Bylaws June 2012

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BYLAWS

OF

THE OSSINGTON COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION

ARTICLE I

NameThe name of this Society shall be The Ossington Community Association.

ARTICLE II

ObjectSection 1. Object. The object of this Society shall be to Promote the Flourishingof the Neighbourhood and its Commercial Zones.Section 2. Boundaries.(a) Bounding Streets. The Neighbourhood is bounded by Queen Street West,Dovercourt Road, Harrison Street, and Crawford Street.

(b) Lands in Relation to Boundaries. The eastern and western Boundaries shallbe understood "inclusively", so that a lot abutting either side of either DovercourtRoad or Crawford Street is within the Neighbourhood; the southern Boundaryshall be understood "exclusively", so that a lot abutting Queen Street, with theexception of lots abutting Ossington Avenue, is not within the Neighbourhood;and the northern Boundary shall be understood "just partly inclusively", so that alot abutting Harrison Street to the south is within the Neighbourhood and a lotabutting Harrison Street to the north is not within the Neighbourhood.(c) Trinity-Bellwoods Park. The lands within Trinity-Bellwoods Park are not a "lot"under subsection (b).Section 3. Commercial Zones. The Commercial Zones of the Neighbourhood

include Lower Ossington and the Dundas Bend, where Lower Ossington is thesegment of Ossington Avenue located within the Neighbourhood and those lotsabutting this segment and the Dundas Bend is the segment of Dundas StreetWest located within the Neighbourhood and those lots abutting this segment.Section 4. Flourishing. The Flourishing of the Neighbourhood and its CommercialZones includes, but is not limited to:

The stability of the lands of the Neighbourhood

The quality of life for residents of the Neighbourhood The Vibrancy of the culture of the Neighbourhood, where this includes, but

is not limited to:o The Neighbourhood's persisting and historical importance as a

locus of Toronto's Portuguese communityo The Neighbourhood's persisting and historical importance as a

locus of Toronto's Vietnamese communityo The Neighbourhood's persisting and historical importance as a

locus of Toronto's arts and letters communityo The friendly, cooperative, and neighbourly relationships among

residents from among all Neighbourhood communities and acrossgenerations

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o The experimental spirit that has animated the development of the

Commercial Zones of the Neighbourhood into a leading City diningand nightlife destination

o The by-and-large cordial and cooperative relationship between the

business community of the Neighbourhood and its residents

o The supportive and engaged participation in Neighbourhoodinstitutions, especially the Givins-Shaw and Santo Cristo schools

o The supportive, safe, and enculturating upbringing available to the

children of the Neighbourhood and the respectful, safe,compassionate, and stimulating community life available to theseniors of the Neighbourhood

o The beauty and pride displayed in the Neighbourhood's many well-maintained homes and gardens

o The cordial and cheerful relationships among residents on display

in the Neighbourhoods sidewalks, porches, parks, and lanewayso The sustenance and development of civic engagement among all

participants in Neighbourhood life The Vigour of the business climate of the Commercial Zones of the

Neighbourhood, where this includes, but is not limited to:o The economic viability of existing businesses

o The generation and sustenance of a mix of businesses serving the

daily needs of residents of the Neighbourhoodo The continuity of the status of the Ossington Strip as a regional

destinationo The preservation of a mix of commercial and employment uses

o The preservation of the largely exceptionless pattern of local

business ownershipo The continuation of the prevailing independent, creative, and

entrepreneurial spirit among local business owners The Appropriateness of the built form of the Commercial Zones of the

Neighbourhood, where this includes, but is not limited to:o The maintenance of the Official Plan designation of the lands of the

Ossington Strip as Lowrise and of the function of the OssingtonStrip as a regional "piazza" or outdoor gathering-place framed withplaces of commerce catering in significant part to entertainment,relaxation, socializing, and cultural development and transmissionand of the currently unobtrusive interface with the great manyresidential lots backing onto its Mixed-Use lands

o The fit with existing built form and contribution to the Flourishing ofthe Neighbourhood of new development of the Dundas Bend inlight of the Official Plan designation of Dundas West west ofBathurst as an Avenue slated for Midrise development

o Any other considerations that may bear on the ability of the lands of

the Commercial Zones of the Neighbourhood to promote anyaspect of the Flourishing of the Neighbourhood and its CommercialZones


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The safety, cleanliness, and environmental health of the Neighbourhood The congenial and cooperative relations among residents of the

Neighbourhood, among businesses located within the Neighbourhood,between the residents of the Neighbourhood and the businesses locatedwithin the Neighbourhood, between these Neighbourhood bodies and

visitors to the Neighbourhood, and between this Neighbourhood and itsbodies and abutting Neighbourhoods and their bodies The Diversity of the Neighbourhood, where this includes, but is not limited

to:o The Neighbourhood's habitation by residents of a wide range of

ages, ethnocultural affiliations, income levels, occupations, andfamily-styles

o The Neighbourhood's status as a historically Portuguese

communityo The Neighbourhood's status as a historically Vietnamese

community

The congenial and cooperative relations between City and Provincialagencies (including, but not limited to, the Police Services) and theNeighbourhood, its institutions, its businesses, its residents, and itsvisitors.

