dawn

Thank you!

In the past, it was pretty standard practice at AGMs for reports that are presented (committee reports, ED reports etc) to then have a motion to adopt/accept, where the membership votes on the motion. I've attended countless AGMS, and I've never yet seen a motion to adopt a committee report fail to pass, but I've often thought it was silly, if I am reporting on the work my committee did, it is MY report. Please note I am not counting auditors report in this. Over the past few years I have seen a shift in this, where the chair of the meeting, instead of calling for a motion to adopt/accept, instead says something like 'let the minutes indicate that John Smith provided a report on XYZ and the report was received as information." (something to that effect). then the secretary keeps the report in the records. If warranted, the chair could instead say 'The report will be entered into the minutes' and then the actual report is included. I believe the latter is correct (and aligns with Robert's Rules) because by accepting a report, the membership is saying they endorse what is in the report, which they might not, and that they agree with any recommendations that are in the report, which they might not (and those should be separate motions anyways), and by not approving the report then what? It is not like a committee can turn back time and undo their actions. Alternately my understanding is that by accepting an auditors report, the membership is saying that they have been provided with the information needed to make and informed decision, have had the opportunity to ask questions, and based off that they accept the report, which in turn relieves the treasurer of responsibility for that period (unless there later turned out to be fraud). Can you let me know if I am interpreting correctly?

Thanks everyone, I was pretty sure that was the case but an overbearing president can really make you doubt yourself.

The president wants the secretary to send her the minutes in advance so she can approve them before they get sent to the rest of the board. I think the secretary was elected to do their job and we should just let them. If any board member disputes or sees an error in the minutes, they can speak up when it is time to approve them. Is the president correct?