Privileged Adjournment with Rotating Membership

[Sean Hunt]

When a board or other body that is continuously constituted but with rotating membership (whether only part of the membership or the whole membership will change) is at its last meeting before its term (or the term of part of its members) expires, as described on pages 237 and 488-489 of RONR, does this constitute a dissolution of the assembly which consequently requires all motions to Adjourn be main motions (p. 234)? If not, what distinguishes this case from a convention which does dissolve at the conclusion of the last meeting? Does the possibility of a special meeting in between the last adjournment and the expiry of the term of office change anything?

[Edgar Guest]

If not, what distinguishes this case from a convention which does dissolve at the conclusion of the last meeting?

 

Might it not be that (except in rare instances) a board is never without members?

 

In other words, a convention may come to an end but, as Faulkner might say, the board endures.

[Kim Goldsworthy]

When a board or other body that is continuously constituted

but with rotating membership

(whether only part of the membership or the whole membership will change)

is at its last meeting before its term (or the term of part of its members) expires,

as described on pages 237 and 488-489 of RONR,

does this constitute a dissolution of the assembly which consequently requires all motions to Adjourn be main motions (p. 234)?

If not, what distinguishes this case from a convention

which does dissolve at the conclusion of the last meeting?

Does the possibility of a special meeting in between the last adjournment and the expiry of the term of office change anything?

While The Book does not explicity give a definition, I think one clue is that

* the general membership, as a body, has no beginning and no end.

* a convention, as a body, has an explicit beginning and an explicit end.

[Sean Hunt]

* the general membership, as a body, has no beginning and no end.

 

I'm not talking about the general membership, however. RONR states that, when a board replaces some or all of its membership on a regular, periodic basis, then after each such replacement it is effectively a new assembly. Business cannot, for instance, be postponed over the boundary. There is an explicit beginning and an explicit end: it ends and the next board begins right when the terms of office of the new members starts.

 

I agree fully that the general membership is not affected in any way, and nor is a board affected by filling casual vacancies that may arise (although that raises another question, which I'll post in another thread).

[Dan Honemann]

When a board or other body that is continuously constituted but with rotating membership (whether only part of the membership or the whole membership will change) is at its last meeting before its term (or the term of part of its members) expires, as described on pages 237 and 488-489 of RONR, does this constitute a dissolution of the assembly which consequently requires all motions to Adjourn be main motions (p. 234)? If not, what distinguishes this case from a convention which does dissolve at the conclusion of the last meeting? Does the possibility of a special meeting in between the last adjournment and the expiry of the term of office change anything?

 

I think the answer to your first question is no, and that the answer to your last question is also no, but I'm afraid that I can't respond quite so easily to the one in the middle.

[George Mervosh]

I think the answer to your first question is no, and that the answer to your last question is also no, but I'm afraid that I can't respond quite so easily to the one in the middle.

 

I'm confused as well, since p. 238 seems to answer the question regardless of any membership change.  But I'm gathering it's not so, or not so simple.

 

Also, isn't it a fact that the 15th 2FP Convention can never exist again once it adjourns, but the Board of the 2FP cannot go out of existence, regardless of membership change or that the date for a future meeting has not been set?

[Sean Hunt]

I'm confused as well, since p. 238 seems to answer the question regardless of any membership change.  But I'm gathering it's not so, or not so simple.

 

Hmm, thanks for pointing this out, I missed that!

 

But what if the meetings of the board in question are fixed (such as an executive board which, by bylaw, meets regularly on the first Monday of every month)?

[George Mervosh]

But what if the meetings of the board in question are fixed (such as an executive board which, by bylaw, meets regularly on the first Monday of every month)?

 

This seems like the same question #1 in your original post, except for the added fact that they meet regularly.  So there is no dissolution of the body, therefore in my view the motion would still be privileged unless p. 234 1) or 2) apply.

[Shmuel Gerber]

Technically it's not the adjournment at the last meeting that causes the "old" board to pass out of existence, but the end of the term of office of (some or all of) its members.

[Richard Brown]

Technically it's not the adjournment at the last meeting that causes the "old" board to pass out of existence, but the end of the term of office of (some or all of) its members.

That is my thinking, too.  The "old" board exists until its existing members cease to be members.

[Edgar Guest]

The "old" board exists until its existing members cease to be members.

 

Some? Or all?

[Richard Brown]

Some? Or all?

"some or all".  I was afraid someone would  pick up on that.  And I figured it would be you.  :-)

 

The sentence should read, "The "old" board exists until some or all of its existing members cease to be members."

 

Or just some of them.  "The "old" board exists until some of its existing members cease to be members".

 

Take your pick.

 

Edited to add:  "by virtue of their terms expiring".

[Dan Honemann]

But what if the meetings of the board in question are fixed (such as an executive board which, by bylaw, meets regularly on the first Monday of every month)?

 

This makes no difference. The answers remain the same.