Section 5. Promotion. To Promote the Flourishing of the Neighbourhood and itsCommercial Zones, the Society shall act in such ways to bring about, sustain,militate against the diminution of, or increase such Flourishing as the Societyorders, including, but not limited to:

Investigating or researching institutional, commercial, or governmentalactivities, bodies, conditions, proposals, or possibilities bearing on theFlourishing of the Neighbourhood and its Commercial Zones

Generating or promoting public awareness of institutional, commercial,and governmental activities, bodies, conditions, proposals, or possibilitiesbearing on the Flourishing of the Neighbourhood and its CommercialZones

Communicating or negotiating with institutional, commercial, orgovernmental bodies or taking legal action in regard to commercial andgovernmental activities, bodies, conditions, proposals, or possibilitiesbearing on the Flourishing of the Neighbourhood and its CommercialZones

Hiring such experts or professionals or purchasing such services orproducts or making any other transactions as the Society orders in service

of such investigation, research, generation, promotion, communication, ortaking of legal action or any other activity prescribed under this Section orotherwise ordered by the Society

Communicating, negotiating, entering into partnership or collaborationwith, or otherwise interacting cooperatively with other associations ororganizations concerning institutional, commercial, or governmentalactivities, bodies, conditions, proposals, or possibilities bearing on theFlourishing of the Neighbourhood and its Commercial Zones, or about any


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other matter contributory to congenial and cooperative relationships withsuch associations or organizations.

ARTICLE III

Members

Section 1. Maximum Membership. The membership of this Society shall not belimited in number.Section 2. Classes of Member. The Society shall have the following classes ofmember: Resident Member, Storefront Member, Friendly Member.Section 3. Eligibility and Admission Procedure.(a) Resident Member. Any adult resident of the Neighbourhood shall be eligiblefor membership. Any such person who appears at a regular meeting andrequests Resident Membership shall be declared a Resident Member of theSociety upon payment of the initiation fee and the annual dues for the first year.(b) Storefront Member. Any Non-Excluded Concern Permanently and In LargePart Operating Within the Commercial Zones of the Neighbourhood shall be

eligible for membership, provided that such Concern shall be proposed by onemember and seconded by another member of the Society. A proposal formembership, signed by the two endorsers, shall be sent to the RecordingSecretary, who shall report it, together with the names of the sponsors, at thenext regular meeting of the Society. Voting upon the admission shall take placeat the next regular meeting thereafter. A two-thirds vote shall elect tomembership. A Concern so elected shall be declared a Storefront Member of theSociety upon payment of the initiation fee and the annual dues for the first year.

Concern. This category includes, but is not limited to: a corporate bodysuch as a legal person, organization, institution, or business such as aretail store, restaurant, gym, bar, bakery, gallery, non-profit organization,

professional office, service provider, theatre, manufacturer, union office, ordistributor, or a natural person under the auspices of self-employedactivity of a commercial or otherwise "work"-like nature, such as activity asan artisan, artist, consultant, architect, caregiver, accupuncturist,accountant, or coach.

Excluded. The following categories of Concern are Excluded fromStorefront Membership: landowners, condominium corporations, or anyparties whose revenue within the Neighbourhood derives primarily fromDevelopment of land-holdings within the neighbourhood, where thisincludes but is not limited to the design, marketing, construction, planning,study, or management of commercial or residential or mixed-usestructures. This Exclusion does not deny eligibility as a Storefront Memberto a Concern which is also eligible under an included category, nor does itdeny eligibility as a Resident Member or Friendly Member to an individualwho is or is an agent of or participant in a Concern Operating Within theCommercial Zones of the Neighbourhood falling under one of theexcluded categories.

Operation Within. A Concern Operates Within the Commercial Zones ofthe Neighbourhood just when, as a natural person under the auspices of


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self-employed activity, that person practices over significant and regularintervals of time that activity on the premisses of those Commercial Zones;or, as a corporate body, that body transacts its aim over significant andregular intervals of time on the premisses of those Commercial Zones.

