Guest summer Posted June 9, 2012 at 12:54 PM Report Share Posted June 9, 2012 at 12:54 PM Our quilt guild has a day meeting and a night meeting. We had some changes propsed to our by-laws. We could only vote yes or no. I made a motion that we break out one change - that i wanted to vote no on. We were told that we had to vote on the by-laws as a whole package. We could not break the package up. a vote was taken. several abstenions - a member said abstensions were considered a "yes" by Roberts Rules of Order. After looking this up - this is not correct. The by law changes passed. Do we need to re-vote at the day meeing?Next, our night group meets. Now we are voting on the by laws at night - again there are questions. Some want to vote on the by-laws on a single basis. Not voting on them as a group. We have voted both ways in the past. (I personally think that people thought that we would always vote on changes individually.) There were several discussions going on about the changes - we had a speaker and a dinner the same night. The newly installed Chair decided to table the vote till the next meeting. This passed. Since that last meeting there has been much discussion among members, a closed Executive Board meeting - (that some think was unacceptable and "illegal"), and general unrest in our guild.Our meeting is monday evening. Any suggestions on how to start and where to go with this messy situation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted June 9, 2012 at 01:03 PM Report Share Posted June 9, 2012 at 01:03 PM Suggestions? Unfortunately not in RONR. The book doesn't attempt to deal with "split" meetings with all the associated problems that you have quite clearly encountered (and there are more!).Perhaps J.J. will post a link to an article he wrote about split meetings and how to resolve some, but only some, of the problems.One matter: you were entirely correct on insisting (unsuccessfully, I gather) on amending the proposed bylaw package by pulling one item out for a separate vote. There is no rule in RONR requiring a "whole package" vote. Whoever said there was was dead wrong! Do you have such a rule in your bylaws?An Executive Board is within its rights to have "closed" meetings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edgar Posted June 9, 2012 at 01:12 PM Report Share Posted June 9, 2012 at 01:12 PM Perhaps J.J. will post a link to an article he wrote about split meetings and how to resolve some, but only some, of the problems.I figured this was a good opportunity to practice my search skills:http://www.aipparl.o...iftMeetings.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Summer Posted June 9, 2012 at 01:20 PM Report Share Posted June 9, 2012 at 01:20 PM JD, thank you for your reply. Our by-laws state that changes proposed must be voted on at the May business meeting (both day and night). Nothing stated about how the vote should be taken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trina Posted June 9, 2012 at 01:42 PM Report Share Posted June 9, 2012 at 01:42 PM Our quilt guild has a day meeting and a night meeting. We had some changes propsed to our by-laws. We could only vote yes or no. I made a motion that we break out one change - that i wanted to vote no on. We were told that we had to vote on the by-laws as a whole package. We could not break the package up. a vote was taken. several abstenions - a member said abstensions were considered a "yes" by Roberts Rules of Order. After looking this up - this is not correct. The by law changes passed....Not addressing the other problems for the moment... When you say the bylaws changes passed, what was the vote count (and how many abstentions)? What do (did) the bylaws say about the required vote for amendment?Do the bylaws say anything at all about how the split meetings are to be handled?You were correct, of course, that (under the rules in RONR) it should have been possible to debate and vote on proposed bylaws amendments individually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summer Posted June 9, 2012 at 02:26 PM Report Share Posted June 9, 2012 at 02:26 PM I don't remember what the vote counts were. Our by-laws state that "(...proposed changes shall be printed in the March/April newsletter and distibuted prior to the voting date. 30 days must elapse between distribution and votin on bylaw changes." © Changes will be voted on at the May business meetings and may be adopted by two-thirds vote of the members present. Our by laws do not address the split meetings....only day group votes and night group votes.When some of the Executive Board of Directors had their closed meeting, I will assume minutes were taken. Should those minutes be presented at the general meeting or should they only be presented at a board meeting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted June 9, 2012 at 02:35 PM Report Share Posted June 9, 2012 at 02:35 PM The assembly, by a 2/3 vote, (or majority with notice) can require the Board minutes to be read to the assembly. p. 487. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.