Adopted: 11 Septembr 2024

Article I. Name.

The name of this body shall be 'The Boston Local of Horizon Federation'. The short forms of this name shall be 'Boston Horizon’ and ‘BHF'. This document will refer to this body as the Local, and to the national Horizon Federation as National, to Horizon Federation as Horizon.

Article II. Mission Statement.

The The Boston Local of Horizon Federation is a body of voluntarily-associating Horizon members who organize within the Eastern Massachusetts region to extend Horizon's political vision to our local organizing efforts.

Article III. Membership.

Section 1. Eligibility.

The Local's eligible pool of membership shall consist of all Horizon members who are located in the following counties of Massachusetts: Essex County, Middlesex County, Norfolk County, Plymouth County, and Suffolk County.
Members from areas immediately outside and adjacent to this contiguous area may be considered on a case by case basis.

Section 2. Membership.

The Local's membership shall constitute the highest legislative body of the Local. It shall consist of all individuals from the Local's eligible pool of membership who have met all of the following criteria:

1. The individual is either a current member of the National, or has submitted an application to join the National within two weeks of the Local's eligibility to conduct Horizon orientations, and has yet to attend a new-member orientation,
2. The individual expresses interest in being part of the Local, and
3. The individual has not been previously expelled from the National or Horizon, or has been formally reinstated following an expulsion.

Section 3. Expulsion.

The Local may vote to expel a member by a three-fourths vote after all attempts at mediation and restorative justice have been exhausted. A member that has been expelled at the Local level does not automatically become expelled from the National nor Horizon. Expulsion from the National shall be equivalent to expulsion from the Local. The Local will make use of the mediation process outlined by the National where appropriate.

Article IV. Officers.

Section 1. Selection Method.

The selection method of Local officers shall be sortition, i.e. random selection from a pool of eligible members. Officer positions shall be filled in order of their enumeration in this article, from among a pool of members who shall have met all of the following criteria:

1. The member has been a current member of the Local for the past two months, or since the Local's incorporation,
2. The member has not held the given position for the previous term, unless no other valid members are in sortition,
3. The member does not reject inclusion in the sortition pool,
4. The member has not yet been selected for a position for the incoming term, and
5. The member has not previously been recalled from the given position, unless reinstated per Section 4.

Section 2. Selection Process.

At minimum, sortition for new officers shall be observed by, in order of preference, two current officers, else one current officer and one volunteer member, else two volunteer members. The most preferred option shall be used except where prohibitively unreasonable. Should the opt-in rate of sortition among membership be less than quorum, volunteering may be used instead.

Section 3. Recall and Vacancy.

Subsection 1. Recall.

Unless otherwise stated, officers may be recalled by a one-third minority vote. Recalled officers shall not be included in the sortition pool unless reinstated by a two-thirds vote.

Subsection 2. Recall by Default.

If a member refuses to accept an officer position, they shall be immediately recalled without a vote.

Subsection 3. Vacancy.

If an office becomes vacant due to recall, resignation, or sudden ineligibility, sortition shall be conducted as immediately as possible to find another valid officer for the position to serve the remainder of the previous officer's term.

Section 4. Collective Responsibilities.

All officers shall collectively share the following responsibilities:
• Liaising with the National as required by the bylaws of both the National and the Local,
• Conducting sortition in keeping with the terms of the relevant officer positions, and
• Favorably representing the interests of the Local as its official spokespersons.

Section 5. Delegation.

Officers other than the Horizon Delegate may delegate their responsibilities to other members, with mutual consent, in the event of an expected absence. These responsibilities may not be delegated to a member who has previously been recalled from the given role without reinstatement, or to a member who has not been properly trained on the responsibilities of the position, if applicable.

Section 6. Positions.

Subsection 1. Horizon Delegate.

The Horizon Delegate shall be responsible for serving on the Horizon Steering Committee as a representative of the Local to vote on its behalf, and shall report to the Horizon Liaison their rationale for voting decisions. The Horizon Delegate shall assist in managing the Local's asynchronous votes alongside the Horizon Liaison. The term of the Horizon Delegate shall be six months, concurrent with the terms of the Horizon Liaison and Onboarding Officer.

Subsection 2. Horizon Liaison.

The Horizon Liaison shall be responsible for attending Horizon Steering Committee and General Assembly meetings on behalf of the Local and shall report to the Local on developments within those bodies that are pertinent to its organizing. The Horizon Liaison shall assist in managing the Local's asynchronous votes alongside the Horizon Delegate. The term of the Horizon Liaison shall be six months, concurrent with the terms of the Horizon Delegate and Onboarding Officer. In the event that there are not enough members in sortition to fill the role of Horizon Liaison, the role of Horizon Liaison shall be filled by the Horizon Delegate.

Subsection 3. Facilitator.

The Facilitator shall be responsible for organizing and chairing meetings of the Local and should be educated on the rules of parliamentary procedure. Previous Facilitators are expected (but not required) to help train new Facilitators. The term of the Facilitator shall be three months, concurrent with the term of the Secretary. In the event that there are not enough members in sortition to fill the role of Facilitator, the role of Facilitator shall be filled by the Onboarding Officer.