In Large Part. A Concern Operates In Large Part Within the Commercial

Zones of the Neighbourhood just when a significant portion of theConcern's revenue or other goal is realized in the course of OperationWithin those Commercial Zones, with the following qualifying stipulation: afranchisee or other licensee of a commercial Concern Operating Withinthe Commercial Zones of the Neighbourhood shall not be understood toOperate In Large Part Within the Commercial Zones of the Neighbourhoodwhen the revenue of the franchising or otherwise licensing Concern andthe collective body of its franchisees or other forms of licensees is notrealized in significant portion in the course of Operation Within theCommercial Zones of the Neighbourhood.

Permanency. A Concern is Permanently located within the Commercial

Zones of the Neighbourhood only if its business activities or do not in theirnature involve a significantly limited tenure to its activities within theseCommercial Zones. A Concern is NOT Permanently located within theCommercial Zones of the Neighbourhood if it is housed within a stand,cart, truck, or other moveable or nonpermanent structure, or if it is apresentation centre, pop-up shop or restaurant, seasonal sale shop, orother concern whose commercial activities are limited by time or by theremaining supply of a certain rare good.

(c) Friendly Member. Any resident of Toronto shall be eligible for membership,provided that such resident shall be proposed by one member and seconded byanother member of the Society. A proposal for membership, signed by the two

endorsers, shall be sent to the Recording Secretary, who shall report it, togetherwith the names of the sponsors, at the next regular meeting of the Society.Voting upon the admission shall take place at the next regular meeting thereafter.

A two-thirds vote shall elect to membership. A Resident so elected shall bedeclared a Friendly Member of the Society upon payment of the initiation fee andthe annual dues for the first year.Section 4. This section intentionally left blank.Section 5. Policy on Storefront Members. The Society's Policy on StorefrontMembers shall determine the size of the Slate assigned to a given StorefrontMember in consideration of such issues as the Storefront Member's tenure in theNeighbourhood, its revenues, its reputation as a good citizen, due considerationfor "double-counting" of merchants who are also residents, and the due balancebetween Storefront Member Slate Representatives and Resident Membernumbers in the Society.Section 6. Rights of Member Classes.(a) Resident Members. A Resident Member shall enjoy full rights and privilegesof membership.(b) Storefront Members. A Storefront Member shall be represented bodily inmeetings of the Society by its Slate. The Representatives on the Slate of a given


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Storefront Member may vary from meeting to meeting. A Representative of aStorefront Member may serve as an Officer of the Society, subject to thefollowing exclusions: that Representative shall personally run for that office andshall fulfill the duties of the office for the full term of that office; no StorefrontMember shall have more than one Representative serving as an Officer of the

Society at any time; the number of Storefront Member Representatives on theExecutive Board shall never number more than one-third of the Executive Board;a Storefront Member Representative shall never serve as President of theSociety.(c) Friendly Members. A Friendly Member shall enjoy full rights and privileges ofmembership, with the following exclusion: the nomination of a Friendly Memberas a candidate for office shall result in the candidacy of that member only subjectto approval by a two-thirds vote of the Executive Board. The number of FriendlyMembers on the Executive Board shall never number more than one-third of theExecutive Board; a Friendly Member shall never serve as President.Section 7. Initiation Fee and Dues. The Society shall set its initiation fee and

dues in accord with its Policy on Fees and Dues, where this Policy shall beformulated in a way to realize the following objectives: primarily by the objectiveof maximizing the portion of residents of the Neighbourhood who are members ofthe Society, secondarily by the objective of preserving congenial and cooperativerelations between the Society and the business community of theNeighbourhood, and tertiarily by the objective of generating revenue for anyoperational expenses the Society may incur.Section 8. Resignation from Membership. Any member desiring to resign fromthe Society shall submit his resignation in writing to the Recording Secretary,who shall present it to the Executive Board for action. No member's resignationshall be accepted until his dues are paid.

Section 9. Honorary Life Membership. Upon the signed recommendation of onemember, seconded by another member, and by a three-fourths vote by ballot atthe annual meeting, honorary life membership may be conferred upon an adultresident of the Neighbourhood who shall have rendered notable service to theSociety. An honorary member shall have none of the obligations of membershipin the Society, but shall be entitled to all of the privileges except those of makingmotions, of voting, and of holding office.

ARTICLE IV

OfficersSection 1. Officers and Duties. The Officers of the Society shall be a President, aVice-President, a Second Vice-President, a Recording Secretary, aCorresponding Secretary, a Treasurer, and four Directors. These Officers shallperform the duties prescribed by these bylaws and by the parliamentary authorityadopted by the Society.Section 2. Nomination Procedure, Time of Elections. At the regular meetingspecified in the Society's Policy on Meetings, a Nominating Committee of fivemembers shall be elected by the Society. It shall be the duty of this committee tonominate candidates for the offices to be filled at the annual meeting two months


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following that election. The Nominating Committee shall report at the regularmeeting in the intermediating month. Before the election at the annual meeting,additional nominations from the floor shall be permitted.Section 3. Ballot Election, Term of Office. The Officers shall be elected by ballot,to serve for one year and until their successors are elected, and their term of

office shall begin at the close of the annual meeting at which they are elected.Section 4. Office-Holding Limitations. No member shall hold more than one officeat a time, and no member shall be eligible to serve more than two consecutiveterms in the same office.

