Approved January 2005,  Revised March 2007

The Peace Coalition of Monterey County is a coalition of diverse Monterey County community organizations who share
a commitment to peace and non-violent solutions to world conflicts. 


1.  Purpose:  To bring Monterey County organizations and individuals dedicated to peace together to promote non-violent
solutions to world conflicts and promote long-range policies for a just and peaceful world.  Toward this end PCMC shall:
 

·        Explore the social and economic conditions that lead to conflict or follow it
 

·        Maintain public visibility through vigils, demonstrations, advertisements, articles, letters, and media coverage
 

·        Provide educational outreach by disseminating information to the community, individuals, and organizations
 

·        Communicate our point of view to the President, Congress, United Nations, state and local representatives
 

·        Advocate for issues and policy positions, not endorse nor support candidates or parties. 1
 

·        Conduct all actions in a non-violent manner

2.  Membership:  The membership shall be composed of organizations that agree with PCMC’s statement of purpose
and whose mission statements are compatible with PCMC’s purpose.  Each active member organization may name a
representative and alternates to serve on the Steering Committee. Other individuals are encouraged to participate in
PCMC committees and events, however, there are no individual members of PCMC.

An organization’s application for membership in PCMC should be on the form provided by the Steering Committee and
is subject to approval by the Steering Committee.

There are three types of membership:

Active organizations, defined as having

·        at least five members living in Monterey county

·        a stated mission

·        some structure for making decisions, such as a board, committee, officers, etc.

·        at least two meetings or activities per year

·        a designated representative who makes a commitment to be a regular participant in the meetings
    of the Peace Coalition Steering Committee

 

1.     Active organizations as in (1) above, but who choose not to send a representative to the Steering Committee.

 

2.     Organizations that currently do not meet the criteria in (1) above, not entitled to representation on the Steering
   Committee.

 

Dues shall not be imposed on member organizations, but each organization shall be asked to donate $25 to $100 or
more annually to help cover expenses of PCMC.

3.  Steering Committee:   A Steering Committee composed of representatives of active organizations, representatives
of PCMC committees, and the officers elected by the Steering Committee shall be the decision-making and policy-setting
body for PCMC. The Steering Committee is responsible for developing and implementing a program to fulfill the purposes
of PCMC. The Steering Committee shall determine its own meeting times, and shall meet a minimum of four times a year.
The meetings shall be open to members of the Steering Committee and their alternates and to guests invited by any
member of the Steering Committee.

 A quorum for a Steering Committee meeting shall be one third of the currently designated members of
the Steering Committee. 2

Representatives are responsible for bringing their organization’s views on pertinent issues to PCMC and to communicate
PCMC’s activities and concerns to their organizations.  They are also expected to participate in a collaborative manner
with the Steering Committee’s decision-making process.

If a PCMC Steering Committee representative and alternate are absent for two consecutive meetings, the Secretary will
notify the Chair who may ask the organization either to encourage more active attendance by their representatives, to
name other representatives who can attend meetings or to vacate its seat on the Steering Committee.

4.  PCMC Committees:   Many of the public educational activities and outreach events of the PCMC will be carried out
by committees of volunteers.  PCMC committees are entitled to representation on the Steering Committee provided they
are an ongoing group (not a short-term committee), have at least three members, meet or communicate regularly and
report to the Steering Committee.

PCMC committees may be designated and/or organized by the Steering Committee as the need arises.  Short-term
PCMC committees shall not be entitled to a representative on the Steering Committee but shall be expected to report
on their activities at Steering Committee meetings when appropriate.  Committee chairs shall be appointed by
the PCMC Chair.

5.  Officers:   Officers of PCMC shall be a Chair, a Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer elected by the Steering
Committee. 3 These need not be members of the Steering Committee before election, but become full members,
counted in the quorum, once elected.  The term of office is one year.  Officers may be elected to succeeding terms.
The Steering Committee may designate other temporary officers as needed.

The Chair is expected to bring a spirit of collaboration to the group and to be able to facilitate meetings in the consensus
style chosen by PCMC.  The Chair shall facilitate meetings, propose agendas, coordinate activities between meetings,
appoint committee chairs, and be the spokesperson for PCMC, having the right to approve communications put out in
the name of PCMC.  Any of these responsibilities may, from time to time, be delegated to others.  The Chair serves to
carry out the policies of the Steering Committee.

The Vice-Chair will assist and assume the Chair’s responsibilities as needed.

The Secretary will take notes at the meetings or “action minutes,” recording briefly the time, date, place of the meeting,
those in attendance, the issues discussed, the decisions made, the names of those taking on responsibilities, issues to
be carried forward to future meetings. 3 The Secretary shall maintain PCMC’s records:  minutes, Standing Rules and
policies, a roster of member organizations with contact information, a roster of PCMC committees and their assignments
and reports.

