According to current Minnesota state law, it is illegal for neighborhood organizations to do open elections, where the people who live in the neighborhood are allowed to come to the annual meeting and vote, the way you can go and vote for, say, president.
House File 3445 allows (but does not require) neighborhood organizations to open voting at annual meetings to those who live in the neighborhood These are some problems caused for neighborhood organizations by the current Minnesota non-profit membership statute: 1) It is much harder to vote for president of your neighborhood organization than for president of the United States 2) the vast majority - probably around 85% - of all Minneapolis neighborhood groups elect their board members in an open election, where the people who live in their neighborhoods can come to the annual meeting and vote for the board. These Minneapolis neighborhood organizations, by saying that the people living in their neighborhoods may come and vote at the annual meetings, are committing illegal acts. 3) Many neighborhood groups are spending hours and hours of volunteer time, and/or shelling out big bucks for legal help, attempting to bring their bylaws into compliance with state law. Despite these efforts, many groups are still out of compliance 4) Neighborhood groups holding open elections are vulnerable to legal action by those unhappy with election results If House File 3445 passes: Neighborhood organizations will be legally able to have open elections. They can allow anybody who lives in the neighborhood to have the right to vote. It will be far easier for neighborhood groups to be in compliance with state laws If House File 3445 passes, neighborhood groups will still have the option of conducting their elections under the current restrictive non-profit guidelines. The bill also does not force any type of membership on organizations - again, neighborhoods may have either open or restricted membership. No state law should be dictating to any neighborhood organization how to run their annual meetings. And this bill does not. On the contrary, it will stop the state of Minnesota from telling 85% of Minneapolis neighborhood groups that they are electing their boards illegally. This bill is permissive only. No neighborhood organization is required to change anything about how it elects its board. It simply adds the option that neighborhood groups may legally, if they choose, vote for their boards in an open election. Jay Clark Cooper P.S. I have been assured by both the house author of the bill, Jean Wagenius, and nonpartisan house legal staff that this bill is permissive only. _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
