON BEHALF OF THE COMMITTEE, I MOVE THE ADOPTION OF THIS AMENDMENT. THE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS A “YES” VOTE.
Proposal 13
The following By-Laws proposal was submitted by Mary E. Sullivan, Statewide President:
ARTICLE VI – COMMITTEES
Section 1. Text Remains the Same.
Section 2. BOARD COMMITTEES
(a) Text Remains the Same.
(b) DIRECTOR’S BUDGET COMMITTEE. The
Director’s Budget Committee shall consist of six (6) members of the Board of Directors, three (3) from the State Division and three (3) from the Local Government Division, to be elected by the Board of Directors at its first organizational meeting. [Such committee shall meet not later than ten (10) days after the President
shall have furnished the proposed budget to the members of the Board of Directors.] Such committee shall elect its own Chairperson, examine the [such] proposed budget, and report its recommendations for the adoption or modification thereof to the members of the Board of Directors at least [three (3)] ten (10) days prior to the [November] annual budget meeting of the Board of Directors. The committee shall, from time-to- time, make such further recommendations relating to the budget as it may deem advisable.
Rest of Article Remains the Same.
EXPLANATION: This proposal was submitted with the following justification:
“This proposal is housekeeping to conform the By-Laws to what the practice is regarding the annual budget.”
The Committee supports this proposal for the reason set forth by the proposer.
FOR THE PURPOSE OF PLACING THIS AMENDMENT BEFORE THE DELEGATES, ON BEHALF OF THE COMMITTEE, I MOVE THE ADOPTION OF THIS AMENDMENT. THE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS A “YES” VOTE.
*******
All correspondence regarding proposed amendments
to the Statewide Constitution or Statewide By-Laws received by the Committee as of the constitutional deadline of May 15, 2020, have been reviewed.
The Committee wishes to acknowledge and thank former Committee members Casey Walpole, Jarvis “Tim” Brown, Cindy Stiles, Stanley Bergman, and Colleen Laven for their service.
The Committee also wishes to thank its officer liaison, staff advisor and coordinator for their guidance, attention and hard work.
Respectfully submitted,
Shana Davis, Chair, Region 4 Jennifer Colon, Region 1
Alfred Lane, Region 2
Kathi Bayer, Region 3
Cindy Gallicchio, Region 4
Jim Jackson, Region 5
Denise Szymura, Region 6 Kathy Zabinski, Retiree Division Richard Bebo, Officer Liaison Daren J. Rylewicz, Staff Advisor Amee Camp, Staff Coordinator
14 The Work Force
October 2020