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hmtcastle

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  1. Without a provision in the bylaws authorizing online meetings, there is nothing to attend.
  2. Well, that's not a parliamentary question (about something that happens at a meeting) but I'd be very surprised if there's not an official cut-off date for what we used to call "drop/add". But, if there's not, go for it. Around here finals are next week and I'm sure a lot of students would like to change classes.
  3. One way to look at it is that just because you've always done something a certain way, if there's no rule that says you have to, you don't. For example, at one time there was no rule that said that a U.S. President couldn't serve for more than two terms (there is such a rule now but that's beside the point). But no President ever did. Then FDR (and, more importantly, the voters) decided that they wanted to keep him for a third (and then a fourth) term. So they did. Without having to change any rule.
  4. I don't know the exact wording of your bylaws but it would seem to me you'd look back to the election in which the resigned board member was elected, not necessarily the most recent election, to find the second-place person. As one of the frequent contributors to this forum is wont to say: just a thought.
  5. Minutes are taken at all meetings. There is no such thing in RONR-Land as an "informal" meeting (though meetings of small boards are often conducted under "relaxed" rules).
  6. Not true. The lack of minutes has no effect on the legitimacy of the meeting or the business conducted therein. Nevertheless, as Mr. Mervosh indicates, it's important to reconstruct the minutes as soon as possible.
  7. What is the basis for placing the (optional) treasurer before the (essential) secretary in this supposed "chain of command"? Or, for that matter, placing the (optional) board before the (essential) president.
  8. Yes, but I took Matt's question to be referring to a "chain of command" within the board.
  9. Other than the vice-president filling in for the president, there is no chain of command. See also this recent discussion.
  10. As someone who argued for the interpretation that made the most sense, I feel obligated to acknowledge that, indeed, this organization deliberately adopted a quorum requirement that made no sense at all.
  11. I would suggest that the fact that Ms. Duffy, reflecting the concerns of some of her fellow members, sought the advice of this forum, and the fact that several of us have interpreted the text differently, speaks to its ambiguity. But you're certainly free to consider the language very unambiguous.
  12. Some might consider that a statement that makes no sense. If there's one interpretation that makes sense, and another that doesn't, why choose the one that doesn't?
  13. Lets assume your bylaws make sense (or were intended to make sense) and that your quorum requirement, however poorly worded, is two-thirds of the voting membership and that the voting membership includes only dues-paying members. As you correctly observe, with 80 dues-paying members you'll need at least 54 of them to show up if you want to conduct any substantive business. Any business conducted in the provable absence of a quorum is null and void. The solution, of course, is to amend your bylaws to reduce the requirement (and, at the same time, tighten up the wording). The RONR default quorum is a majority (more than half) of the membership so that's as good a starting point as any. You can either specify a percentage (e.g. 25%) or a fixed number (e.g. 25). There are advantages and disadvantages to each. [by the way, bylaws that try to appear precise by repeating "two-thirds" as "2/3", as if there could be any confusion, seem more likely than not to be poorly written.]
  14. Or they meant exactly what they said and got it right.
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