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Gary Novosielski

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Everything posted by Gary Novosielski

  1. I may have misunderstood--which side of this conflict are you on? Are you looking for a way to ensure that the chair does not prevail, or are you looking for a way to pass the motion, notwithstanding the conflict with the bylaws?
  2. Did you see Greg Goodwiller's answer above, which answered that question rather completely? I.e., a Point of Order, potentially followed by an Appeal.
  3. I don't know what "something in an entry" means. But if you have a state regulation that says only certain topics may be discussed in executive session, then no other topics may be discussed. State law supersedes the rules in RONR--read it carefully, and don't accept what others tell you it says. The regulation may also state how the motion to go into executive session must be phrased, what motions can or cannot be made in executive session (even for allowed topics), and may have rules on how long and under what conditions the minutes remain secret. If members stray from the allowed topic or, if the regulations so require, from the scope of the notice given in the motion, and if a friendly reminder goes unheeded, you should protect yourself by raising a point of order that this discussion violates the regulation, and then follow up to make certain that your objection and the chair's ruling are recorded in the minutes.
  4. Unless I missed it, we still don' know if you are a member of this board. Your "job" may vary, depending.
  5. Another way of determining a majority: To be elected, a candidate must receive more votes than all the other candidates put together.
  6. No, you don't need to ask Minnie and Goofy anything, since they weren't elected, and they were never nominated, and even if they were nominated, accepting is not actually a thing. There's no need to hold a new election (technically just a second ballot) because Mr. Duck received a majority on the first ballot. If there were enough write-ins to deny Duck a majority, but not enough for one of the write-ins to be elected, then a second ballot would be required, but there's still no need to ask anybody any questions. The only question that needs to be answered is whether the person actually elected will accept the office. And if they're present at the meeting, the answer is immediate.
  7. I seek recognition to offer an alliterative point of personal propane privilege and pun punishment. [CAUTION: Incorrigible punster; do not incorrige.]
  8. RONR does not have any rules that directly apply to your President's authority to have checks issued. These rules would have to be found in your bylaws or standing rules. However, even if the rules allow the President to distribute funds without prior approval, I doubt they would permit such an action in the face of an explicitly adopted motion by the membership to the contrary. Interpreting and applying them, however, is up to your organization to do. Check your bylaws regarding discipline of officers and members If there's nothing there, RONR has an entire chapter (Ch. XX) regarding discipline. Also, check FAQ #20 here. Even if you don't want to remove the President, it's good to know the full lay of the land before proceeding.
  9. Reports from committees (which typically contain recommendations) are not included in the minutes, they are simply placed on file. Recommendations from an individual would probably be handled in the same way. But if you make your recommendation as a motion, the text of the motion will be included in the minutes automatically (even if it is voted down).
  10. If the agenda has been adopted, the motion to Amend Something Previously Adopted has a higher vote threshold and would, therefore, be more difficult to pass than simply allowing the matter to come up normally and then moving to Postpone it or Refer it to a committee. However, as a practical matter, if an item is truly controversial, I have doubts that putting it off is likely to be beneficial. Controversial items seldom go away on their own, especially if a sizable segment of the membership believes that another segment is trying to prevent discussion from taking place.
  11. Note that in the message above I accidentally edited and then restored some text in the quote box. Upon saving the post, the odd-looking top-borderless quote box appeared, and the Edit link does not work. This appears to be a repeatable bug.
  12. Under the conditions described, the President would remain the presiding officer of the meeting. I had many occasions to present awards and other certificates of recognition during school board meetings. Typically I would leave the physical chair and go to a microphone closer to the general public. A member seated nearest to that location would have a copy of the list of recipients and would wrangle the pile of award folders and hand me the proper folder for the next name. This saved considerable time. On completion of the awards, I would announce from that position that, without objection, the board would be in recess at the call of the chair. This allowed all present to partake of light refreshments supplied by parent organizations and allowed board members to congratulate recipients personally, before resuming the meeting.
  13. The IMPORTANT 1st message pinned to the top of the General forum says that new questions should be posed by pressing the Start New Topic button. Apparently, the upgrade has changed things, and there is no longer a button, but rather a pull-down list, and it is labeled +Create. When opened, the first choice is Topic. To avoid confusion, the message should probably be updated. BTW, the link within the message to Start New Topic still works.
  14. The motion is defeated--the same as if the vote were anything else less than a majority.
  15. The temptation was great in a case or two. And I know of at least one case where a motion to add "with regret" was not agreed to.
  16. Good. When I first read the question, it occurred to me that it would be beneficial to be able to elect a chair pro-tem (and in this scenario a secretary pro tem as well) even in the absence of a quorum, but I wasn't able to find the rule that would allow it. Thanks.
  17. Yes, I have seen, and in some cases have moved, an amendment to acceptance of a resignation, by inserting the words "with regret" after the word "accepted".
  18. As Mr. Martin pointed out, there are ways that a motion disposed of at one meeting can again be brought before the assembly at the following meeting. I would point out that, as long as there was a quorum present at the first meeting, any motions that passed were in full force as soon as they were adopted. If a motion was carried out in the interim before the next meeting, and there is no reason why it should not be, then a motion to Rescind or Amend it is not in order. For example, if a motion was adopted to have the sticker-bushes behind the clubhouse removed, and a gardener is hired to dig up the bushes, and the job is done before the next meeting, members who were absent from the meeting have no right to complain that the bushes were removed without their approval. In general, decisions are made by those who show up, and the fact that some members didn't, and therefore had no vote, is a poor reason to consider the matter again. That is why the motions to Rescind or Amend Something Previously Adopted have a higher vote threshold than simply adopting something in the first place.
  19. Yes, the elections could be by unanimous consent, especially if the choice is expected not to be controversial. In my opinion, a quorum is required to elect a chair pro tem and secretary pro tem. If there is no quorum, and no prospect of obtaining one, the member calling the meeting to order should note the absence of a quorum and declare the meeting adjourned. Since no secretary was present, the member calling the meeting to order should supply a draft of the (brief) minutes of the meeting to the regular secretary. Edited to add: Disregard the stricken portion above as this question is clarified later in this thread.
  20. The bylaws say that the vote may be by viva voce. May, not shall. A voice vote is permissible but not required. Therefore, no suspension of the rules is necessary to move for a ballot vote. A motion that the election be held by ballot would require a second and a majority vote.
  21. If the parliamentarian is not a member, then his opinion on whether a particular motion violates the bylaws is of no more weight than mine. Faced with an ambiguous bylaws provision, the parliamentarian's response should be: "Ultimately, only the assembly can interpret the meaning of the bylaws." The parliamentarian can and perhaps should affirm that motions which violate the bylaws are not in order, but I agree with D.H. that judging whether a particular motion does or does not conflict is beyond the scope of a non-member parliamentarian's duties.
  22. But your question seemed to indicate this was not voted by the Board, but by the general membership. Edited to add: Ah, I think this was clarified in a later post. I concur that, based on this paraphrase of the bylaws, it seems that only a majority vote would be required to adjust the assessment.
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