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quorum and recusing members during a meeting


aleahy

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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

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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

How many alderman are present at the meeting at the time to which you're referring? This is more of an answer than a question.

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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.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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.

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