Richard Brown

Was it a motion which required previous notice? Previous notice of a motion may be given either in the notice or call of the meeting or verbally at the previous meeting. What was the nature of the motion and why do you think it might have been improper? More information would be helpful. Edited to add: I agree with Doctor Stackpole's answer above. If your bylaws require written notice, such as for a proposed bylaw Amendment, then giving verbal notice at the previous meeting would not be sufficient

It depends on the circumstances. If the motion was properly adopted at a meeting held with proper notice and at which a quorum was present, a motion to ratify would usually be out of order. However, if a quorum was not present, the motion, if it was adopted in the absence of a quorum, should be ratified at the next meeting at which a quorum is present. Edited to add: if it was not a valid meeting, such as a gathering of members at which proper notice was not given, a motion to ratify would not be in order. It is as if the motion was never made or adopted. It must be made again as a new motion.

Yes, if the person is a member. The right to make motions is one of the fundamental rights of membership. I'm curious as to why you or someone thanks that a member might not be able to do so. Can you elaborate?

When the chair announces the motion as the pending item of business under unfinished business and general orders, the member who made the motion should request permission to withdraw the motion. per pages 295-297 of RONR, this is usually treated as a unanimous consent request. The chair asks if there is any objection to having the motion withdrawn. If there is no objection, it is done and the chair announces that the motion is withdrawn. If there is an objection, the question of whether to permit the withdrawal is put to the assembly and requires a majority vote to permit the motion to be withdrawn. Further details are on pages 295-297 of RONR.

Probably. It is a term that is used fairly often. No.

Atul, did you perhaps intend to say that "5 is at least 1/3 of 14" rather than "5 is at least 2/3 of 14"?

I agree with the comments above by reelsman. I think there are occasions when bringing up an old topic are beneficial. I don't see this as a big enough problem to require the locking of old threads.

I agree with the answers above but would point out that your organization, if it so desires, may adopt a special rule of order (or a bylaws provision) that only items on the agenda may be taken up at a meeting. An alternative provision would be that a super-majority vote of some kind, such as a two thirds vote, is necessary in order to take up an item not on the agenda. I would be very hesitant to adopt a rule that an item must be on the agenda in order to be taken up, even though I suppose the agenda could be amended at the meeting to add the desired item. Such strict rules wind up backfiring and leading to unintended consequences all too often.

As explained in this thread, minutes are taken of an executive session just like they are of any other session. However, they should be kept separate from other minutes and be available only to those members who attended or were entitled to attend the executive session. They should be approved only in another executive session. The minutes of the meeting which went into executive session should note that fact, such as by saying: "On motion of Mrs. Williams, the meeting went into executive session at 7:20 pm". The purpose of the executive session may, but need not be, stated by saying something like "to discuss the search for a new executive director". If the regular meeting resumes after the executive session, the minutes of the regular session should reflect that. If the meeting instead adjourns when the business of the executive session is completed, the minutes would state simply that "The meeting adjourned at 7:45 PM."

Guest niecy, more information would be helpful, especially an explanation of what a "financial" but not "active" member is. We have no idea what that means. It will also help to know what your bylaws say about terms of office and what, if anything, they say about removal from office. In the meantime, perhaps the answer to Frequently Asked Question # 20 on the main website will be helpful: http://www.robertsrules.com/faq.html#20

I'm not sure how I would answer that question, so I will answer it with another question: "Should the absentee ballot be counted again if the candidate has been dropped from the ballot?" In other words, should it be counted as a write-in vote for that person? Or is it considered a different question once one or more candidates have been dropped from the ballot and therefore absentee ballots for that candidate should no longer be counted? Edited to add: and should it make any difference if the name is marked with an x on an absentee ballot form or if it is written in on a piece of paper? If it is written in on a piece of paper, wouldn't that be considered a write-in vote?

