Guest Henry Posted October 18, 2011 at 02:11 AM Report Share Posted October 18, 2011 at 02:11 AM Our association has a member who is on our board by virtue of their position on another board and is considered to hold an advisory position. Our constitution stipulates that this position is a non-voting position. Can this member who does not have voting privileges within our constitution put forward a motion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. J. Posted October 18, 2011 at 02:47 AM Report Share Posted October 18, 2011 at 02:47 AM That depends largely on what the bylaws say exactly. A motion entertained would still be valid, if adopted, in any event (pp. 250-1). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Ed Posted October 18, 2011 at 02:42 PM Report Share Posted October 18, 2011 at 02:42 PM Unless the Constitution specifcally states otherwise, the member will have the smae rights as any other member. In this case, if the Constitution only states that the member does not have the right to vote, then the member has every other right associated with being a member of the group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trina Posted October 18, 2011 at 05:44 PM Report Share Posted October 18, 2011 at 05:44 PM Unless the Constitution specifcally states otherwise, the member will have the smae rights as any other member. In this case, if the Constitution only states that the member does not have the right to vote, then the member has every other right associated with being a member of the group.Does RONR 11th ed. more clearly support this point of view than did its predecessor? I know that quite a number of posters on the forum have offered this opinion in the past, but was curious if anything has changed in RONR to specifically address this concern. I suppose the footnote on p. 6 might be relevant, as it deals with suspension of some rights of membership, while leaving others intact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nancy N. Posted October 20, 2011 at 10:32 AM Report Share Posted October 20, 2011 at 10:32 AM R. Ed presents one side of an argument. There is no indisputable answer to Guest Henry's question, notwithstanding lots of parliamentarians, including the NAP's anti-terrorism board, agreeing with R. Ed., since some people, including me, dispute what R Ed said. From our point of view, Guest Henry's organization needs to determine for itself what happens to other membership rights when one right is denied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Foulkes Posted October 20, 2011 at 11:38 AM Report Share Posted October 20, 2011 at 11:38 AM Our association has a member who is on our board by virtue of their position on another board and is considered to hold an advisory position. Our constitution stipulates that this position is a non-voting position. Can this member who does not have voting privileges within our constitution put forward a motion?This has a slight ex officio flavor to it, doesn't it? That is, I'm assuming this "other board" is from a separate organization. However, as he is ostensibly also a member of the association, and therefore "under the authority of the society...there is no distinction between him and the other board members. " (RONR 11th Ed., p. 483 ll. 26-30) That is, he has all the rights of membership. As the constitution only limits his right to vote, I would think all other rights are retained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Honemann Posted October 20, 2011 at 12:39 PM Report Share Posted October 20, 2011 at 12:39 PM This has a slight ex officio flavor to it, doesn't it? That is, I'm assuming this "other board" is from a separate organization. However, as he is ostensibly also a member of the association, and therefore "under the authority of the society...there is no distinction between him and the other board members. " (RONR 11th Ed., p. 483 ll. 26-30) That is, he has all the rights of membership. As the constitution only limits his right to vote, I would think all other rights are retained.Well, even if he is an ex-officio member who is not "under the authority of the society", he would still have all of the rights of membership, and we are dealing here with a question of rights, not obligations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Eric Posted October 26, 2011 at 10:51 PM Report Share Posted October 26, 2011 at 10:51 PM Is there a definitive answer to this question which is supported by the express language of RONR? My understanding is that a "member" may obtain the floor and make a motion (Article I, Section 3). There does not appear to be anything in RONR which limits the definition of "member" to voting members or excludes non-voting ex-officio members. So, a non-voting member may obtain the floor and make a motion. Additionally, an ex-officio member, whether under the authority of the society or not, has all of the privleges of membership/there is no distinction between him and the other members (Article IX, Section 51). Is there anything more concrete to cite on this issue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Harrison Posted October 26, 2011 at 11:51 PM Report Share Posted October 26, 2011 at 11:51 PM Is there anything more concrete to cite on this issue?RONR pp. 588-591 with a particular focus on Principle of Interpretation #1. Basically RONR doesn't answer your question either way and leaves it up to you all to determine for yourselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted October 27, 2011 at 12:04 AM Report Share Posted October 27, 2011 at 12:04 AM Is there a definitive answer to this question which is supported by the express language of RONR?No.My understanding is that a "member" may obtain the floor and make a motion (Article I, Section 3).If your copy of Robert's still has Articles, it's a very old copy indeed. The newer editions are quite clear that members also have the right to vote.Is there anything more concrete to cite on this issue?No. In RONR the world is neatly divided into members (who have all the rights of membership) and non-members (who have none of the rights of membership). If your Bylaws muck about with that neat divide, things get murky and depend on what exactly your Bylaws say. If you actually pick up the current edition of RONR, there are some Principles of Bylaws Interpretation which may be of assistance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Wynn Posted October 27, 2011 at 09:13 PM Report Share Posted October 27, 2011 at 09:13 PM There does not appear to be anything in RONR which limits the definition of "member" to voting members or excludes non-voting ex-officio members. See RONR (11th ed.), p. 3, ll. 1-5 & 11-15. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.