ARTICLE V

PART 1.

The headquarters of the Section shall be at the office of the Executive Director, except when some other location may be specifically designated by the Board.

PART 2.

All matters pertaining to the operation of the section shall be in accordance with the Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, and Governing Documents of the Association and with these bylaws.

ARTICLE VI

PART 1.

The Section shall be subdivided into geographic districts, which have boundaries as determined from time to time by the Board and shall be numbered or named by them.  The map showing the boundaries of the districts shall be included in the Illinois Section Standard Practices Manual.

PART 2.

The Board may formulate a guide for the formation, operation, and guidance of the districts and their Trustees.  This guide shall be used as bylaws for organized districts.  It shall encompass the form of district governments, district meetings, and liaison between the districts and the Board.  It may also provide for ways of financing district activities and meetings and for reporting of district affairs to the Board and to the Section.

PART 3.

The Board may, by majority vote, determine the number of District Trustees representing each district.

ARTICLE VII

PART 1.

The governing body of the Section shall be the Executive Board.  The Executive Board shall govern the Section in such manner as to be consistent with the Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, and Governing Documents of the Association.

PART 2.

The voting members of the Board shall consist of the Section officers, together with the District Trustees, who represent the Section districts as described in Article VI, Part 3 and the Trustee-at-Large, who represents the Section as a whole.  In addition, any member of the Section serving as an officer of the Association shall be a voting member of the Board.  Any member of the Section shall be eligible to hold office in the Section, except as noted for the office of District Trustee, Article IV, Part 3.

PART 3.

The officers shall consist of the Chair, Chair-Elect, Vice-Chair, Section Director, Secretary-Treasurer, the Executive Director, and the most recent available Past-Chair of the Section, each of whom must be a member in good standing of the Section.  The Executive Director shall be ex-officio--a non-voting member of the Board. 

PART 4.

The terms of office for the Chair, Chair-Elect, Vice-Chair, and Secretary-Treasurer shall be for approximately one year or until a successor is chosen.  The term of office of the Director shall be as provided for in the Bylaws of the Association.  The term of office of the District Trustees shall be for two years.  The term of office of the Trustee-at-Large shall be for two years.  The term of office for the Executive Director shall be as specified by contract, which shall include the starting date of the term.  The person holding this office shall serve at the pleasure of the Board, unless otherwise stated in the contract.  Terms of office for all members of the Board, except the Executive Director, shall start at the close of the last session of the Section annual meeting at which they were elected, and shall terminate at the close of the last session of the Section annual meeting at the expiration of their terms.

PART 5.

The Secretary-Treasurer and Executive Director shall not be limited in the number of terms that may be served in that office.  District Trustees may serve a total of two terms in that office.  The Trustee-at-Large shall serve for one term in that office.  The limit on the terms of office a Director may serve shall be as provided for in the Bylaws of the Association. All other officers shall serve for one term in any specific office.  Any officer may be elected to a different office for which that person is eligible, and then be subject to the term limitations of that office, except for a person that has been elected as Trustee-at-Large.  A person that has been elected Trustee-at-Large and is subsequently elected District Trustee, may only serve one term as District Trustee.  A person who has served two terms as District Trustee is not eligible for the Trustee-at-Large office..  A person appointed to fill an office which has become vacant between elections shall not have that partial term count in determining eligibility for re-election to future terms.  An appointed partial term alone shall not grant eligibility for another office for which the appointed office is a prerequisite.

ARTICLE VIII

PART 1.

The Section Chair shall appoint, with the consent of the Board, a Nominating Committee consisting of three Past-Chairs of the Section and two members of the Section who are not members of the Board, none of whom are to be considered as potential candidates.  The Section Chair shall designate the Chair of the Committee typically the Immediate Past-Chair. At the Fall Board meeting, the Committee shall report to the Section Chair and the Secretary-Treasurer the name of at least one candidate for each office which will be open at the end of the next succeeding annual meeting. 

PART 2.

The nominee for Chair shall be the current Chair-Elect.  The nominee for Chair-Elect shall be the current Vice-Chair.  If for any reason the current Chair-Elect is unwilling or unable to serve, the Board shall specify to the Nominating Committee the requirements which the nominee must meet. Nominees for Vice-Chair must be serving or have served an elected term as District Trustee, Trustee-at-Large, Secretary, Treasurer, or Secretary-Treasurer of the Section.  Nominees for Director must be serving or have served as Chair of the Section.  In the event that no Past-Chairs are available, the Committee must then select a person who is serving, or has served on the Section Board.

PART 3.

