Jump to content
The Official RONR Q & A Forums

Petition specifications


Guest Elayne

Recommended Posts

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?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Who's Coming to Dinner

What does or doesn't constitute a proper petition is up to your organization to decide. Moreover, only your organization can determine if the chairman's failure to act constitutes an "absence" which empowers the vice-chairman to act. Since a lawsuit is involved, you may wish to consult an attorney.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Elayne, I concur with the answer by the guest above.  I'm weighing in simply because that guest, although very knowledgeable, is still posting as a guest and I suspect you would like to know that your advice is coming from someone who is actually a contributing member of the forum.  You can see how many posts our members have made and weigh our answers accordingly, but not so with guests who post. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...