ARTICLE V

MeetingsSection 1. Schedule. The Society shall have regular meetings, one of whichannually shall be the annual meeting, and which shall be for the purpose ofelecting officers, receiving reports of officers and committees, and for any otherbusiness that may arise, according to the schedule specified in the Society's

Policy on Meetings.Section 2. Special Meetings. Special meetings may be called by the President orby the Executive Board and shall be called under circumstances specified in theSociety's Policy on Meetings. The purpose of the meeting shall be stated in thecall. Except in cases of emergency, at least three days' notice shall be given.Section 3. Quorum. The quorum shall be a number specified in the Society'sPolicy on Meetings.

ARTICLE VI

The Executive BoardSection 1. Board Composition. The officers of the Society, including the

Directors, shall constitute the Executive Board.Section 2. Board's Duties and Powers. The Executive Board shall have generalsupervision of the affairs of the Society between its business meetings, fix thehour and place of meetings, make recommendations to the Society, and performsuch other duties as are specified in these bylaws. The Board shall be subject tothe orders of the Society, and none of its acts shall conflict with action taken bythe Society.Section 3. Board Meetings. Unless otherwise ordered by the Board, regularmeetings of the Executive Board shall be held one week prior to each generalmeeting in accord with the Society's Policy on Meetings. Special meetings of theBoard may be called by the President and shall be called upon the writtenrequest of three members of the Board.Section 4. Resident Member Majority. The Executive Board shall always beconstituted in the majority by Resident Members.

ARTICLE VII

Committees


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Section 1. Steering Committee. A Steering Committee, the membership of whichshall not exceed 25, shall be elected at the annual meeting by ballot from amongnominees submitted in writing prior to the annual meeting or from the floor at theannual meeting, whose duty it shall be to advise the Officers of the Society onsuch matters of policy and operations as the Committee may deem appropriate.

No member shall be eligible to serve more than two consecutive terms on theSteering Committee.Section 2. Financial Committees. (a) Finance Committee. A Finance Committeecomposed of the Treasurer as chair and four other members shall be appointedby the President promptly after each annual meeting. It shall be the duty of thiscommittee to prepare a budget for the fiscal year beginning the first day of themonth in which the annual meeting occurs as specified in the Society's Policy onMeetings, and to submit it to the Society at its regular meeting in the previousmonth. The Finance Committee may from time to time submit amendments to thebudget for the current fiscal year, which may be adopted by a majority vote. (b)

Auditing Committee. In any fiscal year in which the Society's revenues or

expenditures are significant, an Auditing Committee of three members shall beappointed by the President at the meeting in which the budget is presented,whose duty it shall be to audit the Treasurer's accounts at the close of the fiscalyear and to report at the annual meeting.Section 3. Program Committee. A Program Committee of five members shall beappointed by the President promptly after the annual meeting, whose duty it shallbe to plan the annual program of the Society. This committee's report shall besubmitted to the Society for its approval at its regular meeting in accord with theSociety's Policy on Meetings.Section 4. Correspondance Committee. A Correspondance Committeecomposed of the Corresponding Secretary as chair and two other members shall

be appointed by the President promptly after the annual meeting, whose duty itshall be to oversee and direct the correspondance and other communicationsactivities of the Society.Section 5. Other Committees; President's Ex-Officio Committee Membership.Such other committees, standing or special, shall be appointed by the Presidentas the Society or the Executive Board shall from time to time deem necessary tocarry on the work of the Society. The President shall be ex officio a member of allcommittees except the Nominating Committee.

ARTICLE VIII

RegularizationSection 1. Duration. Regularization shall conclude at the time of election of aNomination Committee.Section 2. Continuity of Operations. Continuity of Operations shall be ensuredduring Regularization by the action of the Executive Board in good faith towardconformity with the parliamentary authority and bylaws and as necessary andproper toward the Object of this Society, those strictures notwithstanding,provided that action under this Section shall not significantly contravene Section1 or any other strictures necessary and proper thereunto.


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ARTICLE IX

Parliamentary AuthorityThe rules contained in the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order NewlyRevised shall govern the Society in all cases to which they are applicable and in

which they are not inconsistent with these bylaws and any special rules of orderthe Society may adopt.

ARTICLE X

Amendment of BylawsThese bylaws may be amended at any regular meeting of the Society by a two-thirds vote, provided that the amendment has been submitted in writing at theprevious regular meeting.


Documents

Bylaws June 2012