Gary Novosielski

n/a

In the case of a public body, Sunshine Laws usually provide that the motion (made in public session) to go into executive session must contain the reason for doing so, at least by stating what class(es) of business, from a set of allowable classes of business, will be considered, or acted upon. But for a private society, unless the bylaws or other applicable rules have some similar provision, I'd say No. RONR does provide that the Membership may, by a two-thirds vote, require that the minutes of a board meeting be read to a membership meeting, so that is one way to exert some oversight.

Was the vote taken to "bring in his spouse" taken immediately without previous notice? See 47:58

Earlier we were told: So I fail to see how the Past President would be on the board at all.

What do the bylaws say about the powers of the board?

That does not answer the question of whether they are members of the committee.

Yes, you're quite correct. People who claim to know about RONR often come up with absurd "knowledge" from parts unknown. Of course minutes must be taken in executive session. To quote Mark Twain: “It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.” I'm sure you've already shown them, at RONR (12th ed.) 9:27; Reading and approval of the minutes of an executive session must take place only in executive session, unless that which would be reported in the minutes is not secret. When the minutes of an executive session must be considered for approval at an executive session held solely for that purpose, the brief minutes of the latter meeting are, or are assumed to be, approved by that meeting. (For additional rules regarding access to minutes and other records, including those kept by boards and committees, that are protected by the secrecy of an executive session, see 47:36 and 49:17–19.) I all else fails, bring a (preferably hard-bound) copy of RONR 12th ed, and smack them upside the head with it. (I am not a lawyer, but be aware that this method, although proven effective, may violate the law in your jurisdiction.) An Accounting professor of my acquaintance often says, "some people never get anything into their head except through a fracture."

With respect to the powers of the board, do the bylaws say something like "the board has full power and authority over the society’s affairs between meetings of the society’s assembly"? If so, the board has the power to appoint any eligible persons to fill those vacancies for the unexpired remainder of the original terms. If not, then you will need to hold a special membership election to fill them.

It takes a two-thirds vote to bring a motion to an immediate vote.

If this school board is a public elected body, it will be subject to Sunshine Laws that limit the purposes and actions that are allowed in executive session and what facts must be publicly stated in the motion to go into executive session. Those rules are considered quite serious by the agencies that administer them. However, the secrecy of what happens in executive session is not absolute. The body may vote to waive the confidentiality of all or part of what happens in its executive session. In fact, some Sunshine Laws require that the minutes of executive sessions be made public if and when the need for secrecy no longer exists. Check to see what yours say, or ask a lawyer familiar with school board law. But straw polls, including those disguised as "surveys" are not in order. [See RONR (12th ed.) 45:72]

Not exactly.

Thank you Mr. Bworn.

And I agree.

You don't have one then. Your old budget ended on March 31.

It is, except that no math is involved. 🙂

No. That can only be done by the appointing authority, i.e., the parent body. The committee, by majority vote can request that the parent body replace the chair, but can't do so on its own initiative.

It occurs to me that an entire sentence or sentences might have been deleted by accident while editing the document. Are there copies of earlier versions available?

Just to add a citation: [RONR (12th ed.) 46:40]. And, in fact, as we are told in RONR's Introduction, as recently as c. 400 B.C.E., the terms "voice vote" and "acclamation" were synonymous.

You must be presuming that the stated duties of the Secretary do not include a phrase such as: "...and such other related tasks as the assembly may assign," which is often a part of job descriptions (especially those I have had a hand in drafting). Besides, since the primary job of the Secretary is the drafting of minutes, it's hard to view this as a significant departure from the normal duties of the office. It's not as though the assembly ordered the Secretary to paint the clubhouse.

The only explanation is that nobody bothered to do anything about it. You are correct that it makes no sense.

Much depends on the details. Later in the same meeting, a motion to Reconsider the vote can often be made, but only by someone who voted on the prevailing side the first time. Certain motions can't be reconsidered, so I can't guess if this is true in your case. See RONR 12th ed. §37. After that, at a future meeting, a motion to Rescind can be made, as long as the adopted motion hasn't already been carried out. See RONR 12th ed. §35.

Sew wood eye.

One of my former places of employment had an informal rule on the subject. If an employee did absolutely nothing for an extended period of time, merely checking for no pulse was not sufficient evidence to have them declared dead. It required holding a mirror under their nose while waving a paycheck in front of their face.