Over rulling the BOD

[doglady1]

The Board of Directors of a national club passed a motion at the board meeting that had not been placed on the agenda nor was any notice given to interested parties. Incomplete information was provided to the board members and the motion passed. It was stated by several Board members that had they had more complete information, they would have voted differently.

When passage of this motion was announced at the general membership meeting, the reaction was one of extreme outrage. A motion from the floor was made and seconded, to direct the board not to implement this motion. It passed by a very large margin.

Are we correct in thinking that this vote prevents the Board from acting on the motion they passed or is there some other action we must take or another way to handle it.

Thank you for your response.

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doglady1@frontiernet.net

[Chris Harrison]

See Official Interpretation 2006-13.

[J. J.]

Unless you have a rule that the board can set the agenda, the membership may put most motions on it.

[Gary Novosielski]

It was stated by several Board members that had they had more complete information, they would have voted differently.

Other factors aside, that amounts to an admission by those board members that they would vote on issues without having complete information, until they get caught at it. I hope they are making these statements apologetically, and not indignantly, because it calls into question their ability to do their jobs properly.

A board member who is asked to vote on a matter on which he feels more information is required, has a duty, and a number of tools at his disposal, to find out more, and should do so. Pleading ignorance after the fact is a poor excuse, and of no parliamentary weight.

But the general membership can amend the previously adopted decision of the board.

[doglady1]

In their defense, people they trusted presented the issue and seemingly covered all the questions. What no one, outside the Presenters, knew was that they withheld very pertinent information and misrepresented other very important information. And yes, they were extremely upset to find that their fellow board members had abused their trust in such a fashion. I can only say I've never seen the general membership so angry.

Thanks for your response. One of the people who did this fancies herself as a "Robert's" expert and I needed to be sure I was correct on this.

[doglady1]

To all of you who have responded, Thank you. I appreciate your expertise and the time you've taken to give me some help.

[Dan Honemann]

The Board of Directors of a national club passed a motion at the board meeting that had not been placed on the agenda nor was any notice given to interested parties. Incomplete information was provided to the board members and the motion passed. It was stated by several Board members that had they had more complete information, they would have voted differently.

When passage of this motion was announced at the general membership meeting, the reaction was one of extreme outrage. A motion from the floor was made and seconded, to direct the board not to implement this motion. It passed by a very large margin.

Are we correct in thinking that this vote prevents the Board from acting on the motion they passed or is there some other action we must take or another way to handle it.

Thank you for your response.

Your thinking is correct provided that the motion which the board adopted does not deal with a matter which is placed exclusively under the control of the board by your club's governing documents. This is something you will need to take a look at for yourself.

[jstackpo]

doglady1:

And the word "exclusively" is the key that gives the Board "full" power. Is it in your bylaws in the section describing the powers of the Board?

Dan said all this but I am just emphasizing it (because I got it wrong a while back).