“Neighborhood Planning Unit W (www.npu-w.org) will hold its elections for 2020 Elected Representatives and Officers on November 20, 2019 in a meeting that shall start at 7:30 PM at the Village Church, 1231 Glenwood Avenue, SE. These elections should have been held at the October 23, 2019 meeting of NPU-W, but since adequate notice was not given the body agreed that the elections shall be held in November.
Under the procedures adopted by NPU-W for the conduct of this election, which can be found here, all individuals who wish to stand for election as a Representative must submit their Candidacy Application no later than 7:30 PM on November 18, 2019. The Candidacy Application can be found here.
This form must be delivered to the Vice-Chair of NPU-W, who is responsible for conducting NPU-W elections either electronically by email to edward.gilgor@gmail.com, fax to 404-920-3433 or hard copy to Edward Gilgor, 1388 May Ave SE, Atlanta, GA 30316 at least two business days prior to the election. The form must be complete and accurate when submitted. If the form is not submitted before the election, the candidate will not be allowed to stand for election. If the form submitted is not accurate at the time of election, then the election of that candidate will be void and a new election will take place.
NPU-W is made up of three specific geographic areas. Eight (8) Members shall be elected from each of the following geographic areas: 1) East Atlanta; 2) Grant Park & Oakland; and 3) Ormewood Park, Benteen Park, Boulevard Heights, Custer-McDonough-Guice, & Woodland Hills.
“Each resident, meaning any person 18 years of age or older whose primary place of residence is within the NPU, or any corporation, organization, institution or agency which owns property or has a place of business or profession shall have one vote in an election of the Members.” (City of Atlanta Ordinance No. 1988-47, Sec. 1, 11/8/88).
Every resident wishing to cast a ballot in the election shall sign the NPU-W Elector sheet in order to receive a ballot.
If there are eight or less candidates for a given geographic area, then those candidates will be deemed elected. If there are more than eight qualified candidates seeking to represent a given geographic district, the elections shall be held by secret ballot.
Each candidate shall be given the opportunity to address the electors for a period of not more than 2 minutes, unless the electors unanimously wish to grant the candidates more time to speak. However, under no circumstances may the candidates speak for more than 5 minutes.
The Vice-Chair or their designee will determine the order in which the candidates will be given the opportunity to speak by drawing names out of a hat. Each candidate will be allowed to speak without interruption until his or her time has expired. No questions shall be permitted.
The votes shall be immediately counted and the results shall be announced as soon as they are known.
As soon as practical following the election of the representatives, an election of the Chair, Vice-Chair, and Secretary shall take place.
If anyone has any questions regarding the election process, they should contact the Vice Chair of NPU-W, Edward Gilgor, at (404) 483-1300 or edward.gilgor@gmail.com.
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NPU-W elections are governed by Article II of the NPU-W Bylaws which states the following:
ARTICLE 2: NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING UNIT W ELECTED MEMBERS
A. Eligibility to Serve as an NPU-W Elected Member
Any person 18 years of age or older is eligible to be elected to serve as an NPU-W Elected Member (“Member”) on the condition that the individual’s primary place of residence is within NPU-W, they own a business with a valid City business license, the primary location of which is within NPU-W, or the individual owns real property within the geographical boundaries of NPU-W. Only one individual may rely on a given business or a given parcel of real property.
One or more of the following documents shall be used to establish proof of eligibility: current Driver’s License, current property tax bill, or a current business City of Atlanta Occupational Tax Certificate.
B. Election of Members
“Each resident, meaning any person 18 years of age or older whose primary place of residence is within the NPU, or any corporation, organization, institution or agency which owns property or has a place of business or profession shall have one vote in an election of the Members.” (City of Atlanta Ordinance No. 1988-47, Sec. 1, 11/8/88).
During the general September meeting, NPU-W shall adopt times and locations for the elections of the Members and the method(s) to be employed in the election. There shall be a minimum of twenty (20) days notice of the election. Notice may be provided by in the Porch Press, on neighborhood e-mail lists or web sites, at neighborhood association meetings, or by whatever means the NPU deems appropriate.
The elections shall be held in during the month of October in the year prior to the Member’s term of office. The NPU-W Vice-Chair, or the Vice-Chair’s designee, shall administer all elections.
There shall be twenty-four (24) Members of NPU-W. Eight (8) Members shall be elected from each of the following Geographic Areas: 1) East Atlanta; 2) Grant Park & Oakland; and 3) Ormewood Park, Benteen Park, Boulevard Heights, Custer-McDonough-Guice, & Woodland Hills.
Any Member positions not filled during the October elections, or vacated during the calendar year, shall be filled by (i) the presiding officer of NPU-W making a request to the presiding officer of the relevant community association to recommend an appointee, or, (ii) if after twenty (20) days of the request being made a response has not been provided, the Executive Board shall recommend an appointee. The election of the recommended appointee to become a Member shall occur at the next general meeting of NPU-W by a motion from the presiding officer.
C. General Meetings
All Elected Members shall attend all general NPU-W meetings AND all committee meetings to which they are assigned.
