unapproved minutes

[bittersweet]

At a recent B.O.D. meeting the board, while reviewing a draft of the prior month's meeting, realized that a motion made and passed at the last meeting was out of order and wished to have it deleted. The secretary refused saying that the motion must stay and we would have to go through the process of withdrawing it at the current meeting or at a later meeting. Most of us felt that a draft of proposed minutes could be corrected up and intil they were approved. Obviously we don't want our faux pas to become part of the permanent record.

Clarification please!

[Rob Elsman]

At a recent B.O.D. meeting the board, while reviewing a draft of the prior month's meeting, realized that a motion made and passed at the last meeting was out of order and wished to have it deleted. The secretary refused saying that the motion must stay and we would have to go through the process of withdrawing it at the current meeting or at a later meeting. Most of us felt that a draft of proposed minutes could be corrected up and intil they were approved. Obviously we don't want our faux pas to become part of the permanent record.

Clarification please!

The secretary was correct. The action taken on the main motion--right or wrong--should be duly entered on the minutes.

[Gary Novosielski]

At a recent B.O.D. meeting the board, while reviewing a draft of the prior month's meeting, realized that a motion made and passed at the last meeting was out of order and wished to have it deleted. The secretary refused saying that the motion must stay and we would have to go through the process of withdrawing it at the current meeting or at a later meeting. Most of us felt that a draft of proposed minutes could be corrected up and intil they were approved. Obviously we don't want our faux pas to become part of the permanent record.

Clarification please!

It's understandable why you would not want it, but it should be even more obvious why it must be included. The minutes are a record of what actually happened, not what you wish had happened.

The secretary was right that the motion must stay in the minutes of the past meeting; in fact that's essential if it is going to be fixed at this meeting.

It would not be "withdrawn" at this meeting, because it's too late. It may well be too late for a point of order against the motion's having being considered in the first place. You'd have to see if the breach of the rules falls into one of the categories on page 244. If it does, then a point of order should be enough to have it ruled void. And that point and that ruling would be included in the minutes of this meeting. Without the record of the last meeting being correct, the point of order would make no sense.

And if it's too late to retroactively nullify it, then a motion to Rescind at this meeting might do the job, which would also appear nonsensical if it had not been recorded properly.

You can't use the minutes as an error-correction mechanism, or a cover-up mechanism. If the minutes are to have any value, people must be able to trust that they present a true record of what was done at the meeting, warts and all.

[Gerry4000]

Your statement that the minutes can be "corrected" up until they are approved is actually correct. As pointed out by others, though, what you proposed is not a "correction" of the minutes.

Suppose, though, that the draft minutes showed that a particulat motion was approved, but that the motion had not, in fact, been apprived, then you can (and should) correct the draft minutes to show the correct action (as taken at the meeting itself).

[Tim Wynn]

At a recent B.O.D. meeting the board, while reviewing a draft of the prior month's meeting, realized that a motion made and passed at the last meeting was out of order and wished to have it deleted.

If your group has parliamentary questions about the minutes, what makes it so sure that it's right about the motion being out of order?

The secretary refused saying that the motion must stay and we would have to go through the process of withdrawing it at the current meeting or at a later meeting.

I say "Bravo!" to the secretary.

Most of us felt that a draft of proposed minutes could be corrected up and intil they were approved.

They can be corrected, and, if they are inaccurate, they should be corrected.

Obviously we don't want our faux pas to become part of the permanent record.

Fortunately, the secretary has more respect for the minutes, which are a record of what was done. Don't worry, your correction of the mistake will become a permanent part of the record as well, and it may serve as a guide to members of your organization on how to properly handle such a mistake.