Special Meetings

[Guest Cathy Portnall]

When calling for a "special general membership meeting" does the Union have to notify the members in advnce as to the topic of the meeting being called? If the Union does not notify as to the topic, would that nullify any type of voting that occured at that meeting. If the Union's By-laws do not mention calling for 'special meetings" would those meetings be null and void?

Our Union has a regular general membership on the 2nd tuesday of the month. We called for a special general membership meeting where a vote was taken but the membership was not notified of the topic or that a vote would be taken. We have pended the minutes of that meeting to review Roberts Rules of Order.

[Chris Harrison]

Yes to all questions (RONR pp. 89-90).

[Tim Wynn]

When calling for a "special general membership meeting" does the Union have to notify the members in advnce as to the topic of the meeting being called? If the Union does not notify as to the topic, would that nullify any type of voting that occured at that meeting. If the Union's By-laws do not mention calling for 'special meetings" would those meetings be null and void?

Our Union has a regular general membership on the 2nd tuesday of the month. We called for a special general membership meeting where a vote was taken but the membership was not notified of the topic or that a vote would be taken. We have pended the minutes of that meeting to review Roberts Rules of Order.

Without proper notice, any action taken is null and void.

Only business mentioned in the call of the meeting can be transacted at a special meeting, so if no business is mentioned, none can be transacted.

Most importantly, if your bylaws do not authorize special meetings, you can't hold them.

[Guest Concerned Member]

On the same topic, I was hoping to get an answer to a very troubling situation we are having in a NPO Youth sport league (terribly sad) To share the details.

Our by-laws state:

VI) ELECTIONS

Part F) Removal from Office

A) Any elected or appointed officer or coordinator may be removed from office by a simple majority vote of the Board of Directors

Any such action will be recorded officially in the meeting minutes and available as public record.

We, 4 out of 6 of our Board of Directors, called a special meeting and suggested at 7pm on a Saturday which was about 2 hours later than when first mentioned. The only notification per the by-laws is for a Monthly Board Meeting of Directors open to the general public a week in advance and to be able to prduce an agenda. The attendees were again 4 of the 6 members of the Executive Board and the President was not one of them. However again ALL members were notified. The question at hand is whether there was ample amount of notice called or if that is even necessary. Our bylaws give us ":permission" to hold a special meeting in the words of

Section VII Board of Directors Meeting

A) The Board of Directors shall meet regularly once each month. The meetings of the Board of Directors shall be open to the general meembership. An agenda shall be published prior to the meetings, and a period fo the meeting shall be left open for the discussion related to the agenda

It is the responsibility of each and every individual who has an agenda item (including Board members) to contact the Presiden or Secretary at least one week prior to the regularly scheduled Board Meeting in order to get the issue added to the months board of Directors Meeting Agenda.

C) The Board of Directors, and any other person requested by the board will meet seperately for a closed session that does not include the general meeting.........

The reason for the meetng was to have the President of the league removed, we had majority votes received and was recorded by written minutes, voice recorded and visual recording. That was the WHOLE intention of the meeting. And the entire EXEC board was invited and notified. The president chose not to come. His argument now stands that he HAS to preside at all meetings to make them legal per the Presidential Duties

A) Shall preside at all Board meetings

(this is just another simple question part c states- Shall appont individuals to Ad Hoc or standing committees when needed) does that specifically mean only HE chooses our appointed members even if in another portion it states

V Board of Directors

Responsibility - The Board of Directors shall be responsible for the following:

13) Appointing the necessary staff and supervising their activities

C) Board fo Directors Authority

1) The Board shall have the authority to approve and require approval of any procedure, appointments and interpretation of League policy.........

So basically, and I hope I have given you enough information and not TO MUCH. But do we have enough to assume that our vote was enough to remove him from office??

if not and we have to wait until the next meeting and he would put that issue on the agenda. How does it go to do a motion on that subject to have it voted that night and effective immediately??

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!

.

[Sean Hunt]

Please create a separate topic for a new question, especially from a different poster. (Mod: Feel free to delete this post if you split the topic)

[Josh Martin]

On the same topic...

Well, I'm not sure it's the same topic. Other than that the actions happened at a special meeting, your situation has very little in common with Ms. Portnall's. In the future it would be best to post such questions in a new thread.

His argument now stands that he HAS to preside at all meetings to make them legal per the Presidential Duties

A) Shall preside at all Board meetings

The President's argument is bogus, the clause in the Bylaws notwithstanding. See Official Interpretation 2006-2. If an organization with such a clause can remove the President from presiding even when he's present, I think it stands to reason that his absence does not invalidate any action taken.

(this is just another simple question part c states- Shall appont individuals to Ad Hoc or standing committees when needed) does that specifically mean only HE chooses our appointed members even if in another portion it states

V Board of Directors

Responsibility - The Board of Directors shall be responsible for the following:

13) Appointing the necessary staff and supervising their activities

C) Board fo Directors Authority

1) The Board shall have the authority to approve and require approval of any procedure, appointments and interpretation of League policy.........

You're on your own for this one. It is up to your organization to interpret its own Bylaws. See RONR, 10th ed., pgs. 570-573 for some Principles of Interpretation. In the long run, it may be best to amend the Bylaws for clarity.

But do we have enough to assume that our vote was enough to remove him from office??

Well, since this involves a customized procedure in your Bylaws I don't think I can say that with certainty, but I will say that the President's claim that the motion is invalid because he was absent is incorrect.

[Guest McGuire]

Re: Special Board Meetings - per By-laws the Secretary of the Board notified the full board in advance of the Special Board Meeting. Can a board member make a motion to go into Executive Session at the Special Board Meeting if "executive session" is not already indicated on the published agenda. Additionally, if a motion has been made and been seconded, must it be voted upon before another motion can be offered?

[Sean Hunt]

Re: Special Board Meetings - per By-laws the Secretary of the Board notified the full board in advance of the Special Board Meeting. Can a board member make a motion to go into Executive Session at the Special Board Meeting if "executive session" is not already indicated on the published agenda. Additionally, if a motion has been made and been seconded, must it be voted upon before another motion can be offered?

While you should create a new topic to answer new questions, I'll answer these.

First, at a special meeting, motions incidental to the assembly's business are permitted, including subsidiary motions, incidental motions, and privileged motions. So it's in order to move to go into executive session, or to amend the motion, or the like.

Second, if a motion has been made and seconded, it must be disposed of before any motion of equal or lower precedence can be brought forward. A motion does not necessarily have to be voted on to be disposed of - a motion could be withdrawn, and some motions could be postponed or referred to a committee. Additionally, other motions could be brought forward that are related to the first motion, and privileged motions may have to deal with more urgent business. Still, the general principle of considering only one thing at a time applies.

[Guest McGuire]

Thank you. I appreciate your thoughtful response, as well as your guidance should I have additional questions. I am new to this forum.