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Change in proposal after motion to present it


bmunroe

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Our Executive Board made a motion to present a proposal regarding officer compensation to our membership. A few weeks after the motion, but before the proposal could be presented to the membership, it has come to light that one portion of the proposal is not possible to implement, rendering the portion essentially null and void. Does this invalidate the rest of the proposal?  Does the executive board need to re-vote on this matter before we present to the membership? Can the invalidated portion of the proposal be stricken without the board taking a vote?

 

Thanks

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A VERY formal way to take care of the problem  --  which can turn into a teaching moment for parl procedure  --  would be for the ExecBoard spokesman to move to adopt the original motion, warts and all, exactly as the ExecBoard adopted.  Then have someone (a set up, of course) move to amend the original motion by striking out (or whatever is appropriate) the text that you have discovered to be impossible to implement.  Then, when the amendment is adopted, the cleaned up motion can be adopted (or defeated, of course!) with no danger of adopting nullities, or whatever.

Parl proc, when used formally, can solve all sorts of problems.   (On Saturday evenings, we have an answer to anything here.)

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Agreeing with Dr. Stackpole (who, unlike some doctors, has not been removed from a plane, so far as I know), it also seems likely that the EB could make use of the motion to amend something previously adopted in order to, well, amend the thing they previously adopted, if there's another meeting before the presentation.  Even if notice is needed and has been given, and it is too late to amend, it sounds like the change would be within the scope of notice.

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15 hours ago, jstackpo said:

A VERY formal way to take care of the problem  --  which can turn into a teaching moment for parl procedure  --  would be for the ExecBoard spokesman to move to adopt the original motion, warts and all, exactly as the ExecBoard adopted.  Then have someone (a set up, of course) move to amend the original motion by striking out (or whatever is appropriate) the text that you have discovered to be impossible to implement.  Then, when the amendment is adopted, the cleaned up motion can be adopted (or defeated, of course!) with no danger of adopting nullities, or whatever.

Parl proc, when used formally, can solve all sorts of problems.   (On Saturday evenings, we have an answer to anything here.)

I agree with this. Furthermore, if the executive board is meeting before the membership meeting, then the Board could consider adopting a motion recommending the amendment to the membership so that it is clear that the board agrees with this version.

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14 hours ago, Alexis Hunt said:

 

I agree with this. Furthermore, if the executive board is meeting before the membership meeting, then the Board could consider adopting a motion recommending the amendment to the membership so that it is clear that the board agrees with this version.

I'm not sure I know what you mean when you say that the Board "could consider adopting a motion recommending the amendment to the membership".

If it has an opportunity to do so, then the Board should itself amend its own proposal before reporting it to the membership for adoption.  Under no circumstances should the Board agree to report to the membership that it recommends the adoption of something which it does not think should be adopted.

If the Board has no opportunity to amend its report prior to the membership meeting, then the reporting member of the Board must report to the membership exactly what it was that the Board agreed to report.

 

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Just now, Alexis Hunt said:

It may be that the original form of the motion is locked in, however (for instance, due to it having been sent out in a notice), but there is still opportunity for the Board to recommend an amendment from that form.

Even if required notice of the Board's proposal has been given and it is too late to give another, no rule requires that the Board actually recommend adoption of the proposal in the noticed form. The Board may recommend adoption of any motion, so long as what it recommends be adopted falls within the scope of the notice given. If it doesn't, the board should report no recommendation. If notice is required only for the purpose of reducing the voting threshold for adoption, the Board may recommend anything it wishes.

Again, all of this assumes that the Board has an opportunity to amend its report prior to the membership meeting.

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