Business Resolution: Continued Suspension of the General Assembly Planning Committee

General Assembly 2025 GA Business
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319   At the 2022 General Assembly, the delegates approved the following business resolution:

320   The GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2022 hereby suspends the membership and activities required by
321   the bylaws of the General Assembly Planning Committee, for a period of up to three years, while
322   new GA planning structures are tested, revised, and adopted. This action empowers the current
323   leadership and collaborative efforts of the UUA volunteers and staff who are responsible for GA
324   activities, events, and programs to fulfill these functions. It creates the opportunity to explore and
325   develop more inclusive and innovative GA planning structures for the future.

326   The rationale for this suspension included allowing time for a multi-year process to rewrite the
327   Association’s bylaws, time to better understand the needs of virtual and multi-platform modalities, and
328   time to identify the kinds of skills and volunteers needed to support future General Assemblies.

329   Also at the 2022 General Assembly, the delegates approved a business resolution which included the
330   following:

331   Therefore the 2022 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association calls on the UUA
332   Board of Trustees to appoint a task group composed of UUA board members, UUA staff, and UUs
333   who are nonboard or staff members to conduct a thorough review and rewrite of the UUA Bylaws.
334   This review should involve stakeholders in collaborative discernment and conversation about
335   considered changes. A progress report of the UUA Bylaw review detailing which changes are
336   being considered will be issued by the Board of Trustees at least annually beginning in 2023 prior
337   to the annual General Assembly. This report should include the rationale for each change. These
338   new bylaws should create a governance system that supports the UUA in accountably achieving
339   its mission and aspirations consistent with our core values.

340   The Bylaws Renewal Team has been reporting on their progress at each General Assembly since
341   2022. Progress has been made, and more time is needed to involve stakeholders in collaborative
342   discernment and conversation, including those that involve the bylaws of the General Assembly
343   Planning Committee.

344   BASED ON THE FOREGOING, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: The GENERAL ASSEMBLY
345   2025 hereby extends the 2022 business resolution which suspends the membership and activities
346   required by the bylaws of the General Assembly Planning Committee, for another period of up to three
347   years.

2

Why don’t we just dissolve the GA planning committee, and re-form it if it is needed at a later date. It does not seem logical to keep it in suspended when it can have no useful function.

3

this seems logical (unless there is some procedural reason for its existence)

4

We want the Bylaws Renewal Team to provide a comprehensive review of committees and commissions, as part of their process. When does it make sense to have an appointed committee versus an elected commission?

Most of the positions on elected commissions and committees are single candidate, uncontested elections. (So, it becomes more like an appointed position.)

We also want the Bylaws Renewal Team to engage stakeholders and delegates in a longer conversation about these questions, so it when it comes to a vote, people have had some time to consider all the implications.

2 Likes
5

I think that one will always need a planning committee of some sort, so I think keeping it suspended while we figure out how/if it should be changed for future GAs makes more sense to me: fewer, more-thought-out changes.

6

I do not see a compelling rationale for suspending this committee. If the UUA thinks this committee is not needed, they should put a new proposal into the next Bylaw revision, provide a good case, and host a debate.

7

Note: We did not receive any proposed amendments to this business resolution or the bylaws clean-up amendment so there is no need for a mini assembly. It will be cancelled.

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I find the “elections” of single candidates without opposition pretty meaningless—but to just switch everything to appointments centralizes way too much. As it is, GA delegates specifically requested more than one candidate for UUA president before the last campaign and election, and instead were given some vague rationale for being presented with a single candidate. Yes, she was a good candidate, but that is not the point. It made what should have been a contested democratic election where we considered multiple perspective on UUA governance into a referendum on a single viewpoint. Further, against what I understand as best practices, not long before that we extended the presidential term from 4 years to 6.
Whither democracy in the UUA?

9

There are references to our parliamentarian in the business agenda—who is fulfilling that role this year? A search on uua.org brought up information from 2024 (Adrienne Walker) and earlier only.

10

Adrienne Walker will once again be our parliamentarian.

1 Like
11

Thanks! + more characters to make 20

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Hi Stephanie! Is there a way to get access to any meeting minutes from this committee before it was suspended? I’d like to better understand the deliberations of the committee that we’re continuing to suspend if I vote for this. Also, can someone tell me who has picked up this work since then, and who in governance they report to? Thanks, I think these small clarifications will help!

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Hi Carole! The GA Advisory Council now works with the GA and Conference Services Office to do the work that the GA Planning Committee once did. You can learn more about that here. And you can review minutes (which are outdated) here.

1 Like