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I have scoured the RONR and can not find a clear answer to the following: During a Board Meeting, not a Membership Meeting, that the Members and Public are invited to attend, what rights do the Members of the association have to speak? I understand that at a Membership Meeting (annual meeting of the members) they have all rights. But during the monthly "Board Meetings" that are not closed, since they are not "members" of the board, are they considered "Public" and technically do NOT have the right to particpate? Please quote pages numbers in RONR 11th. Thank you! This is a local sports Association that is governed by RONR. All members of the association are dues paying members. The monthly meetings are "Board Meetings" that are open to the public. Thanks.

To whom it may concern, Last month I attended an Architectural Review Board meeting. Two out of the three board members were there and 4 home owner members attended. We all sat around a 5 foot folding table. The next meeting three weeks later only a folding card table of 4 places was set up and chairs were set up around the table. At this meeting, the three board members were present and the moderator. Only three home owner members were present, me and my husband and another home owner. Chairs had been set up around 3-4 feet away from the table for home owners. I was told that it was Florida law that stated I could not sit at the table or near the table and was told to move. I was sitting in one of the chairs put there for the home owners. The moderator told me later that it is Roberts rules of order that states I can not sit at the table or near it. I have a hearing problem and can't hear the meeting if I sit far away. I have looked at Roberts Rules of Order and various Florida statutes concerning home owner associations and meetings of the board and can find nothing pertaining to where I can sit or not sit especially when there are less than 10 people present. Can somebody help me as to where I can or can not sit at a meeting composed of just a few people. I am kind of getting the idea that no such regulation exists because I have asked the moderator and the board member both twice as to where I can find this seating regulation. If someone knows where I might find this regulation, I would appreciate it if you could tell me. Thank you, Diane Lepore

Okay, I was wrong. I'm not finished with my questions. And quite honestly, the more I read here, the more questions pop into my head. Fortunately, I can also usually find the answer as well if I keep reading. (And I'm now halfway through the Complete Idiot's Guide to Robert's Rules, which has been very helpful in understanding my (brand-spanking new) copy of the 11th edition of RONR.) I am trying to figure out what exactly we have as our "majority" in our bylaws draft. It reads, "All resolutions shall require a simple majority vote, except for the following special resolutions...[A, B, and C] require a two-thirds majority, and [C and D] require a three-fourths majority." Is this too ambiguous? Someone suggested that we use, "All resolutions shall require a simple majority vote of those eligible to vote at a validly called meeting, except for the following special resolutions..." To me, this latter suggestion gives us what we *don't* want. We (presumably) don't want to be constantly counting voters at various points in each meeting to determine what the majority will be for any given vote, which is why we (so far) haven't included the italicized portion. But have we acheived our desire with the wording we used? It seems to me that, according to page 400, lines 8-12 of RONR (11th ed.), that our wording as we have it does just that...but I'd like to be certain now, *before* we have our bylaws meeting. Wow. That was long. I apologize for being so verbose. Louise

Group Union charges are brought againt 2 Executive members, the board consist of 11 members. My question is, can those two board members vote to except or deny their own charges ? Can they be voting members of the board during their trial if their charges are excepted ?

What governs the reconvening of an adjourned special meeting when no specific date or time was set at the adjournment only the President's statement she would give a full ten day notice? Can the President in the absence of a motion to adjourn or motion to fix time to adjourn, exercise a perogative to reconvene with under 48 hour notice? Is she excused from providing the normal notice time of ten days for non-emergency? If notice is given which does not allow all members the chance to attend or some members receive notice after the meeting has taken place, is it an illegal meeting?

If members or officers resign in writing, whether or not they state the effective date and whether or not they have been accepted or rejected by the voting members, would they in fact take affect?

Our members can attend the monthly council meetings. If they give proper notice that they are attending, can they only speak with permission of the chair, and if so, can we limit the time they can speak?