Agreeing with Mr. Mervosh, the minutes of the meeting witch is going into executive session should say something to the effect that "On motion of Mr. Smith, the board went into executive session at 7:20 p.m.." If it is desired that the reason for the executive session be stated, that is permissible and you could use additional language that says " to discuss the qualifications of the applicants for executive director". The time that the meeting went into executive session should probably be noted. When the assembly returns from the executive session, the minutes could read simply "The board ended the executive session at 7:25 p.m." If no further business was conducted and the meeting simply adjourned, then the minutes would say simply, "the meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m."

I'm sorry to weigh in late here, but feel this must be said: Directors are not necessarily officers. RONR provides on page 456 that each organization's bylaws should provide for the officers the organization requires. RONR also provides on page 457 that "Directors should be classed as officers", but this is not mandatory. As provided on page 456 and in other places, the organization itself can define in its bylaws who its officers are and whether directors are considered officers. It seems clear to me, based on the bylaws quote provided by Thomas, that in THIS organization directors are not officers. The officers are specifically defined as being the "President, VP, Secretary, Treasurer and Sgt. At Arms.

Guest Michelle, you might also take a look at Frequently Asked Question # 14 on the main website: http://www.robertsrules.com/faq.html#14

I agree. That was my thought from the beginning. So, unless the bylaws define a quorum differently, it would be a majority of the actual living, breathing members currently on the board.

Agreeing with my colleagues, the letter itself normally should not be entered in the minutes, but probably should be kept on file by the secretary for some period of time along with other important correspondence. That is a policy matter for your organization to determine.

You might take a look at this article by Dr. John Stackpole (jstackpo) that he linked to in this thread: https://robertsrules.forumflash.com/topic/32993-point-of-discussion-not-on-agenda/?tab=comments#comment-192603 It's about the 13th comment in that thread.

Almost all rulings of the chair may be overruled by a majority vote on an appeal from the ruling of the chair. The only exception is when the appeal is clearly frivolous or dilatory and there can be no other reasonable interpretation.

Agreeing with both previous responses, an "agenda" which has not been adopted by the assembly is merely a guide for the chairman (and perhaps the assembly) to use as a reminder of the items of business he thinks should be taken up and the order in which he would like to do so. It is not binding until actually adopted by the assembly. If it has not been adopted by the assembly, any member may make an original main motion introducing new business at any time that no other business is pending regardless of the fact that the chair may have prepared and distributed a list of items he wants to cover and which he calls an agenda. Whether it is wise to do so is a different issue. If the society has a long-standing custom of following the chair's agenda, routinely attempting to subvert it may not make you more popular.

I imagine that either state law, your city Charter, a city ordinance, or your own Council rules specify who presides at Council meetings. Unless your own rules provide otherwise, it should make no difference whether this is a regular meeting or a special meeting.

Unless your bylaws provide for it, you do not have a "runoff" election with only the top vote getters. What you do, unless your own bylaws or special rules of order provide otherwise, is vote again with all candidates still on the ballot. If nobody wins on the second ballot, you keep repeating the balloting until someone finally wins. As an alternative, you can adopt a motion to remove one or more candidates from the next ballot, but any candidates so removed from the ballot still remain eligible to.receive write in votes and to be elected by write in votes. It is up to your organization to interpret your own rules and to determine whether absentee ballots should be counted in any repeat balloting or runoff, but in my opinion they should not be counted unless your rules specifically provide for it. That's the problem with mixing absentee ballots with in person ballots.

Thank you John, I appreciate you posting this.

Agreeing with Chris Harrison, that approval is usually granted by unanimous consent. The chair would say something like, "I must step away for a few minutes. if there is no objection, I am appointing Jack Smith to serve as chair Pro Tem until either the vice chairman or I return".

I agree. Dan Honemann summed it up very succinctly. If the sergeant-at-arms is a member of the voting body, he has the right to vote for anyone he wants to, including the right to vote for himself.

Another method of determining who will serve the two-year term is by lot, such as by drawing straws, a roll of a die, etc.