Multiple items in one action item

[Guest Jim Korte]

Question

In an upcoming school board meeting, our board president has a dozen employee contracts she wants us to vote on as a block.  I would like to pull one to vote on it separately so that I can support the remaining 11.  She says that if I want to pull it, then the majority of the board needs to approve pulling out that one item.  If it matters... no, we don't approve the agenda before the meeting.

So... should I be allowed to pull it out (like we can with consent agenda items)... or am I stuck?

[Kim Goldsworthy]

See DIVISION OF A QUESTION.

It certainly is in order to "pull out" one or several of the omnibus resolutions.

There are different criteria for (a.) pulling upon a demand of a single member, vs. (b.) pulling only upon a majority vote.

See The Book for what those differences are.

I don't know your situation as I have not read the block of text.

 

[Richard Brown]

1 hour ago, Guest Jim Korte said:

Question

In an upcoming school board meeting, our board president has a dozen employee contracts she wants us to vote on as a block.  I would like to pull one to vote on it separately so that I can support the remaining 11.  She says that if I want to pull it, then the majority of the board needs to approve pulling out that one item.  If it matters... no, we don't approve the agenda before the meeting.

So... should I be allowed to pull it out (like we can with consent agenda items)... or am I stuck?

You can probably insist on pulling out that one item, but it depends on the exact nature of the situation.  The motion "Division of a Question" is treated in RONR on pages 270-276.  If the contracts to be approved are separate contracts, it seems to me they each involve a different subject matter and must be divided upon the demand of a single member.  However, that is a determination that must be made depending on the circumstances.  It seems to me, from my distant vantage point, that each contract is a separate and distinct subject.   However, I don't get to have a say in this.

Here is the rule from page 274 of RONR re when a motion must be divided upon the demand of a single member:

"MOTIONS THAT MUST BE DIVIDED ON DEMAND. Sometimes a series of independent resolutions or main motions dealing with different subjects is offered in one motion. In such a case, one or more of the several resolutions must receive separate consideration and vote at the request of a single member, and the motion for Division of a Question [page 275] is not used. Such a demand (which should not be confused with a demand for a division of the assembly—that is, for a rising vote) can be made even when another has the floor, as in, "Mr. President, I call for a separate vote on Resolution No. 3." This demand must be asserted before the question on adopting the series has actually been put to vote. "

[Guest Jim Korte]

Thanks.

These are school administrator contracts.  So, at best, one can argue that they're all related because they are all "Administrators".  But, each contract is for a different independent administrator, and each administrator plays a different completely different roles in our school district.  Each contract can certainly stand on their own as a different motion.  

So... it really comes down to whether a majority vote is needed (using "DIVISION OF A QUESTION") --OR-- whether this is a motion that should be "DIVIDED ON DEMAND" (thus needing only one board member).  

Any other opinions?

 

[Dan Honemann]

4 minutes ago, Guest Jim Korte said:

Thanks.

These are school administrator contracts.  So, at best, one can argue that they're all related because they are all "Administrators".  But, each contract is for a different independent administrator, and each administrator plays a different completely different roles in our school district.  Each contract can certainly stand on their own as a different motion.  

So... it really comes down to whether a majority vote is needed (using "DIVISION OF A QUESTION") --OR-- whether this is a motion that should be "DIVIDED ON DEMAND" (thus needing only one board member).  

Any other opinions?

 

Based upon what you have posted, I agree that these proposals would have to be divided upon the request of any member, and that no motion or vote would be required.

[Gary Novosielski]

I agree that such motions, if offered as a block, must be divided on the demand of a single member.  They may be "related" in subject matter, but whether Alice Brown, or Charles Dumont should be hired as an administrator are clearly two separate and independent questions.

[Joshua Katz]

I agree.  There, I finally said something Mr. Honemann agrees with (unless he, unlike Winston Churchill, objects to what I just typed, or disagrees with the claim that I agree).