The Board shall determine by majority vote the detailed balloting procedure, which must comply with the Bylaws and Governing Documents of the Association and have the following elements:

a.     There shall be a secret ballot.

b.     All members in good standing shall have the opportunity to vote.

c.     Balloting shall end at least seven days (as determined by the postmark or date of email) before the opening of the annual Section meeting.

d.     There shall be adequate time from the time of receipt of ballots by the members until balloting is ended.

e.     Each ballot shall clearly state the nominees for each office and the office for which they are candidates, with space to write in another name for each office except Chair.

f.      Election shall be by a plurality of all votes cast for each office.  In cases of a tie, the Board members shall be polled to select which of the tied candidates shall be chosen.  A majority of the Board shall be required for election.

g.     District Trustees shall be elected by members of the respective districts.  The location of employment, or for retired members, location of residency, shall be used to establish district membership/assignment.

h.     Trustee-at-Large shall be elected by the members in good standing and not represent a specific group of members.  The Trustee-at-Large shall be a member in good standing.

Any voting procedure determined by the Board shall remain in effect until changed by the Board. The effective date of any change shall be at least one month before the nomination of candidates for the next regular election.

PART 4.

If the vacancy in an office occurs between annual meetings, the Chair shall appoint a member of the Section to fill such vacancy for the unexpired term of the office.  The appointment shall be subject to confirmation by a majority vote of the Board.

If a vacancy in the office of Director occurs during a term, the Chair shall nominate one or two persons for election by a majority vote of the Board.  Prerequisites as indicated in Part 2, this article, apply.

PART 5.

The voting members of the Board may, by resolution passed by a majority of not less than two thirds (2/3) of the votes of such members at a duly called meeting of the Board, remove any Board member or committee chair before the expiration of his or her period of office.  A vacancy created by the removal of a Board member may be filled by the voting members at the meeting at which the Board member or committee chair is removed, or if not so filled may be filled by a quorum of Board members.

ARTICLE IX

The Board shall formulate a guide for Section officers, District Trustees, and Trustee-at-Large, to be known as the Illinois Section Standard Practices Manual, detailing their duties and responsibilities, and containing a copy of the Section bylaws and any other information about the Section which the Board believes should be included.  Any standard practice adopted by the Board shall remain in effect until changed by the Board.  Each officer and Trustee, upon entering into an office, shall receive a copy of all, or pertinent sections, of the Standard Practices Manual.

The Director shall represent the section on the Board of Directors of the American Water Works Association, and shall act to work with the Chair and other members of the Section Board of Trustees to coordinate and unify the actions of both the Association and the Section.

ARTICLE X

PART 1.

The Board shall have committees as needed to conduct the Association and Section programs and business.  The Board shall govern such committees, as well as have the power to dissolve them when deemed necessary.

PART 2.

All committees shall act in accordance with policies and procedures in the Illinois Section Standard Practices Manual.

PART 3.

At the first meeting of the Board at the close of each annual meeting the Chair shall, with the consent of the Board, adopt a list of committees for that year.   The Chair may, from time to time, appoint such additional standing and ad hoc committees which are required to properly conduct the business of the Section.

PART 4.

It shall be the duty of the Section Chair, with the consent of the Board, to charge each committee with a specific task consistent with goals and objectives expressed in the Section Strategic Plan.

ARTICLE XI

PART 1.

The dates and place of each annual meeting of the Section shall be fixed by the Board.  The annual meeting may include a business meeting to conduct such business of the Section as may be necessary and technical sessions for the presentation and discussion of water supply industry topics and issues.  All business meetings shall be conducted according to the most recent edition of Roberts' Rules of Order.

PART 2.

Special meetings of the Section may be called by the Board.

PART 3.

The notice of any annual or special meeting of the Section shall be mailed to each member of the Section at least 30 days prior to the meeting and shall state the business to be considered.  The Executive Director shall attest to such mailing.

PART 4.

A quorum for the transaction of business at any annual or special meeting of the Section shall be 50 members in good standing.

ARTICLE XII

PART 1.

A meeting of the Board may be held immediately after the adjournment of the annual meeting of the Section.

PART 2.

The Board shall hold at least one additional meeting prior to the next annual meeting of the Section. It may hold additional meetings as called by the Section Chair.  At the request of two members of the Board, additional meetings shall be called by the Secretary-Treasurer at a reasonably convenient time and location.

PART 3.

Action on any matter may be taken by the Board by mail ballot, providing that all voting members of the Board are polled and that a majority of the Board shall indicate acceptance or rejection of the question.  A poll of the voting Board members, by electronic means, may be substituted for a letter ballot when time is of the essence.

PART 4.

A quorum at any meeting of the Board shall be a majority of the voting Board members.  Decisions by the Board shall be by a majority vote of those present.

ARTICLE XIII

SECTION FINANCES

PART 1.

Dues: Dues shall be assessed against members as required for membership in AWWA.  The section may, in accordance with the procedures defined in the Governing Documents and established guidelines of AWWA, apply for permission to levy a special dues assessment.  The special assessment would be levied annually at the time of membership renewal, and the revenue collected would be used to increase the funds available for section uses consistent with AWWA objectives and policies.