Shehaqua Council Circle Policies

About the Shehaqua Council

The Shehaqua Family Council is a governing body representing the larger Shehaqua Family community. The responsibilities of the Shehaqua Family Council Circle include establishing and reviewing policies; approving the yearly budget; making large financial decisions; reviewing and responding to reports and proposals from the Family Camp Circle and all other circles; electing a Council Chairperson, Administrator and Scribe (See Council Positions); and managing the yearly election of Council members.

The current members of the Council are listed on our website: http://www.shehaquafamily.org/about/council

Council Policies

Composition of Council

The Shehaqua Family Council should have between 7 and 9 members at all times. If the total number of Council members drops below 7, then the empty seat(s) should be filled up to 7 seats by the candidate(s) that achieved the highest votes during the last election. There should always be at least one person on the Council representing each one of these three demographic groups:

• Families with young children (up to 12 years of age)
• Families with older children (13+ years of age)
• Young adults (including couples without kids)

Only one per person per family per generation can serve on the Council at the same time. (For example, a father and daughter is fine; a married couple is not.) The Council may vote in special circumstances to waive this rule if neither prospective councilmember has formal financial responsibilities.

If there is a situation where the only person who would represent one of these three demographic groups is a candidate who didn’t get enough votes to be elected by the number of votes alone, the Council can decide that this person should be given the seat based on this demographic distribution requirement.

Council Duties

The Shehaqua Family Council is responsible for finding an Operations Director. The new Operations Director automatically becomes a member of the Council and fills the seat of the old Operations Director. If the new Operations Director already is a member of the Council, the old Operations Director can stay on the Council until the next election.

The Council presently meets bi-monthly via Zoom call and for a one day summit meeting in person in spring. The Council facilitator can schedule additional meetings if needed. The Council elects a facilitator, administrator and scribe each year using the sociocracy process of election.

If a Council member misses two meetings in a row, or fails to respond to emails that require a reply twice in a row, the facilitator will get in touch with them and give them an opportunity to recommit to the Council. If that member continues to miss meetings or fail to respond to emails, they will no longer be considered a Council member.

The quorum for decisions during council meetings is 5.

Duration of Council Term

Council member terms last for two years. They are staggered, so that about half of the Council seats open up for election every year. Council members are allowed to run for re-election when their term is up, and there is no term limit.

Council Positions

Chairperson - Facilitates every Council meeting by running through the agenda, ensuring that all councilmembers are able to contribute to meetings, keeps time.

Administrator - Works with the Chairperson and the Family Camp Circle Liaison to create the agenda and minutes Google Document for the next meeting. Sends emails and creates the Google Calendar and Zoom invitation for each meeting. Manages the Google Drive that stores the minutes.

Scribe - Records the minutes of each council meeting in the shared Google Document that serves as the minutes.

Family Camp Circle Liaison - Reviews and reports on the most recent discussion topics and status of the Family Camp Circle's monthly meetings. Ideally this person is a member of both the Family Camp Circle and the Council. If they are not, they will serve as a point of contact with the Family Camp Circle Facilitator or Administrator in order to keep track of what the Family Camp circle is focused on and identify any issues to bring up.

Financial Circle Liaison - Reports on the financial health of the organization and any upcoming budgetary issues that need to be resolved as a Council. Ideally this person is a member of the Financial Circle or the Bookkeeper. If this person is neither, they are responsible for being a point-of-contact with the bookkeeper. The current bookkeeper is Michael Stewart.

Council Elections

Call for Nominations and Election Process

The Council should find an Election Committee in Fall or earlier. The task of the committee is to coordinate the election and reach out to potential candidates.

The call for nominations for Council candidates should be announced to the community no later than December 1 to give the the Shehaqua Family community time to make nominations. Nominations can be submitted by anyone to the election coordinator(s) by January 1. Council members up for reelection should be interviewed to find out if they are willing to run for another term or not.

The nomination should be announced via newsletter and Facebook. The call for nominations should include an email address (for example, election@shehaquafamily.org) where people can nominate themselves or others. The webmaster can assist to ensure that the right people will receive emails sent to this email address. The announcements from previous years can be found in our newsletter archive on shehaquafamily.org.

Nominees who agree to run will need to fill in an application form online: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSchSk0njAb5z_FpyBur3BJPTKc4wxGcCwDLVv94Bn9hP900HA/viewform This form needs to be updated every year. Nominees will need to submit a bio and a picture. The election committee needs to edit the bios and prepare the pictures so that they can be used in the next newsletter with the call for election. All the nominees should be introduced, and the election process should be clearly explained. See newsletters from previous years in our archives for useful language.

If the Election Committee requires the help of the webmaster to set up an online voting system, it is important that the webmaster will be informed early on (beginning of January) so that (s)he has plenty of time to prepare this.

The Council elections should take place every year in the beginning of the year, between the beginning of January and the end of February. The newly elected Council members should be informed by March 1. Their turn starts with the first Council meeting/call following March 1.

Criteria for Council Candidates

Must have attended at least two Shehaqua Family programs in the last three years, have demonstrated responsibility at Shehaqua Family programs (for example helped with a volunteer assignment at camp or as a member of a circle), must be 17 years old or older, and have a sincere desire to serve the Shehaqua Family.

Only one per person per family per generation can serve on the Council at the same time. (For example, a father and daughter is fine; a married couple is not.)

Criteria for Voters

Must have attended at least two Shehaqua Family programs in the last three years, have demonstrated responsibility at Shehaqua Family programs (for example, helped with a volunteer assignment at camp or served as a member of a circle), must be 17 years old or older.