Perhaps you’ve heard: we’re updating our bylaws, and all Kenton community members are invited to join the conversation! There are two ways you can support this effort to refresh our foundational governance document right now:
Check out the draft bylaws here >
For reference, the current bylaws are available here.
Share your feedback, questions, and comments. Here’s how:
Come to our bylaws office hours event on Tuesday, April 14, from 7pm-8pm, at the Kenton Firehouse.
Complete the feedback survey by Wednesday, April 15, at 12pm.
P.S. Keep an eye out for more ways to join the conversation over the coming months, including at the general meeting on June 10!
Background
The Kenton Neighborhood Association's (KNA) bylaws have been largely unchanged since 1995. While they've served us well, a lot has evolved in how neighborhood associations operate, and many of our peer neighborhood associations have modernized their governing documents over the last 30 years. This felt like the right time for KNA to do the same.
Approach
At the direction of the board of directors, the KNA governance committee used a template developed by an attorney for District 2 neighborhood associations through NECN as our starting point. This gives us professionally vetted, legally sound language as a foundation, as well as a free attorney consultation. Rather than starting from scratch, our focus has been on tailoring the NECN template to KNA, keeping the things that work and updating what doesn't.
As you read through the draft, the changes you'll see generally fall into a few categories:
Bringing related sections together so the bylaws are easier to navigate;
Better defining terms and areas that have been ambiguous or caused confusion;
Ensuring our governing documents reflect how we actually operate;
Adding standard good governance language that modern nonprofit bylaws typically include, and;
Removing or updating sections that are outdated or unclear.
Feedback
This is a proposed draft for initial feedback; it is not a final document. We welcome feedback from Kenton residents via an online survey and office hours. Following this round of initial feedback, the draft will be reviewed by a lawyer, provided by NECN and at no cost to KNA. The bylaws draft will then be brought to the membership at our general meeting on June 10 for formal consideration. They will then be voted on for adoption at the following general meeting.
