Backup — original pdf

Backup

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 BYLAWS OF THE AUSTIN/TRAVIS COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH COMMISSION ARTICLE 1. NAME. The name of the board is Austin/Travis County Public Health Commission. ARTICLE 2. PURPOSE AND DUTIES. The purpose and duties of the board are as follows: The global COVID-19 pandemic illustrates the importance of having policy, plans, programs and operations ready to address public health crisis at a national, state and local level. The pandemic also reveals the importance of collaborative efforts to support public health and prioritize addressing health disparities as a central goal. The purpose of the joint Austin/Travis County Public Health Commission (“Commission”) is to: 1. Explore the best/evidence-based public health practices for areas that need improvement and provide recommendations; 2. Provide an annual recommendation for Austi City Council (“Council”) and Travis County Commissioners Court (“Commissioners Court”) action on the improvement of overall public health programs, projects, and services within the governing entities in the city and county; 3. Work to inform strategies that address health disparities that impact health outcomes for underserved patients and populations; 4. Gather input from the community on budget and programing recommendations to share with policy makers and health agencies annually; and 5. Report periodically to the Public Health Committee of the Council and to the Commissioners Court (or the appropriate committee thereof). ARTICLE 3. MEMBERSHIP. (A) The Commission shall include a balanced and diverse membership that represents a broad range of health and human services interests and lived experiences with members jointly appointed by the Council and the Commissioners Court. The Commission is composed of nine (9) regular members who serve staggered four-year terms, with four (4) or five (5) members, as appropriate, jointly appointed each even-numbered year by the Council and the Commissioners Court. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 (B) The Austin Travis County Health Authority and one designee each from Austin Public Health, Travis County Health and Human Services, and Central Health shall serve as ex officio members of the Commission. (C) The ex officio members shall review membership applications and make nominations for appointment to open or vacated positions for final approval by Council and the Commissioners Court. (D) Appointed members serve their respective terms beginning on March 1st on the year of appointment (D) An individual Commission member may not act in an official capacity or speak on behalf of the Commission except through the action of a majority of the Commission in which the Commission identifies who is authorized to speak and identifies the actions the individual Commission member is authorized to take or topics on which the individual Commission member is entitled to speak. (E) A Commission member who is absent for three consecutive regular meetings or one-third of all regular meetings in a “rolling” twelve-month timeframe automatically vacates the member’s position subject to the holdover provisions in Section 2-1-27 of the City Code. This does not apply to an absence due to illness or injury of the Commission member, an illness or injury of a Commission member’s immediate family member, active military service, or the birth or adoption of the Commission member’s child for 90 days after the event. The Commission member must notify the staff liaison of the reason for the absence not later than the date of the next regular meeting of the Commission. Failure to notify the liaison before the next regular meeting of the Commission will result in an unexcused absence. (F) At each meeting, each Commission member shall sign an attendance sheet (or if participating virtually via videoconference, send an email as provided by City Code Section 2-1-24(D)) which indicates that the member does not have a conflict of interest with any item on that agenda, or identifies each agenda item on which the member has a conflict of interest. Failure to sign the sheet results in the member being counted as absent and his/her votes are not counted. (G) A member who seeks to resign from the Commission shall submit a written resignation to the chair of the Commission, the staff liaison, or the city clerk’s office. If possible, the resignation should allow for a thirty-day notice so the city council can appoint a replacement. (A) The officers of the Commission shall consist of a chair and a vice-chair. ARTICLE 4. OFFICERS. (B) Officers shall be elected annually by a majority vote of the Commission at the first regular meeting after April 1st. In the event a current officer becomes ineligible to serve as an officer, the Commission may hold an emergency election as needed. (C) The term of office shall be one year, beginning May 1st and ending April 30th. An officer may continue to serve until a successor is elected. A person may not serve as an officer in a designated position of a Commission for more than four consecutive one-year terms. A person who has served as an officer in a designated position of a Commission for four consecutive terms is not eligible for re-election to that designated office until the expiration of two years after the last date of the 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 person’s service in that office. The Commission may override the term limit provision for an officer by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the authorized Commission members. (D) A member may not hold more than one office at a time. ARTICLE 5. DUTIES OF OFFICERS. (A) The chair shall preside at Commission meetings, appoint all committees, represent the Commission at ceremonial functions and approve each final meeting agenda as provided in Article 6(A). (B) In the absence of the chair, the vice-chair shall perform all duties of the chair. ARTICLE 6. AGENDAS. (A) Two or more Commission members may place an item on the agenda by oral or written request to the staff liaison at least seven business days before the meeting. After first consulting with and receiving input from the staff liaison, the chair shall approve each final meeting agenda prior to posting, except that posting language may be adjusted in order to ensure compliance with Government Code Chapter 551 (Open Meetings Act). (B) The Commission liaison shall submit the meeting agenda through the online agenda posting system for each meeting not less than the 4th