Progressive Populist Caucus of the Texas Democratic Party
Job Descriptions – Steering Committee Officer as of Annual Meeting 2007

Chair Emeritus – The Chair Emeritus has the following duties, but is not a voting member of the Steering Committee:

• Providing institutional memory and continuity to the future work of the Caucus. 
• Mentoring the Steering Committee and the Chair in their work, advising and counseling on their undertakings
• Serving as an ambassador at large in the Democratic Party
• Serving as the Caucus’ official representative at the request of the Chair

Chair – The Chair is the chief executive officer responsible for overall administration of the work of the Caucus, including the following:

• Directing all business
• Leading the steering committee in planning and accomplishing work
• Setting meeting agendas, calling meetings to order, announcing business, presiding over meetings, putting questions to a vote, recognizing members.
• Representing the Caucus as official representative and public spokesperson to the
• TDP and all other official occasions
• Appointing committees as authorized by the standing rules with the consent of the steering committee
• Serving as an ex-officio member of all committees
• Sign checks for approved expenditures in the absence of the Treasurer
• Serving at Chair Emeritus when term as Chair ends 

Past Chair – the Past Chair refers to the officer serving in the immediate previous term and is a voting member of the Steering Committee.

Executive Vice Chair – The Executive Vice Chair has the following duties:

• Serving in the absence of the Chair, to preside over meetings, serving as the Caucus’ official representative at the request of the Chair
• Serving out the unexpired term of the Chair, due to illness, resignation or death
• Taking charge of a special scope of work in carrying out the plans and strategy of the caucus as assigned by the Chair

Secretary – The Secretary has the following duties:

• Recording meeting discussions / decisions and distribute to Caucus members and ensuring  the information is also posted to the website
• Researching and implementing additional communication needs (conference calling, internet based contact, etc...)
• Working closely with the state chair regarding data gathering and management.
• Providing internet based technology for the Caucus website and facilitating communication and discussion with statewide Caucus regions.
• Working closely with other chairs to ensure that their technology needs are met.

• Managing and reporting information regarding Caucus monetary account status
• Submitting an annual budget for the Caucus
• Administering the PayPal  program and tracking donations from the Caucus web page
• Signing checks for approved expenditures

Membership Chair – The Membership Chair has the following duties:

• Developing the Caucus membership and membership materials
• Coordinating with Caucus regional VPs who require assistance in their respective regions.
• Devising ideas / plans for how to increase membership while working closely with the secretary, regional, and diversity chairs.

Sergeant at Arms /Parliamentarian – The Parliamentarian / Sergeant at Arms has the following duties:

• Serving as  the chief security officer to preserve order within the Caucus so that a meeting may progress in a productive way
• Taking roll at the beginning of a meeting to determine whether a quorum is present.
• Maintaining a current roster of Steering Committee members and general membership
• Determining seven days before a scheduled Steering Committee meeting whether or not a quorum will be present by telephoning or e-mailing each Steering Committee member to allow for rescheduling of the meeting if necessary
• Providing a membership list and volunteers at general meetings to sign in members/guests attending the meeting, and dispensing voter cards to members
• Providing sufficient copies of agendas, handouts, name tags, supplies
• Assisting the Chair with special projects
• Ensuring that meetings are run based on Robert's Rules of Order
• Ensuring that the Caucus operates according to parliamentary rules and procedures
• Providing resolution conflict should any arise
• Serving as a resource for TDP rules and regulations, as well as various operational considerations.

Regional Vice Chairs - The regional chair is responsible for organizing the local PPC members around the goals of the state PPC that apply to that region.   This involves:

• Leading local meetings with prepared agendas focusing on regional efforts and organizing work groups or sub-committees to implement those efforts
• Encouraging local members to participate in their county Democratic party activities in order to leverage the PPC viewpoint into the county party.
• Attending other local democratic club meetings
• Working with the Membership Chair to recruit new members
• Forming work groups to organize local voting precincts, including the training of precinct chairs, training of precinct chair trainers, locating precinct chair vacancies, and offering precinct chair “captains” to assist existing precinct chairs.

• Conducting training and facilitating an author’s ability to post their own content.
• Maintaining the PPC mailing lists.
• Managing and regulating the access rights of PPC members or users of the website.
• Responsibility for the website appearance and navigation.
• Reading and responding to user feedback and complaints about site functionality.