Guest joyce adams Posted May 20, 2010 at 03:54 AM Report Share Posted May 20, 2010 at 03:54 AM if a council quorem meets privately to discuss cost of putting in new water lines with water resource people,and papers are signed,is that an illegal meeting? it wasn't posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim Goldsworthy Posted May 20, 2010 at 04:16 AM Report Share Posted May 20, 2010 at 04:16 AM All we can answer is if your action in question conforms to Robert's Rules.We do not practice law, and so we won't tell you if the action conforms to state law or federal law or tax code.Are you still interested in what RONR Tenth Edition says for such behavior? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nancy N. Posted May 20, 2010 at 05:23 AM Report Share Posted May 20, 2010 at 05:23 AM Joyce usually is., That's why she asks.Joyce. Remember that a quorum is not the people at a meeting. It is just the minimum number of members who have to be present - a number established in the governing documents (bylaws, in many cases, but apparently not of your council) of the organization.To determine whether this was a legitimate meeting, you need to ask whether the members knew about it. If the meetings are regularly scheduled in the document (such as, the third Tuesday evening of every month), then the members can be expected to know about it.Alternatively, the members would need to be notified. You say "it wasn't posted." Was it supposed to be posted?(I suspect that Joyce is a member, and found out about such a meeting after it was held. Yes?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted May 20, 2010 at 06:15 AM Report Share Posted May 20, 2010 at 06:15 AM is that an illegal meeting?So far as RONR is concerned, the council is free to meet in executive session. See RONR, 10th ed., pgs. 92-93.RONR does not require that meetings be posted. However, if this was a special meeting, all members of the council must be notified and the meeting must be called as prescribed in the council's rules. See RONR, 10th ed., pgs. 89-90.Since this is a public body, it is possible that state or local laws require that the meeting be posted or even that members of the public be allowed to attend the meeting. You should consult a lawyer if that is your concern. If you have not already done so by now, you should find info on the Open Meeting Law or "Sunshine Law" of your state (most likely available on the website of your state's Secretary of State), print it out, and keep it in your desk so you can refer to it the next time you ask a question and I direct you to it again. Your City Charter or City Code or whatever your city calls it may also have some relevant laws. If you have further concerns about state or local law, consult a lawyer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mccurtain Posted May 21, 2010 at 06:17 PM Report Share Posted May 21, 2010 at 06:17 PM Joyce usually is., That's why she asks.Joyce. Remember that a quorum is not the people at a meeting. It is just the minimum number of members who have to be present - a number established in the governing documents (bylaws, in many cases, but apparently not of your council) of the organization.To determine whether this was a legitimate meeting, you need to ask whether the members knew about it. If the meetings are regularly scheduled in the document (such as, the third Tuesday evening of every month), then the members can be expected to know about it.Alternatively, the members would need to be notified. You say "it wasn't posted." Was it supposed to be posted?(I suspect that Joyce is a member, and found out about such a meeting after it was held. Yes?)yes i am a member of council and no i wasn't notified,i found out by accident,i walked in on it. it was not a scheduled meeting.the director signed legal papers.there was no meeting scheduled Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mccurtain Posted May 21, 2010 at 06:19 PM Report Share Posted May 21, 2010 at 06:19 PM All we can answer is if your action in question conforms to Robert's Rules.We do not practice law, and so we won't tell you if the action conforms to state law or federal law or tax code.Are you still interested in what RONR Tenth Edition says for such behavior? yes i am. thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Cisar Posted May 21, 2010 at 10:44 PM Report Share Posted May 21, 2010 at 10:44 PM yes i am a member of council and no i wasn't notified,i found out by accident,i walked in on it. it was not a scheduled meeting.the director signed legal papers.there was no meeting scheduledIf the Director was not authorized by an appropriately called meeting or something in your rules, then the Director could be in trouble. The next properly called meeting could ratify the action. If the Director was authorized, then there is no problem. The Director may have wanted to consult some people before actually signing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmtcastle Posted May 21, 2010 at 10:54 PM Report Share Posted May 21, 2010 at 10:54 PM The next properly called meeting could ratify the action.What about the restriction on ratifying an action that could never have been authorized? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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