The Treasurer shall receive and deposit funds in an appropriate PCMC account, disperse money at the direction of
the Steering Committee, keep records of financial transactions and periodically report PCMC’s financial status to the
Steering Committee.  He/she shall advise the Steering Committee on financial matters.

6. Nominations and Election of Officers:  In the fall of each year the Steering Committee shall designate a Nominating
Committee to nominate officers for the year beginning in January.4 Member organizations and committees shall be
invited to submit suggestions to the Nominating Committee for potential officers. The Steering Committee shall elect
officers in the fall so as to allow time for a transition.

7.  Conduct of Steering Committee Meetings:  The intent is for PCMC to work in a collaborative manner using consensus
as the decision making model.  The process is to build on ideas and suggestions to reach decisions that the group can
support or accept. If the group process fails to lead to a consensus decision, a straw vote may be called by the Chair to
narrow options or clarify group intentions.  If consensus still is not possible, the Chair may seek approval to postpone
action or to drop the matter.  Lacking consensus on these options, the Chair has the discretion to call for a formal vote.  
After restating the proposal, a 2/3 vote of those present and voting shall be required to prevail.

Only designated Steering Committee members (or, in their absence, their alternates) may vote. Guests may participate
discussions but not in decision-making proceedings.

A paper briefly outlining the consensus process will be provided to each new Steering Committee member and alternate
and will be made available at all meetings.5

8. Decisions Between Steering Committee Meetings: 

Administrative actions in support of approved PCMC operations may be made by appropriate officers or committees at
any time.

(1.)     Peace and Justice Emergency Situations9

a.      The following values or policies represent the general orientation of the PCMC which could be expressed
     in responding to an emergency without further decisions by the Steering Committee: 

                           i.      When significant violence breaks out, especially across national borders, PCMC believes the
      killing and violence should stop, through a ceasefire or other similar action.

                           ii.      PCMC renounces the concept of preemptive war.

                           iii.      PCMC supports global peace through international law and protection of human rights. 

                           iv.      PCMC believes that US policy should support non-violent solutions to conflict.

b.     International situations that could be considered a “peace and justice emergency” include:

                            i.      Violent events that erupt quite suddenly, unexpected by PCMC.

                            ii.      Involve an invasion or bombing, or imminent invasion or bombing, across national boundaries,
        by a military power.  This would not include civil wars or conflicts between small countries.

                            iii.      The United States has great capacity to influence events.  

                            iv.      A prompt response is called for, and cannot wait until the next regularly scheduled meeting.

c.     The PCMC Chair (or Vice-Chair in the absence of the Chair) is expected to contact the officers to
   determine that a PCMC emergency situation exists, and to determine an immediate course of action,
   which could include these activities and others:

                            i.      Call a special meeting of the PCMC Steering Committee or a community meeting.

                            ii.      Organize a PCMC vigil.

                           iii.      Organize a PCMC press conference.

                           iv.      Make a PCMC statement to the press or media.

                            v.      Communicate to federal legislators on behalf of PCMC.

                           vi.      Create a special PCMC committee to deal with the issue.

                           vii.      Put a statement on the PCMC web site.

                          viii.      Collaborate with another PCMC organization that is already taking action on the issue.

d.     Communications related to an emergency situation:

                              i.      Put out an emergency notice to the PCMC e-mail list. 

                             ii.      PCMC should not turn its e-mal list over to another group for their communications, even
         a member organization of PCMC, and even if a lead group for an activity.

(2.) Other:   Program, policy, event and other substantive issues that need action between Steering Committee
meetings shall be determined to be either "minor" or "major". If at least three of the officers agree an item is
"minor", then appropriate action may be decided by the officers as a group, and reported at the next meeting of
the Steering Committee. Other items shall be considered "major" and if it is critical to make a decision before the
next scheduled Steering Committee meeting, the Chair shall call a special meeting of the Steering Committee to
address that seek consensus through a telephone/email poll. 6

9. Community Meetings and Events:  The Steering Committee shall schedule meetings and events open to the wider
peace community. 7 These may be for outreach, for networking, for education, or for providing input. The PCMC Chair
may designate a program chair or committee to plan these events.  Participants in a community meeting may propose
activities, programs, or stances for the Peace Coalition, which will be passed on to the Steering Committee for
consideration. 7, 8

10. Participation:  Participation in all PCMC meetings and events is expected to be

a) cooperative with consensus building techniques and b) supportive of PCMC purposes.  Disagreements are expected,
and many discussions may challenge our understandings and preferences.  Diverse group and individual interests will
require active listening and rethinking.  But the intent is to avoid actions and words which are accusatory, confrontational,
or denigrating to others.  The Chair will ordinarily designate who has the floor, and the floor must be ceded at the Chair's
request.  Time limits may be set.  Disruptive behavior may be called by the Chair, and the individual(s) may be instructed
to leave the meeting.  Similarly at PCMC events, disruptive behavior or actions contrary to the agreements or purposes
of PCMC may be called by the event leader and the individual(s) may be instructed to leave the event.