business day before the scheduled meeting date. (C) Posting of the agenda must comply with Texas Government Code Chapter 551 (Texas Open Meetings Act). ARTICLE 7. MEETINGS. (A) The Commission meetings shall comply with Texas Government Code Chapter 551 (Texas Open Meetings Act). (B) Commission meetings shall be governed by Robert’s Rules of Order. (C) The Commission may not conduct a closed meeting without the approval of the City Attorney the Travis County Attorney. (D) The Commission shall meet no less than quarterly each year. In November of each year, the Commission shall adopt a schedule of the meetings for the upcoming year, including makeup meeting dates for the holidays and cancelled meetings. (E) The chair may call a special meeting, and the chair shall call a special meeting if requested by three or more members. The call shall state the purpose of the meeting. A Commission may not call a meeting in addition to its regular scheduled meetings as identified in its adopted meeting schedule, more often than once a quarter, unless the meeting is required to comply with a statutory deadline or a deadline established by Council or the Commissioners Court. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 (F) A majority of appointed voting members constitutes a quorum. The number of members necessary to provide a quorum may be accomplished through physical or virtual attendance at a meeting to conduct business, unless otherwise prohibited by law.Five members constitute a quorum. (G) If a quorum for a meeting does not convene within one-half hour of the posted time for the meeting, then the meeting may not be held. (H) To be effective, a Commission action must be adopted by an affirmative vote of the number of members necessary to provide a quorum. (I) The chair has the same voting privilege as any other member. (J) The Commission shall allow members of the public to address the Commission on agenda items and during a period of time set aside for public communications on non-agenda items. The chair shall allow a speaker to speak for no less than two minutes per agenda item and for three minutes on a non-agenda item. (K) The staff liaison shall prepare the Commission minutes. The minutes of each Commission meeting must include the vote of each member on each item before the Commission and indicate whether a member is absent or failed to vote on an item. (L) The City clerk shall retain agendas, approved minutes, internal review reports and bylaws. The Liaison from Austin Public Health shall retain all other Commission documents. The documents are public records under Texas Local Government Code Chapter 552 (Texas Public Information Act). (M) The chair shall adjourn a meeting not later than 10 p.m., unless the Commission votes to continue the meeting. (N) Each person and Commission member attending a Commission meeting should observe decorum pursuant to Section 2-1-48 of the City Code. (O) A member of the public may not address the Commission at a meeting on an item posted as a briefing. COMMITTEES ARTICLE 8. COMMITTEES/WORKING GROUPS. (A) The Austin/Travis County Public Health Commission may create a committee(s) from its membership to aid the Commission in carrying out its purpose. (B)(A) Each committee must be established by an affirmative vote of the Commission. A committee cannot meet until its creation is approved by the Council Audit and Finance Committee. Each committee shall consist of at least three Commission members appointed by the chair. A staff 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 member shall be assigned to each committee by the director of the Austin Public Health Department. (C) The Commission chair shall appoint a Commission member as the committee chair, with the member’s consent. (D) A majority of the total number of appointed committee members constitutes a quorum. (E) Each committee shall meet on a regularly scheduled basis at least quarterly. (F) Each committee shall make an annual report to the Commission at the January Commission meeting. (G) Committee meetings must be posted in accordance with Texas Government Code Chapter 551 (Texas Open Meetings Act). (H) At each committee meeting, a committee member shall sign in on a sheet provided (or if participating virtually via videoconference, send an email as provided by City Code Section 2-1- 24(D)) and shall indicate that the member has no conflict of interest with any item on the committee meeting agenda, or identify each agenda item on which the member has a conflict of interest. (I) The Austin/Travis County Public Health Commission shall have the following committees: (Insert name and describe the duties of each Committee) (OR If the board does not have any committees, use the following language): (I) The Austin/Travis County Public Health Commission currently has no committees. WORKING GROUPS (A) The Commission can determine the size of a working group but the number of Commission members serving on the working group must be less than a quorum of the Commission. (B) A working group may designate a chair, with the member’s consent, but is not required to do so. (C) Quorum requirements do not apply to working groups. (D) Staff support will not be provided for working groups. (E) Working groups are not required to post their meetings in accordance with the Texas Government Code Chapter 551 (Texas Open Meetings Act). ARTICLE 9. PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY. The rules contained in the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order shall govern the Commission in all cases to which they are applicable, except when inconsistent with these bylaws or with special rules of procedure which the Commission, Commissioners Court, or Council may adopt. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 ARTICLE 10. AMENDMENT OF BYLAWS. A bylaw amendment is not effective unless approved by Council after review by the Council Audit and Finance Committee. ARTICLE 11. GENERAL PROVISIONS. Additional terms provided in the Austin – Travis County General Provisions attached hereto as Exhibit 1 and incorporated into these Bylaws as if fully set forth below. In the case of a conflict between these bylaws and the General Provisions, the provisions of the bylaws shall prevail. The bylaws were approved by the __________________________ (Insert board name) at their meeting held on ___________________________ (Insert month date, year). ____________________________________ (Signature of Executive or Staff Liaison) ________________________________ (Insert – Title -- Executive or Staff Liaison)