aleahy Posted July 16, 2012 at 07:21 PM Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 at 07:21 PM A quorum of our Board is 5 aldermen plus the Mayor OR 5 aldermen. Full Board is 8 members plus the Mayor.If at the meeting 8 aldermen are present and identified as such. Then during the meeting 4 aldermen recuse from an issue in front of the Board and do NOT participate in discussion nor voting and have left their seats PRIOR to discussion taking place.Does their action change the status of the quorum? And IF so then what happens to the issue?Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Foulkes Posted July 16, 2012 at 07:25 PM Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 at 07:25 PM Did they leave the meeting room? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Foulkes Posted July 16, 2012 at 07:31 PM Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 at 07:31 PM You might also want to review these threads for discussion on "recusal." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Ed Posted July 16, 2012 at 10:02 PM Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 at 10:02 PM If they leave the room, quorum is lost. Otherwise quorum is maintained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Wynn Posted July 16, 2012 at 11:24 PM Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 at 11:24 PM A quorum of our Board is 5 aldermen plus the Mayor OR 5 aldermen. Full Board is 8 members plus the Mayor.If at the meeting 8 aldermen are present and identified as such. Then during the meeting 4 aldermen recuse from an issue in front of the Board and do NOT participate in discussion nor voting and have left their seats PRIOR to discussion taking place.Does their action change the status of the quorum? And IF so then what happens to the issue?Thank youHow many alderman are present at the meeting at the time to which you're referring? This is more of an answer than a question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted July 17, 2012 at 12:54 AM Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 at 12:54 AM If at the meeting 8 aldermen are present and identified as such. Then during the meeting 4 aldermen recuse from an issue in front of the Board and do NOT participate in discussion nor voting and have left their seats PRIOR to discussion taking place.Does their action change the status of the quorum?Maybe. You say the members left their seats, but did they leave the room? If so, then a quorum is lost. Otherwise, nothing changed.And IF so then what happens to the issue?If quorum was lost, the chair must announce the loss of a quorum and that the question cannot be put to a vote. Proceedings are then as follows: "Even in the absence of a quorum, the assembly may fix the time to which to adjourn (22), adjourn (21), recess (20), or take measures to obtain a quorum. Subsidiary and incidental motions, questions of privilege, motions to Raise a Question of Privilege or Call for the Orders of the Day, and other motions may also be considered if they are related to these motions or to the conduct of the meeting while it remains without a quorum." (RONR (11th ed.), p. 347, line 30 to p. 348, line 2) Since it appears that if a quorum was lost it occurred prior to the chair's stating of the question (correct me if I am wrong in this), the question would need to be made anew when the assembly once again has quorum.As a final caveat, you may wish to look to your rules and applicable laws, since this seems to be a public body and they may have special rules governing this "recusal" you speak of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tctheatc Posted July 17, 2012 at 07:25 PM Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 at 07:25 PM A quorum of our Board is 5 aldermen plus the Mayor OR 5 aldermen....Am I the only one who thinks this is strange?What if there are 5 aldermen and the mayor present, and, having a quorum, the meeting starts. Then the mayor leaves. There's still a quorum! Why have the "plus the mayor" part at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Foulkes Posted July 17, 2012 at 08:04 PM Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 at 08:04 PM Am I the only one who thinks this is strange?No, although I wondered if it was actually supposed to be 4 aldermen plus the mayor, or 5 aldermen. But that wasn't part of the pending question so I let it go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trina Posted July 17, 2012 at 09:19 PM Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 at 09:19 PM Am I the only one who thinks this is strange?...Nope, I thought it was strange too . Not directly relevant to the question being asked, though, as David said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted August 8, 2012 at 08:31 PM Report Share Posted August 8, 2012 at 08:31 PM Am I the only one who thinks this is strange?What if there are 5 aldermen and the mayor present, and, having a quorum, the meeting starts. Then the mayor leaves. There's still a quorum! Why have the "plus the mayor" part at all?Right, logically speaking, that is exactly equivalent to a quorum of "5 aldermen". The presence or absence of the Mayor will have no more effect on the quorum than a partridge in a pear tree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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