11.  Amendment:  Any proposed changes to the Standing Rules will be read at two consecutive meetings of the Steering
Committee, with action to take place at the second meeting.  All members of the Steering Committee, whether present or
not, shall be given advance notice of the changes, in writing, at least two weeks before the meeting at which the action
will proceed.

NOTES to accompany PCMC’s Standing Rules.

We chose “Standing Rules” over “Bylaws” because bylaws seemed more formal, and we wanted to retain the informal
style that has always prevailed in the Peace Coalition.

1 In the PURPOSE section

 

We substituted “world conflicts” for “world crises.”

We added -

·        To advocate for issues and policy positions, not endorse nor support candidates or parties.

In so doing, we are abiding by the 501(c)(3) and (4)) restrictions of many PCMC member organizations.

2 STEERING COMMITTEE

One person may represent only one organization. Alternates are not counted in the quorum unless they are serving in
place of a regular representative. An officer who is also a representative is only counted once.  In other words, if it
comes to a vote, each person on the Steering Committee gets only one vote, and alternates get no vote unless they
are replacing the regular representative at that meeting.

We suggest a pattern of meeting every other month, e.g. January, March, May, July, September, November.

3 OFFICERS

Co-Chairs are not recommended.  In the event that Co-Chairs become the choice of the Steering Committee, one should
be designated presiding Co-Chair and that designation could alternate over time with proper notice to the members.

If the Chair position becomes vacant during the year, the Vice-Chair will take over that role only temporarily. The
Steering Committee will fill the vacancy at its earliest convenience.

Minutes should not be a narrative account of what was said at the meeting.  The minutes should never reflect the
Secretary’s opinion. (Robert’s Rules page 451).  Minutes should be sent to Chair and/or Steering Committee soon after
each meeting so as to facilitate following through on details between meetings and preparing the agenda for the
following meeting.

4 NOMINATIONS

It is recommended that the Nominations Committee be appointed in September so that the election of officers can
take place in November, giving the new officers time to prepare to assume their duties in January.

5 CONDUCT OF STEERING COMMITTEE MEETINGS

For a more complete description of consensus process, refer to Brian Auvine, Michael Avery, Barbara Streibel,
and Lonnie Weiss, A Handbook for Consensus Decision Making:  BUILDING UNITED JUDGMENT, edited by
Center for Conflict Resolution, A publication of the Fellowship for Intentional Community, Route 1, Box 155,
Rutledge, MO 63563. 1981.

6 DECISIONS BETWEEN STEERING COMMITTEE MEETINGS

It is anticipated that a Policy Committee will be set up to discuss the scope of issues to be addressed by PCMC
and policy positions for issues of special concern to PCMC.  These will take the form of recommendations to the
Steering Committee for their consideration.  Once policies are in place, the officers can take action on them between
meetings.  Making plans for events that follow a traditional pattern of PCMC might be considered “minor,” a new kind
of event might be “major,” signing on as co-sponsor of a member-organization’s event might be “minor.”  Establishing
a new policy position would ordinarily be “major.”

7  COMMUNITY MEETINGS AND EVENTS

Meetings may be designed to be educational with speakers or movies or discussion on topics related to the purpose
of PCMC.  They may be town-hall or brain-storming sessions to elicit opinions about what course PCMC should be
taking or advocating that the nation takes.  They should provide an opportunity for networking and for bringing the
projects and ideas of the member organizations to the wider group. They may take the form of workshops on non-violent
conflict resolution, social movements, conducting meetings by consensus, resisting military recruitment, whatever seems
useful.  The goal is to reach out to a wider and wider public with peace information and peace advocacy using whatever
innovative strategies seem likely to draw in different constituencies and also to increase skills in peace advocacy for
all participants.  The meetings may also have a social aspect so as to increase the sense of community among those
working for peace.

8 Other Activities:  Other activities planned by the Steering Committee and its designated officers and committees may
include, but are not limited to, poetry readings, musical events, one-time or on-going vigils, participation in large
demonstrations outside of Monterey County, letter-writing campaigns, preparing and raising money for display ads in
local papers, cooperation with local media to have appropriate stories and information carried to a wider public,
co-sponsoring appropriate events put on by other organizations, pot-luck suppers fund-raising events, communication
through PCMC’s email list and on PCMC’s website.

9 Urgent Situations Outside Meeting Schedule: (Revision developed in 2006 and 2007  New provisions to respond to
emergency situations demanding some response or action by the PCMC, but the normal meeting schedule is not
convenient for full discussion or dialogue for action.