Subcommittee members

[Guest Beth Bloedow]

I am a member of a committee which does much work in several subcommittees. We have a lot of controversy over who can join subcommittees, and who can decide who may join. Our usual practice is that each member of the committee takes over chairmanship of a subcommittee. Then other committee members who wish may join the subcommittee. Our bylaws state that folks from outside the committee should be recruited to the subcommittees, and we do so. The controversy is: can the subcommittee chair EXCLUDE folks from the general membership? Or does every interested member of the general membership have the right to join every subcommittee they desire? In other words, can the subcommittee chair pick and choose among those who show an interest? Can this chair exclude those who may tend to be disruptive, or who are joining for nuisance reasons or to further their own agenda? The exact wording of our bylaws is: "the remaining members will be drawn from non-Camp Committee members who wish to be active in the Camp Committee affairs."

[Trina]

Interpretation of the bylaws is the job of the organization. See RONR (11th ed.) pp. 588-591 for some principles of interpretation.

That being said, "drawn from" would not seem to imply that all of an available resource is taken (as in drawing cards, drawing water, etc.).

Do the bylaws say nothing about who is to do the drawing (just that confusing passive voice in the quoted text)?

[Guest Beth Bloedow]

No, the bylaws don't say who will do the drawing.

[Trina]

Did the committee establish its subcommittees by motion? That motion should say something about how the subcommittee is to select its members (e.g. whether the chair of the subcommittee can make these decisions, whether the parent committee specifically names people to the subcommittee, whether the number of people on the subcommittee is fixed at a certain number... things like that). The selection of subcommittee members would have to comply with overriding rules in the bylaws, of course. Whether the subcommittee chair makes the decisions, however, would depend on how the subcommittees were set up in the first place.

[Guest Beth Bloedow]

No motion I know of. The bylaws do further state that the subcommittee will have 3 to 5 members, and that one or two will be committee members. But is there anything in Robert's Rules that we have to comply with, or is this just a matter of figuring out how to apply our bylaws?

[Josh Martin]

The controversy is: can the subcommittee chair EXCLUDE folks from the general membership?

Well, no, as the subcommittee chair doesn't have the authority to appoint the subcommittee's members.

Or does every interested member of the general membership have the right to join every subcommittee they desire?

Per your Bylaws, no, since the subcommittee is limited to a maximum of five members.

In other words, can the subcommittee chair pick and choose among those who show an interest? Can this chair exclude those who may tend to be disruptive, or who are joining for nuisance reasons or to further their own agenda?

No, since it's not up to the chair.

But is there anything in Robert's Rules that we have to comply with, or is this just a matter of figuring out how to apply our bylaws?

Well, part of it is applying your Bylaws. RONR has some rules on the subject to help since your Bylaws are silent on many aspects. Since your Bylaws apparently do not provide how the subcommittee is appointed, the default rule in RONR is that subcommittees are appointed by the parent committee (by whatever method it desires), and it may determine the members as it pleases so long as it complies with your Bylaws. The subcommittee chair does not have the authority to appoint his own committee.