making a motion

[Guest Toby Keeler]

The City Council of the City of Calabasas has a bad habit of after hearing both Public and Council discussion of an agendized item (which can be all over the place) the mayor will ask for a motion, and generally one council member will say "So moved" followed by a 2nd and a vote on the motion. My question is, after reading the PROPER way to make a motion as described on this site, it "So moved" considered a legal motion? They always leave it up to the City Clerk to sort things out later in the meeting minutes, but many time no one, not even council members have a clue what the motion and subsequent action really is. Thanks for your help. BTW your Verification Code is a challenge.

[Josh Martin]

My question is, after reading the PROPER way to make a motion as described on this site, it "So moved" considered a legal motion?

It is very sloppy procedure and should be avoided. It might be acceptable in a small assembly, if everyone is clear on what is being agreed to, but that doesn't seem to be the case. If the chair suspects that "so moved" is unclear, which is usually the case, the chair should require the member to actually state the motion - and if the motion is lengthy, he should require the motion to be in writing.

[Gary c Tesser]

[snip]

In any case, much of the ongoing mess caused by the sloppiness, as Mr Maritn aptly called it, can be averted by the presiding officer's (the mayor's?) doing what arguably might be his most important function: re-stating the exact wording of the motion before putting it to a vote. Whatever gibberish preceded this is then pretty much painful, but unimportant.