Joshua Katz

How, when RONR says that special rules of order supersede it? Where is the contradiction when the conflict is already provided for?

No. A majority vote, unless another threshold applies, is a majority of those voting. Thus, in an assembly of 100, if 99 abstain and one votes yes, the motion carries. Abstaining is not voting yes, and it is not voting no. It is simply not voting.

I was actually trying to behave this time. I remembered the general outcry about "adopt," but forgot what the preferred term was. (My apartment is currently packed for my move and RONR is who knows where.)

I am still unclear, after reading the 2 responses above, whether we're talking about the board adopting a special rule of order for the conduct of board meetings, or (attempting to) adopt one for membership meetings. I agree with Mr. Brown that such a rule will always be suspendable. I agree with Dr. Kapur that the OP seemed to refer to any member, not to a specific member. I also agree that it strikes me as no different (if the board is adopting a rule for itself) than preventing renewal.

When the minutes are pending, amendments are in order. Each amendment is handled in turn, either by unanimous consent or a majority vote. Once there are no more amendments, the minutes stand accepted - no vote is needed, and there is nothing to be done at the next meeting. The only way to object to the acceptance of the minutes is by saying what's wrong with them (i.e. by moving to amend), so a vote is not in order. Yes - and the meeting can even continue if the minutes are unavailable, not accepted for whatever reason, postponed, etc.

Would you distinguish here between a rule that only prohibits the motion to RASPA in board meetings, vs. one that extends to a membership meeting?

I can't really follow the description of what happened, but as a general matter, most procedural issues must be raised at the time they occur. There is an exception for motions in violation of the bylaws. If (as seems likely here) the problem is that no decision was ever made, and people just acted as if one were, then a point of order remains in order. If no motion to rescind was adopted, the original motion remains in effect, and you could raise a point of order that it ought to be followed. (However, in the case of appointing a committee, see Mr. Lages's post above.)

No. Go check the minutes. Yes, of course - in part because there is no "new board" and "old board." There's just a board. The people on it change, but the board remains. No. If you want to know what was decided in the past and people don't remember, refer to the minutes.

Did you ask the person doing the telling what page and line it appears on? That's a good place to start in debunking nonsense. Another question to ask that person is - just what does he think debate is?

Just to be clear, who is meeting? Is it the board or the owners? And who is the "we" that used to be able to talk? In any event, people from the management company are employees. The owners and the board (depending on how governance is structured) get to boss them around, not the other way around.

Your Constitution presumably contains rules about how it is amended. (Were they followed in this case?) Those rules could be amended to require previous notice, if they do not already. A meeting is not a court proceeding, and no one would like the outcome if it were treated like one. That said, you have an easy solution here - if you haven't seen what you need to make an informed decision about a motion, vote 'no' and encourage others to do the same for that reason. The health of the body is important, but it does not permit the presiding officer to violate the rules and disallow an in-order motion. However, it is quite common that amendments to governing documents require notice - and, in fact, that is the default in RONR if your rules do not provide for how amendments are handled (unless a majority vote of the entire membership can be gathered0>

I have a feeling this will depend on your customized rules. RONR has no 'second reading' procedure, so that must come from your rules.

And if it's not a small board, the President still has the right to make motions but is expected not to exercise it. If he does exercise it anyway, the motions stand.

Sure, you can even move to censure yourself. But it might be a better idea to straighten out how board meetings get called and then act to make sure they happen.

Well, if the board was required to meet and did not, you might consider disciplining or censuring the board in its entirety, I guess.