Subsection 4. Secretary.

The Secretary shall be responsible for keeping and maintaining the Local’s documents, including but not limited to:

• Meeting minutes,
• Working documents,
• Membership lists, and
• Records of resolutions and bylaws changes deliberated by the Local.

The term of the Secretary shall be three months, concurrent with the term of the
Facilitator.

Article V. Platform.

Section 1. Adoption of Federated Points of Unity.

The Local affirms the Points of Unity of the National.

Section 2. Local Points of Unity.

The Local shall reserve the right to adopt its own Points of Unity that are more closely pertinent to its mission as defined in Article II. These points shall not conflict with the Points of Unity affirmed in Section 1. Local Points of Unity shall only be adopted or amended by a three-fourths vote.

Article VI. Meetings and Discussion.

Section 1. Meetings.

The Local will hold general membership meetings no less often than once every three months. Meetings may be called sooner if a date and time is agreed upon by a quorum of members, or if a more frequent schedule is decided by a two-thirds vote. All official records of Local meetings shall be kept using encrypted software. All in-person Local meetings shall be immediately followed with a post-meeting social at an informally agreed-upon location.

Section 2. Discussion Space.

The Local will maintain a single digital discussion space open to all members. Instructions on how to access this space shall be given to newly approved members within a week following orientation. A repository of official Local documents shall be provided in a readily-accessible location within this space.

Article VII. Voting.

Section 1. Active Membership.

Members of the Local may cease to be members by inactivity, resignation, or expulsion by either the Local or National. Members who neither attend a meeting of Boston Horizon for more than 9 months, nor vote on a motion considered by Horizon for more than 6 months, or who express that they cannot or do not wish to remain active in Horizon will cease to be members and become Horizon Associates, unless they remain active in another Horizon working body. A member who wishes to permanently withdraw from the Local will be removed from the membership list at their request, rather than being marked as inactive.

Section 2. Local Quorum.

Quorum for Local meetings (i.e.. synchronous votes) shall be set at one-third of active membership (rounded up), or five members, whichever number is larger. Quorum for asynchronous votes shall be set at two-thirds of active membership (rounded up), or eight members, whichever number is larger. These numbers shall be posted in a location accessible by caucus members.

The Local shall establish a quorum requirement by polling its membership list at least once every six months. A quorum poll may be called early at the request of at least five members or by consensus of the General Meeting Facilitators, but no sooner than three months after the most recent quorum poll. The quorum poll should include a question indicating respondents’ availability to participate in general meetings, and the desired frequency of general meetings. Active membership is defined as the total number of respondents to the quorum poll, and quorum will be set at ⅔ of the active membership. Within one day after a quorum poll closes, the new quorum number should be announced to the membership. If no motion to alter the time and frequency of general meetings is made, or if such a motion is made and does not pass, the prior general meeting time and frequency stay in effect. Members shall remain free to make motions to alter the meeting time and frequency between quorum polls.

Section 3.

A motion is made by submitting the text of the motion in the primary discussion space of the Local. Motions must be seconded, and must specify a voting period, which may not be less than two weeks. Once a motion is submitted and seconded, the motion will be announced to the membership by email and in the primary discussion space and put up for an asynchronous vote. During this time, amendments may be offered. While all other motions shall require only one second, secondary motions (i.e, motions pertaining to a pending motion) must be seconded by four individuals, not including the author, before they may be considered for asynchronous voting (synchronous secondary motions shall only require one second). The voting period for an amendment is one week, and the voting period for the main motion will be extended by one week should the amendment pass. Members may change their votes at any time.

Section 4. Early ending to votes.

A motion may be passed early if the number of votes in favor is at least ⅔ (or ¾ in the case of bylaws amendments) of the active membership or the total number of votes, whichever is greater. A motion may be failed early if ⅔ of the active membership has voted against it. A motion may not be closed early if a related secondary motion is under consideration. Early closure of a motion that meets these requirements is not automatic or mandatory, and may be postponed at the discretion of the author or seconder of the motion or ⅔ of the Administrative Officers.

Section 5. Synchronous voting

Votes on motions may be held synchronously during a general meeting. The quorum for a synchronous vote is half the quorum for an asynchronous vote. A request by of ⅕members present at the general meeting shall cause the motion to be submitted for an asynchronous vote instead.

Section 6. Voting sub.

Motions of different types require different levels of support to pass.

• Motions related to the recall or discipline of a caucus officer or endorsee, amendments to main motions, and most procedural motions within a meeting require a simple majority to pass.
• Motions to end debate within a meeting, and main motions, such as approval of a statement, election of an officer, endorsement of a proposal or other general functions of the circle, require a ⅔ majority to pass.
• Motions to expel a member, or to amend the bylaws, points of unity, or other central documents of the Local, require a ¾ majority.

Section 7.

Statements of dissent from official Local statements or endorsements shall be published on Boston Horizon public-facing channels (e.g., official Local social media accounts or Horizon website) upon petition by ⅕ of active membership. The Local shall prominently disclaim such statements as the opinions of the signatories, and such statements should not be construed as official statements of the Local.