ssj1203

Thank you so much for your response. I believe you are absolutely correct. I find it extremely sad and degrading that valuable firefighting volunteers of so many years be removed in such a disrespectful manner.

Unfortunately, there is no fire board. In our Bylaws it states that it is the duty of the President to preside at all meetings. The President has typically always done this as it is an administrative position. The Fire Chief is in charge of the trucks, firefighters, training, firefighting equipment purchase recommendations, and safety. Please supply more information regarding RONR police. I am unfamiliar with this.

You are correct, Mr. Katz. The first Tuesday has been dedicated to taking care of fire department business. The second Tuesday has been dedicated to training drills and truck maintenance. The meeting classification was changed to expedite their agenda to remove 6 members from the roster, not following the Bylaws in the removal process. The Fire Chief and President suspended me, the Secretary-Treasurer for a "trumped-up" charge (I have proof), along with 5 other firefighters. The Fire Chief (only in the department for 2 1/2 years/Bylaws require 7). The President and Fire Chief proceeded to post a Special Meeting @ 8:08 a.m. for 4:30 p.m. the same day. Most were at work and couldn't attend (not even the President who supposedly called the meeting). No Agenda was posted, whatsoever. The agenda from that meeting included my suspension and removal from office, the Assistant Fire Chief's removal from office, and 4 other firefighters. It also included getting 3 signers on the bank account and removing me, signer on the account. Upon the Fire Chief's presentation of the "unapproved" minutes from the Special Meeting at the bank, the bank's attorney called me, and I informed him that the Fire Chief was "getting the cart before the horse" and the minutes would not be approved until the regular June 14th meeting. In an effort to expedite the removal of these members they changed the "DRILL" to a Regular Meeting (that is regularly for 35 years known as the Drill Meeting) to get the Special Meeting Minutes approved. Upon his reading of the minutes from the Special Meeting, I called Point of Order as he didn't follow the criteria for calling a special meeting as per Robert's Rules of Order which our department operates under. (The President said, "they were approved", I signed them.) Therefore, under RRO, the meeting was invalid. The Fire-Chief (appointed temporarily by the President as Sec-Treas) ignored me and proceeded to read the minutes. The Fire Chief told me that if I didn't stop talking, he was going to make me leave the meeting. He proceeded to read the minutes from the special meeting and asked for the motions to accept, second, and called for the vote. There are only 10 members qualified to vote. As he suspended all 6 of us, the vote carried (4) with no opposition. Additionally, the Ass't. Fire Chief attended and there were items that were read in the proposed special meeting minutes that were NOT discussed at all at the actual meeting but added in to get them through. Numerous Bylaw infractions occurred including a "gender-related insult" to one of the women firefighters from the Fire Chief. There are two women firefighters being removed. One of the reasons she is being removed is because the Fire Chief says she doesn't respond to fires. She has no firefighting protective gear. The men do, but not her. She has been a Firefighter since 1999. I have been in the department since 1986-87 and am registered with the Secretary of State of Texas as the agent for the department. The Fire chief has only served at 2 meetings since being elected in January, by members that are on probation as they are new in the department. Our Bylaws state they have no voting powers until they have been in the department a year. None of the other members, with the exception of the already serving President, qualify to hold any other office in the department due to the lack of time that they have served. It is important to note that 5 of the members of the department are members of the same family and have been volunteers for decades since the fire department's inception. We are a "fully-volunteer" rural fire department and are not governed by a city or municipality. We receive NO moneys, nor retirement, whatsoever. I apologize for the long post, but we need help out here.

#3 - I apologize. Will restate question... The President is trying to remove members from the roster. Are they allowed to vote on their own behalf to remain in the membership? As long as they are part of the membership, they should have the right to vote, correct? #1 - Earlier Bylaws had the meeting schedule in them, but apparently it was omitted from the last rewriting. The schedule has remained the same for 30 years, so it is my guess that it is permissible as it isn't written in the latest Bylaws, correct?

Our department holds two meetings per month. 1st Tuesday is Administrative & Department business. (Regular Meeting) 2nd Tuesday is Drill & Maintenance. (Drill-no Agenda or Minutes) Every 3rd month (Quarterly) there is a county meeting instead of the 1st Tuesday meeting (Administrative Regular Meeting) and we don't have a regular department meeting. The President changed the classification of the drill to a regular meeting so he could address business at the Drill instead of waiting until the next meeting in 2 1/2 weeks. He has posted the Agenda that should be discussed at the 1st Tuesday monthly meeting. Is this permissible? 2nd Question: Can the President not allow a department's request to be put on the Agenda if the request is in writing prior to the meeting? 3rd Question: Can the President allow certain members the right to vote if they are still on the roster?

How should the minutes of a meeting be documented when motions are made & seconded? Is it customary to document the name of the person making the motion and the person seconding the motion by name? Some members don't want exposure if there is a PIA request. Where can I read more about rules regarding this?

It a motion is made for an issue and brought to a vote and passes, is the approved motion immediate?

In order to get an issue on the Agenda by the membership at a regularly scheduled meeting, is there a need for a 10 day advance notice? If not, what amount of time is required.