Over the past several months, the ECC undertook a review of its bylaws to ensure they reflect the current structure and practices of the organization. A Bylaw Review Committee consisting of ECC President Dylan Pyne, Second Vice President Sharyn Lewis, and Secretary Sharon Makower Bench reviewed the bylaws and developed a set of proposed updates, which were approved by the ECC Board of Directors at its April 6, 2026 meeting to be presented to the membership for consideration at the April 29, 2026 Annual Meeting. The redlined version of the bylaws with the proposed updates can be found here. A clean version of the bylaws with the proposed updates can be found here.
Several proposed bylaw updates are grounded in the work of the ECC’s Select Committee to Review the Statuses of Edgemont’s Civic Association (SCRSECA). Established by President Pyne at the September 8, 2025 meeting of the ECC Board of Directors, the SCRSECA was chaired by Secretary Bench and vice chaired by Second Vice President Lewis. Additional SCRSECA committee members represented several Edgemont neighborhoods. The SCRSECA reviewed the governing documents and recent activity of the Edgemont community’s eight neighborhood associations, applied the ECC’s existing bylaw standards for determining whether an association is “active,” and found that only one Edgemont neighborhood association currently meets the definition of active status. The committee’s full report, adopted by the ECC Board of Directors at its March 2, 2026 meeting, may be found on the ECC website attached to the minutes of that meeting.
The amendments fall within three board categories, as discussed below.
Category 1 – Neighborhood Associations
New Article VIII delineates neighborhood associations and defines their relationship with the ECC. New Article VIII codifies the ECC’s role as the umbrella civic association for the Edgemont community, and allows neighborhood associations to operate within individual neighborhoods to engage residents and address local concerns.
The new article also:
⮚ Codifies the names of the neighborhood associations that have existed at various times during the history of Edgemont, corresponding to the eight Edgemont neighborhoods (Article VIII, Section 1)
⮚ Establishes standards for an association to be considered “active,” including holding an annual meeting, electing officers, and maintaining membership open to all adult residents of the neighborhood (Article VIII, Section 2)
⮚ Requires neighborhood associations seeking continued recognition to certify their active status annually to the ECC (Article VIII, Section 2)
⮚ Creates a process for reactivating an inactive neighborhood association, including notice to residents, adoption of bylaws, and election of officers (Article VIII, Section 3)
⮚ Provides that the ECC Board determines whether an association meets the requirements for recognition as active (Article VIII, Sections 2–3)
Category 2 – Neighborhood Directors
The proposed bylaws amendments codify the ECC’s practice of having at least one director from each of Edgemont’s eight neighborhoods to represent that neighborhood on the ECC Board, and establish a formal procedure for their annual election (Article V, Section 3). The eight Edgemont neighborhoods identified in the bylaws are: Central Park Avenue, Cotswold, Fort Hill, Greenridge, Longview, Northern Greenville, Old Edgemont, and Southern Greenville (Article I, Section 3; Article V, Section 3). Neighborhood directors serve one (1) year terms and must reside within the neighborhood they represent (Article V, Section 3).
The amendments update the structure of neighborhood representation to reflect current Edgemont practices, where only one neighborhood in Edgemont has an active neighborhood association. The amendments provide that Neighborhood Directors are generally nominated through the ECC Nominating Committee and elected by the membership at the Annual Meeting. Where a neighborhood does have an active neighborhood association under the proposed new Article VIII, that association may appoint a Neighborhood Director to represent the neighborhood on the ECC Board. In such cases, the duly elected president of that neighborhood association serves as an alternate who may participate and vote when the appointed Neighborhood Director is absent (Article V, Section 3).
This structure ensures that each neighborhood continues to have representation on the ECC Board while also continuing the long-standing practice of active neighborhood associations’ selecting their representatives.
Category 3 – Miscellaneous Administrative Improvements
These proposed bylaw amendments:
⮚ Add numerical numbers alongside each written number for clarity (throughout)
⮚ Resolve grammar and language issues (throughout)
⮚ Define “Neighborhood” as the eight neighborhoods in Edgemont for references elsewhere in the bylaws (Article I, Section 3)
⮚ Limit to two (2) the number of votes that may be cast from any one household at a membership meeting, while continuing to allow any number of eligible residents within a household to become ECC members and receive membership benefits. This change clarifies certain procedures for determining quorum and calling special meetings. (Article II, Section 1; Article III, Section 5)
⮚ Permit the Board of Directors to set a date for the annual meeting outside of the month of April if necessary (Article III, Section 1)
⮚ Clarify how members may call a special meeting (Article III, Section 2)
⮚ Extend the time for mailing written notice of the annual meeting to up to thirty (30) days prior to the meeting date (Article III, Section 3)
⮚ Clarify the approval threshold for members voting at meetings of the membership (Article III, Section 5)
⮚ Rename the “Elected Directors” to “At-Large Directors” (Article V, Section 2 and updates throughout)
⮚ Update the quorum requirement for meetings of the Board of Directors from nine (9) Directors to a majority of the Board of Directors (Article V, Section 4)
⮚ Add a provision describing how a vacancy in the office of a Neighborhood Director is filled (Article V, Section 5)
⮚ Clarify that no Director may serve longer than six (6) consecutive years, with no distinction for At-Large and Neighborhood Directors (Article V, Section 6)
⮚ Clarify that the President is a non-voting ex-officio member of all ECC committees, but may appoint a Vice President to serve on a committee in their place (Article VI, Section 2)
⮚ Expand the Executive Committee to include all five Officers and up to two (2) additional Directors appointed by the President and confirmed by the Board (Article VII, Section 1)
⮚ Clarify the functions and responsibilities of the ECC Nominating Committee (Article VII, Section 4)
⮚ Clarify when Directors and Officers begin their terms of office (Article IX, Section 3)
All members of the Edgemont Community Council are encouraged to vote on the proposed bylaw amendments at the ECC Annual Meeting on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, at 8:00 PM in the Seely Place APR.