Guest Diane Posted January 31, 2011 at 04:10 PM Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 at 04:10 PM Hi, I have a few questions regarding our upcoming general membership meeting. This meeting was supposed to take place a couple of weeks ago but was re-scheduled due to lack of notice given to the membership. We, the membership, were told, with regards to the re-scheduled meeting... "With this meeting there will not be an agenda since this will confine us to meeting rules, and we feel it will be a loose meeting. The only “official act” which will be a vote is the Nominating Committee. With this in mind you must be present at the meeting to vote, no absentee per the bylaws. No proxy voting is allowed. The remaining portion of the meeting will be informational only." Our bylaws state under the section of meetings, that Robert's Rules would be followed. It also states that the "nominating committee will be selected at the general mid-season meeting". We do have "special meetings" where the only order of business is that which is called by the president. I am confused as to how a nominating committee would be valid if we aren't adhering to our by-laws by not using Robert's Rules. If we are using Robert's Rules, then we should be able to amend the proposed agenda/non-agenda to suit the membership. Because our board has no checks and balances and is run by the very person that is chosing to "break" the rules or throw them out, what recourse is the membership left with?Ultimately, our goal is to obtain a new board however if the current board is not following the rules by shutting out the membership, how do we get this done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim Goldsworthy Posted January 31, 2011 at 05:15 PM Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 at 05:15 PM Hi, I have a few questions regarding our upcoming general membership meeting. This meeting was supposed to take place a couple of weeks ago but was re-scheduled due to lack of notice given to the membership. We, the membership, were told, with regards to the re-scheduled meeting... "With this meeting there will not be an agenda since this will confine us to meeting rules, and we feel it will be a loose meeting. The only “official act” which will be a vote is the Nominating Committee. With this in mind you must be present at the meeting to vote, no absentee per the bylaws. No proxy voting is allowed. The remaining portion of the meeting will be informational only." Our bylaws state under the section of meetings, that Robert's Rules would be followed. It also states that the "nominating committee will be selected at the general mid-season meeting". We do have "special meetings" where the only order of business is that which is called by the president. I am confused as to how a nominating committee would be valid if we aren't adhering to our by-laws by not using Robert's Rules. If we are using Robert's Rules, then we should be able to amend the proposed agenda/non-agenda to suit the membership. Because our board has no checks and balances and is run by the very person that is chosing to "break" the rules or throw them out, what recourse is the membership left with?Ultimately, our goal is to obtain a new board however if the current board is not following the rules by shutting out the membership, how do we get this done.I think you are asking the wrong party for an answer.• You are asking us what crazy idea your members have in mind for this meeting?• You are trying to shoe-horn Robert's Rules of Order into a situation where the caller of the meeting is explicitly rejecting Robert's Rules of Order?If I were you, I'd pick up a telephone, and ask the caller of the meeting, "Have you lost your mind?"Doesn't anyone in your organization know what your bylaw say? Does anyone care? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmtcastle Posted January 31, 2011 at 05:34 PM Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 at 05:34 PM what recourse is the membership left with?Your board won't be present, as a board, at your general membership meeting so you should be safe in ignoring anything the board has told you. And individual board members will enjoy no special status at the meeting. Further, any proposed agenda is just that, a proposal. So feel free to change it, or do away with it altogether, once the meeting begins. See also FAQ #14. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tctheatc Posted January 31, 2011 at 09:16 PM Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 at 09:16 PM "With this meeting there will not be an agenda since this will confine us to meeting rules, and we feel it will be a loose meeting. The only “official act” which will be a vote is the Nominating Committee. With this in mind you must be present at the meeting to vote, no absentee per the bylaws. No proxy voting is allowed. The remaining portion of the meeting will be informational only." Our bylaws state under the section of meetings, that Robert's Rules would be followed. It also states that the "nominating committee will be selected at the general mid-season meeting". We do have "special meetings" where the only order of business is that which is called by the president. I am confused as to how a nominating committee would be valid if we aren't adhering to our by-laws by not using Robert's Rules. If we are using Robert's Rules, then we should be able to amend the proposed agenda/non-agenda to suit the membership. Because our board has no checks and balances and is run by the very person that is chosing to "break" the rules or throw them out, what recourse is the membership left with?Ultimately, our goal is to obtain a new board however if the current board is not following the rules by shutting out the membership, how do we get this done.If there's no agenda, there's no need to amend the agenda to suit the membership, I'd think. I suppose you'd default to the standard order of business. When you say "Robert's Rules will be followed" does that mean it's noted in your bylaws as the parliamentary authority where it is not in conflict with any of your bylaws? Then your nominating committee selection would be governed by your own rules, and unless I'm not following you, you seem to be doing that.It doesn't sound like the membership is being shut out. Educate yourselves and go to the meeting ready to propose the business you want. If it's ignored, raise a point of order and appeal the decision of the chair if needed. get people on your side ahead of time and use the proper procedures to your benefit. As noted above, if this is a membership meeting, the board is not present as the board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted January 31, 2011 at 09:31 PM Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 at 09:31 PM Because our board has no checks and balances and is run by the very person that is chosing to "break" the rules or throw them out, what recourse is the membership left with?If the chair wants to play hardball, play hardball. Replace the chair with someone who will follow the rules. See Official Interpretation 2006-2, elsewhere on this site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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