There shall be a roll call of all Elected Members at the beginning of each general meeting.
The general meetings of NPU-W shall occur monthly, unless otherwise provided for in these bylaws. The meeting time and place shall be established by the Executive Board of NPU-W, and shall be announced to the recognized community associations as well as to other interested persons and/or entities at the beginning of the calendar year.
Changes to the meeting time and place, as necessary, shall be recommended by the Executive Board and shall be presented to the eligible voters for approval. Such changes shall be presented at the general meeting prior to the meeting for which the time and date change is being requested.
Meetings shall be conducted in a conversational style, the specific format of which will be at the discretion of the presiding officer. However, whatever format is selected must comport with the appropriate standard of due process. If in the opinion of the presiding officer, or if there is a 2/3 vote in favor, then the meeting can be conducted according to the most current version of Robert’s Rules revised. The same method of decision-making will apply to changing the meeting back to a conversational style.
Rules of Conduct
The Executive Board shall develop rules of conduct to be presented to the membership for adoption at the beginning of each calendar year. The rules of conduct shall apply to all Members, attendees, visitors and guests at NPU-W general meetings, meetings of all Standing committees and meetings of all Ad-Hoc committees.
Discipline
The failure of any Member to attend two (2) consecutive general NPU-W or committee meetings, or three (3) general or committee meetings within a six (6) month period shall result in automatic removal of the Member for the remainder of their term, unless the absence is excused in advance by the presiding officer of the meeting in question.
F. Voting
1. Elected Representatives
All elected NPU-W Members are eligible to vote at general meetings. All elected NPU-W Members who have been assigned to a committee are eligible to vote at that committee meeting.
2. At-Large Voting Rights
The following individuals are eligible to vote at general meetings:
If an individual has attended Three (3) general NPU-W meetings within the preceding Twelve (12) Calendar Months then that individual may vote at general NPU-W meetings starting on that third meeting as long as the individual meets one of the requirements listed below and If an individual has attended Three (3) meetings of a given NPU-W committee, within the preceding Twelve (12) Calendar Months, then that individual may vote at that committee starting on that third meeting as discussed below,
a. Primary Residence.
That individual’s primary place of residence is located within NPU-W.
b. Direct ownership of real property.
That individual owns real property within NPU-W, but only one person may vote for a given piece of property, and that person must own at least 51% of the property; and,
c. Representative of a Fictive Legal Entity
Any person serving as an agent of any fictive legal entity, be it a corporation, a limited liability company, or a partnership which owns real property or has a place of business or profession within NPU-W, if any agent of any fictive legal entity has attended Three (3) meetings of NPU-W within the preceding Twelve (12) Calendar Months on behalf of that legal entity. An agent of any fictive legal entity must identify the entity on whose behalf the agent is attending the meeting by entering the name of the entity in the “affiliation” section of the sign in sheet. Failure to properly indicate the entity will result in the entity not being able to count that meeting as one of the three required for voting rights. An individual can only represent a single entity at a given meeting.
However, the following limitations on imposed: Only one agent is eligible to vote for a given entity. If an entity has any ownership interest in any other entities, then only one agent is allowed to vote on behalf of those multiple entities. The entity must have been existence for at least Six (6) months prior to any vote being cast. If two or more individuals or entities each own part of any other entities, either jointly or individually, then all entities with this type of common ownership shall be limited a single agent to vote on behalf of those entities. No individual may serve as agent of an entity if that individual meets the requirements of paragraph 1, but has not yet been to Three (3) NPU meetings.
Upon request, any persons seeking to vote on behalf of an entity must produce the articles of incorporation or organization of the entity, and proof of ownership of the entity, or proof that the right to vote on behalf of that entity has been assigned to that individual.
NPU-W has the authority to further extend these limitations on fictive entities’ voting rights as it sees fit to maintain the integrity of its electoral process in the spirit of the language contained within this Section.
4. One Person – One Vote.
No individual, under any circumstance may cast more than one vote.
5. Verification of Voting Status.
The NPU-W Secretary or the presiding officer’s designee will verify voting status of any persons seeking to vote or stand for election either prior to the start of the meeting or whenever so requested by any person present at that NPU meeting.
6. No proxy voting.
A voting member must make all votes in person.
7. Recording of Votes
All NPU-W votes shall be recorded in the minutes. All votes shall be recorded as follows: 1) The vote of the Twenty-Four (24) NPU-W Elected Members; 2) The votes of all others eligible to vote; and 3) The combined totals of the two preceding votes.
8. Termination of Voting Rights
Any resident who is eligible to vote at general NPU-W meetings or NPU-W Committee meetings, and who has filed with the designated authority his or her intent to form a campaign committee or to raise funds for election to any City, County, State or Federal elected office shall have all voting privileges temporarily suspended for the duration of their campaign.
If elected to any City, County, State or Federal office, the eligible member will be deemed to have resigned effective as of the date of their election and their position may be filled, as provided for in these by-laws.
NPU-W - City of Atlanta 