What is the District Council?

Sometimes called the DC, the District Council is comprised of the following members of District 23:

  • All DEC members (see below)
  • All club Presidents
  • All club Vice Presidents Education

District 23 holds two District Council meetings each year, one during each district conference. These are often listed in the conference agendas as Business Meetings. These meetings are used to consider and vote on items such as approving budgets, electing district officers, changing district procedures and bylaws, re-aligning clubs, and other district business.

Any Toastmaster may attend a District Council meeting and a conference registration is not required to do so. However, only the voting members of the District Council (listed above) may make motions, discuss motions, vote, and transact other business. At times, non-DC members may be asked to deliver reports of some kind and these Toastmasters will be notified in advance of the need for them to speak.

Either the club president or vice president education of any member club may designate, in writing, any active individual member of the club to act as a proxy for him or her at any district council meeting. In the event one of those officers is not in attendance at the meeting and has not designated, in writing, an active individual member of the club to act as his or her proxy at such meeting, the officer or proxyholder in attendance shall be deemed to hold the proxy of the other and may therefore cast two votes at such meeting. The intent of this provision is to assure that every club will be represented by two votes. No other proxies shall be valid at a district council meeting. A written proxy, to be valid at a district council meeting, must contain all the elements set forth in Toastmasters International policy and must be delivered personally, by mail, by fax, by e-mail, by electronic transmission, or by other reasonable means to the club member who will hold the proxy. The proxy holder must present the proxy in paper form (i.e., print out an e-mail) to the credentials desk. If the proxy does not bear a handwritten signature, it must have the typed name of the club officer(s) giving the proxy or some other indication that the club officer(s) authorized the proxy to be given. A proxy that complies with these requirements shall be treated as valid so long as the credentials desk has no reason to believe that the proxy was not authorized. A proxy holder cannot transfer or assign a proxy to someone else. A valid proxy delivered to the proxy holder is revoked only if the club officer who gave the proxy takes one of the following subsequent actions: he or she destroys the proxy, cancels the proxy in writing, issues another proxy authorized at a later date, or actually attends the district council meeting. (Source: Toastmasters International District Administrative Bylaws, Article X(d).)

Find the club officer proxy in the box at the top of this page.

What is the District Executive Committee?

Often referred to as the DEC (pronounced like “deck”,) the District Executive Committee is comprised of all District 23 officers:

  • All Area Directors
  • All Division Directors
  • Public Relations Manager
  • Administration Manager
  • Finance Manager
  • Club Growth Director
  • Program Quality Director
  • District Director
  • Immediate Past District Director (or Governor in 2015-16)

Committee chairs such as those of the Audit Committee, District Leadership Committee, Conference Committee, etc, are not members of the DEC unless they are also district officers. Apart from these leadership roles, only individuals who are invited by the district director and have specific business before the committee may attend district executive committee meetings. In order to conduct business at these meetings, a quorum is required. A quorum is established when a majority of district executive committee members attend the meeting.

The district executive committee reviews and approves the District Success Plan; approves the budget and oversees the financial operation of the district; recommends the assignment of clubs to areas and divisions; reviews recommendations and reports of district committees, including those of the audit committee; and performs any duties assigned by the district council.

(Source: Toastmasters International District Administrative Bylaws, Article XI(a).)