1. Composition

1a. The Publications Editorial Cooperative will consist of seven Metro DC DSA members in good standing:

• One member of the current MDC DSA Steering Committee, who shall be appointed by the Steering Committee.
• The term for this board member is one year.
• One member of MDC DSA's Administrative Committee (“AdCom”), who shall be appointed by the Administration Committee’s Steward.
• The term for this board member is one year.
• Five members in good standing elected by the Publications Board (“Board”).
• The term for these board members is one year. Board members will have the option to run again at the end of the term for one additional year. No Working Group (WG) member’s term may exceed two consecutive years.

1b. Officers

The Board shall elect at minimum two officers (Secretary and Treasurer).

• Additional officers (including, but not limited to a potential working group Chair) may be added as needed, following a vote of current board members in good standing.
• The Secretary shall be responsible for recording meeting notes and agendas, setting and sending calendar items, sharing and organizing key documents.
• The Treasurer shall be responsible for tracking, managing, and reporting on financial activity of working group funds and accounts.

Officers’ terms shall last one year, with the option to run again in their second term (if re-elected).

2. Responsibilities

2a. The Board will be responsible (in partnership with AdCom) for the following tasks:

• Scheduling and facilitating regular meetings (no less than one meeting per month) for the Board and WG members .
• On-boarding members into the Publications working group.
• Ensuring publication of the Weekly Update  on the chapter website and via email at a consistent and standardized time.
• Coordinating WG email account(s).
• Safeguarding admin access to Webflow accounts and managing editor access.
• Managing access to Action Network for both the internal WG and all-chapter access for Weekly Update distribution (access to specific all-chapter email will be restricted and provided in coordination with AdCom).
• Monitoring website traffic data and analytics for mdcdsa.org domains.
• Maintaining fundraising and sales portals.
• Running WG elections and ensuring compliance.
• Maintaining archives of Washington Socialist and the Weekly Update.
• Working with AdCom to ensure web domain licenses remain up to date.
• Maintaining a running ledger for all funding in the RED CACHE (i.e., restrictive funding) used to fund WG operations.
• Maintaining a running ledger of all votes recorded by the board, which shall be accessible to all WG members in good standing.
• Establishing and maintaining publishing and editorial guidelines for content in the Weekly Update and Washington Socialist.
• Safeguarding chapter logo, branding, and design tools.
• Publishing the names of the active Board members, date of the next Board election, and eligibility requirements in a manner accessible to all chapter members.
• Maintaining a list of WG members and status (i.e., good standing, or not).

2b. Individual Board members shall be responsible for the following:

• Attending regularly scheduled board meetings.
• Being an active and respectful member of the WG.
• Communicating openly and honestly with fellow comrades regarding WG goals and activities.
• Officers will be responsible for carrying out their duties in a timely fashion and to the best of their ability. When unable to perform their duties, it is the responsibility of the officer to find a substitute.

Adhering to the following code of conduct:

• Members will not bully or disparage other members to favor certain votes, editorials, articles, or updates.
• Members will not disparage other chapter members on social media or other public forums.
• Members will not make romantic or sexual advancements toward other members in this formation, or any auxillary formations.

3. Powers

The Board may vote via simple majority to:

• Spend earmarked funding from the RED CACHE.
• Implement new or existing fundraising strategies.
• Edit or remove articles and/or content on Washington Socialist and/or the Weekly Update.
• Create or modify standing editorial guidelines or guidance.
• Change the format and frequency of Board and/or WG meetings.
• Create internal positions (e.g., accountant, social media lead), as necessary.
• Establish or delete social media accounts tied to WG emails.
• Remove or impeach an elected member of the Board.
• Fill a vacancy on the board.
• Dissolve the Board.

4. Elections

Nearing the completion of a Board member or members’ term(s), elections will be held to fill the non-appointed positions. Elections cannot be facilitated by Board members, independent members must be assigned this task.

Qualifications for being elected to or voting for the Board are as follows:

• Be a Metro DSA member in good standing.
• Be an active Publication Working Group Member, which is defined as a comrade who has participated in Weekly Update production and/or edited or contributed articles to Washington Socialist over the course of at least one month and has been active within the year from which point nominations are opened.

5. Vacancies, Impeachment and Dissolution

5a. If a seat becomes vacant due to a member resigning, inactivity, death, impeachment, or some other reason, the Board may appoint someone to fill the seat for the remainder of the term via simple majority vote.

5b. If a Board member is found violating the rules of either the chapter or the Board’s internal bylaws, or found to be grossly neglecting their agreed upon duties (see “Responsibilities”, the board may vote on impeachment.

If impeachment passes, a separate vote will be scheduled during which the merits shall be debated and a decision on whether to affirm impeachment charges shall be made. This vote must be scheduled in a manner that gives the person accused reasonable time to prepare a defense, and the debate must be open to chapter members (i.e., disseminated in a way that all WG members in good standing can reasonably access).

After debate, the Board may vote immediately on whether or not to affirm impeachment via a two-thirds (rounded up, if necessary) majority. If approved, the accused is removed from their position immediately .

5c. A vote of the chapter can dissolve the Board with a two-thirds majority (rounded up, if necessary). The WG may vote to reinstate the board at any time via a simple majority of WG members in good standing.

6. Meetings

6a. Schedule and Notification

The board must meet at regular intervals and publish  meeting dates, times, and access information at least one week in advance of the meeting.

6b. Access and Participation

A simple majority of Board Members is required for the Board to convene.

Meetings must be open to all chapter members in good standing.  

Non-board members must be recognized by the meeting facilitator before speaking. Reasonable accommodation should be given to non-board participants, as feasible, but non-board members who are not on a given meeting agenda may not be given the floor to speak. This decision will be made based on the discretion of the Board via simple majority.

Adding the Board agenda:

• All Board members may freely propose items for each meeting agenda, which the Secretary will make all efforts to equitably and efficiently accommodate.
• Non-board members requesting time on the board’s agenda may do so via a process outlined by the Board.

The Board will make all attempts to make meetings accessible to all Board members and members of the WG. Complaints or concerns made to the Board regarding accessibility should be addressed as swiftly as possible and in collaboration with the complainant.

7. Voting

7a. A simple majority of Board members present constitutes a sufficient quorum for taking a vote and only Board members in good standing will be allowed to participate in the vote.

7b. Votes will pass/fail by a simple majority, unless otherwise noted.

8. Amending Bylaws

Any Board member in good standing may make a motion to amend the bylaws. Bylaws amendments will pass by a simple majority, excepting in the case that a one third majority (rounded up, if necessary) if the Board votes to put the amendments in question before the WG. In the case that the Board votes to put a bylaws amendment before the WG, the following process shall be adopted:

• The board shall share the proposed amendments with the WG and provide a comment period of at least one week.
• Following the conclusion of the comment period, the Board will review all comments and proposed changes, after which point the Board will take a vote on the amended version. This vote will pass by simple majority, unless one third of the Board (rounded up, if necessary) requests to take the amendment back to the WG, in which case the process will begin again.