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Our Bylaws allow a Chair to call a special meeting. They also allow for the Committee to call a special meeting..... "called by the Committee with a written request of 1/3 of the members, the Chair then has 15 days after such written request has been filed with the Chairman. Upon failure to do so, any such member can give notice 5 days before such meeting. Notices of special meetings shall state the purpose of such meetings." What I would like to know is this.....if the members submit a petition with the 1/3 of the members signatures and a stated purpose to discuss purchasing office furniture, can the Chair call the special meeting to discuss events instead or do they have to call the meeting to discuss purchasing office furniture?

Several years back, allegheny county (pa) enacted clean air laws for bars, restaurants and clubs. Certain establishments were eligible for exemption from this, however paperwork had to be filed with the county indicating intent. Our club members chose to remain smoking, the board voted and the paperwork was filed. The current board has decided to overturn this decision to the dismay of many regular members. Is this allowed? Can one board overturn another boards decision? One which will surely effect the club financially? Several members have already indicated they will not come down anymore and will be asking for a refund of their dues? The members have started a petition, to which some of the board said is illegal? Can this be right? Please...any help with this would be greatly appreciated!

The chairman holds all power to call a special meeting. Having submitted a petition to call a special meeting with ample names he is rejecting my petition because it lacks signatures and now refuses to call a meeting until I submit a signed petition. The issue of the petition for a special meeting is to remove the chairman and to discus a lawsuit we are now facing because of our bylaws inconsistency with state law. The current by-laws state, Special meetings of the X Committee may be called by the Y Chairman or by petition to the Y Chairman by twenty (20) percent of the X Committee members. The chairman shall call the meeting within fourteen (14) days of receiving the petition. A written notice shall be sent to each member of the X Committee, by electronic or US Postal Service, specifying the purpose of the meeting five (5) days prior to the meeting. RONR (11th ed.) p. 438, I. 9-16 is the only indexed reference to petitions and offers suggestions for what to include. Looking at special meetings I find RONR (11th ed.) p. 92, I. 13-26 specifies what bylaws should prescribe RONR (11th ed.) p. 576 makes no mention of petitions RONR (11th ed.) p. 586 shows only a sample bylaw petition provision for calling a special meeting Parliamentary Authority is granted to RONR "in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with the by-laws or any special rules (none) adopted by the X Committee, Federal or State Law. I don't think the state or federal law is interested in how we define petition for calling a special meeting so the focus is at RONR. Am I missing something? I think this is simply a delay tactic by the chairman. Even the notice for the meeting says written where the petition could be verbal, since the specificity of written is not clearly stated in the same paragraph. Would a written petition with ample names, contact method, and standing in the committee certified with the following statement I declare that the above members have instructed me to include their names on this request ___ signed and dated followed by a received ___signed and dated (by the chairman) suffice to meet the requirement of our current by-laws? Ideally the by-laws would be more clear as to what a petition is, but it is what we have right now. If the chairman refuses to call a meeting in 14 days would the vice-chairman be expected to act in the chairman's absence as prescribed in the vice-chairman's duties?