Nominating Committee Meeting

[Guest Cranky]

If all of the members of a nominating committee agree to have their meeting by phone, do their recommendations still stand?

They turned their recommendations into the Secretary, and the Secretary has published (e-mailed) them to the membership for review prior to the meeting. Now someone is complaining that they cannot have their meeting because it was not in person.

Once they turned over their recommendations and they were published, at that time their special committee should have been complete and cease to exist. Once the meeting is held, they can customarily stand to give a report, or have the Secretary or chair announce it, but their job was complete once e-malied to the members. The membership meeting has not been held yet.

In RONR, it advises that there should either be a video or tele-conference so all members are speaking at once. It also eludes to committees may conduct business, even if they are cities/states apart. It also advises that one of the most important things to have is common sense. Since this is just a small club and not a large corporation with video/tele-conferencing equipment, common sense should tell you that they have acted in good faith to follow the memberships will.

So should their recommendations stand since anyone who wanted a different slate can still nominate from the floor. Again, COMMON SENSE.

Thank You in advance

[George Mervosh]

If all of the members of a nominating committee agree to have their meeting by phone, do their recommendations still stand?

No.

Also, I'm not sure they've ceased to exist since they haven't reported at a meeting.

Why not have them meet in person just before the meeting, agree on the list, and get up and present the same list of nominees, and have the chair take nominations from the floor afterwards?

Sounds like common sense can still prevail, no?

[Tim Wynn]

If all of the members of a nominating committee agree to have their meeting by phone, do their recommendations still stand?

Yes, if all of the members agree, and it if is impractical to have a meeting.

"In the case of a committee, however, if it is impractical to bring its members together for a meeting, the report of the committee can contain what has been agreed to by every one of its members." - RONR(10th ed.), p. 485, l. 32-35.

However, as George suggests, a meeting seems fairly practical in this situation.

[Josh Martin]

If all of the members of a nominating committee agree to have their meeting by phone, do their recommendations still stand?

No, unless one of the following conditions are met:

• The Bylaws authorize committees to meet by teleconference.
• It is impractical for the committee to meet and the committee unanimously agrees on the nominations.
• The committee consists of members who are geographically dispersed, they are expected to complete their work by correspondence, and the report has been agreed to by a majority of the committee's members.

They turned their recommendations into the Secretary, and the Secretary has published (e-mailed) them to the membership for review prior to the meeting. Now someone is complaining that they cannot have their meeting because it was not in person.

The member is correct, unless one of the conditions listed above has been met.

Once they turned over their recommendations and they were published, at that time their special committee should have been complete and cease to exist. Once the meeting is held, they can customarily stand to give a report, or have the Secretary or chair announce it, but their job was complete once e-malied to the members.

This is not correct. The Nominating Committee continues to exist until its report has been given at the meeting. Submitting the report to the Secretary does not dissolve the committee, particularly since it seems the report may not yet be the official report of the committee.

In RONR, it advises that there should either be a video or tele-conference so all members are speaking at once.

Yes, it does, but it also states the teleconferences or videoconferences must be authorized by the Bylaws to be valid.

It also eludes to committees may conduct business, even if they are cities/states apart.

While true, it's unclear from the facts provided whether this has any relevance to this situation. Are the committee members states apart?

It also advises that one of the most important things to have is common sense. Since this is just a small club and not a large corporation with video/tele-conferencing equipment, common sense should tell you that they have acted in good faith to follow the memberships will.

I assume you're referring to the statement in RONR, 10th ed., pg. 433, lines 20-23. This is a very useful and important statement, but it is by no means sufficient to override RONR's explicit prohibition against teleconferencing (unless explicitly authorized by the Bylaws).

So should their recommendations stand since anyone who wanted a different slate can still nominate from the floor. Again, COMMON SENSE.

I can certainly understand your reasoning, however, the committee's recommendations do not stand unless one of the conditions above has been met. Since the committee is not yet dissolved, the committee may meet prior to the annual meeting or it may seek to meet one of those conditions. If this is not possible for whatever reason, the member(s) of the committee may make the nominations from the floor, but they will not be the nominations of the committee. Since the recommendations of the nominating committee carry great weight in many societies, this may be a more meaningful distinction than it appears at first glance.