Guest William Collins Posted August 29, 2012 at 01:17 PM Report Share Posted August 29, 2012 at 01:17 PM Can an appointed parliamentarian for a meeting also be the presiding officer of the meeting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Harrison Posted August 29, 2012 at 02:14 PM Report Share Posted August 29, 2012 at 02:14 PM Yes, although since one of the parliamentarian's jobs is to advise the presiding officer it might not be the best idea. Basically what you would have is this:Presiding officer/Parliamentarian: <muttering to self> "Would it be proper for me to rule that amendment out of order as not being germane?"Parliamentarian/Presiding officer: <muttering back to self>"Yes, I believe that the amendment to strike Russian Blue and insert Great Dane would not be germane when we are wanting to adopt from the American Cat Fancier's Association."Presiding officer/Parliamentarian: <muttering back in response> "I concur."Presiding officer/Parliamentarian: <speaking out loud> "The Chair rules the amendment not germane because you cannot adopt a dog from a cat lovers group."The assembly seeing two people muttering to one another would probably find it less disturbing than seeing one person carrying on a muttered conversation with himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Mervosh Posted August 29, 2012 at 02:20 PM Report Share Posted August 29, 2012 at 02:20 PM I would have preferred it if Chris's (happy SG?) script had the two disagreeing , but to answer the question from another angle, it is not unheard of or uncommon to hire a parliamentarian to preside over a meeting. I'd hire Chris just for the killer scripts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest William Collins Posted August 29, 2012 at 02:56 PM Report Share Posted August 29, 2012 at 02:56 PM Can the parliamentarian therefore participate in debate and can he/she make a motion from the chair? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Harrison Posted August 29, 2012 at 03:28 PM Report Share Posted August 29, 2012 at 03:28 PM Can the parliamentarian therefore participate in debate and can he/she make a motion from the chair?That is a good question. The first question is whether this person is a member of the body meeting? If he is not then he as a nonmember would have no rights as a member and would merely perform the duties of presiding officer and parliamentarian (though in theory the rules could be suspended to permit a nonmember to make motions and speak in debate). If the person is a member of the body than he would have the right to exercise those rights of membership but as presiding officer he has a duty to remain impartial (see FAQ #1) and the rules regarding the member parliamentarian would also apply.Now, assuming that this person is a member of the body the next question is if this person by taking on the position of presiding officer would be removing his hat as parliamentarian (or at least the part regarding advising the presiding officer and assembly)? If he is wearing both hats then the rule regarding member parliamentarians would apply in that he would forgo exercising his rights of membership (at a meeting) except for voting when it is being taken by ballot (the limitations on the member parliamentarian are far more strict than those on the presiding officer). See RONR p. 467 ll. 8-19. If it is determined that he is not wearing the parliamentarian's hat then my answer in the first paragraph would apply. If it is determined that the portion of the hat regarding advising the presiding officer and assembly has been removed then it would be up to the assembly to determine if he should be held to the standard of the member parliamentarian or that of the presiding officer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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