Guest curious robert Posted May 3, 2011 at 05:58 PM Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 at 05:58 PM Last night, one of the city's standing committees held a public hearing in regards to a possible slow no-wake hearing. The committee is made from 5 of the 12 council members. All 5 members on the committee were present plus 5 more members (not on the committee) showed up to the meeting and were sitting in the audience.Once the meeting started, the city administrator announced that there was a quorum of council members and urged the council members in the audience not to engage in the discussion due to a quorum present.An audience member than spoke up and said that he was challenging the legality of the meeting because of the quorum. The end result in order to continue the meeting was that 3 of the council members left the building/meeting but were recognized in the meeting's minutes as being present at the beginning of the meeting. My question is would it have been okay to continue the meeting with the members present but not partaking in the discussion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Ed Posted May 3, 2011 at 06:03 PM Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 at 06:03 PM It would be up to the specific rules of the City. However, quorum is generally a mjaority of members - thus three out of the five members who are members of the Committee. If three of the members left, leaving only two, then quorum was lost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted May 3, 2011 at 06:04 PM Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 at 06:04 PM My question is would it have been okay to continue the meeting with the members present but not partaking in the discussion?So far as RONR is concerned, the members could have remained present and partook in the discussion, with the committee's permission (majority vote for the former, 2/3 vote for the latter). What is really at stake here is the "Open Meeting Law" or "Sunshine Law" of your state, and that's beyond the scope of this forum. Consult a lawyer if you have questions.It would be up to the specific rules of the City.I suspect this has more to do with the state's Open Meeting Law or Sunshine Law.However, quorum is generally a mjaority of members - thus three out of the five members who are members of the Committee. If three of the members left, leaving only two, then quorum was lost.As I understand it, the three council members who left were not members of the committee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest curious robert Posted May 3, 2011 at 06:19 PM Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 at 06:19 PM I see. Yes, the three that left were not part of the committee, the five on the committee stayed with two more in the audience.So I need to look at the Open Meeting Law requirements for the state. Thank you all for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Foulkes Posted May 3, 2011 at 10:29 PM Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 at 10:29 PM An audience member than spoke up and said that he was challenging the legality of the meeting because of the quorum. I'd sure like to know what this means. But I suppose it's spilt milk over the dam now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted May 4, 2011 at 06:22 PM Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 at 06:22 PM I'd sure like to know what this means. But I suppose it's spilt milk over the dam now.Open Meeting Laws sometimes take issue with enough members of a public body to constitute a quorum meeting outside the context of an official meeting of that body. The original poster should consult with a lawyer to determine if the Open Meeting Law in his state has such a rule and whether it is applicable to this situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Foulkes Posted May 4, 2011 at 06:28 PM Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 at 06:28 PM Open Meeting Laws sometimes take issue with enough members of a public body to constitute a quorum meeting outside the context of an official meeting of that body. The original poster should consult with a lawyer to determine if the Open Meeting Law in his state has such a rule and whether it is applicable to this situation.Ahh... So 10 council members present, even though it was a committee meeting, thus making it conceivably possible that a meeting of the council itself was taking place? Got it. Okay, so three non-committee council members leave, seven remain (a majority of the council) and I gather then that the quorum for this countil must be eight (or 2/3, perhaps)? I'm just surmising.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted May 4, 2011 at 06:49 PM Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 at 06:49 PM So 10 council members present, even though it was a committee meeting, thus making it conceivably possible that a meeting of the council itself was taking place?Well, let's not get carried away. The fact that it's frowned upon by some Open Meeting Laws doesn't make it a meeting.Okay, so three non-committee council members leave, seven remain (a majority of the council) and I gather then that the quorum for this countil must be eight (or 2/3, perhaps)?That would appear to be the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Foulkes Posted May 4, 2011 at 07:13 PM Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 at 07:13 PM Well, let's not get carried away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.