Guest Melanie Posted September 28, 2012 at 08:48 PM Report Share Posted September 28, 2012 at 08:48 PM We recently voted on a motion and passed it (to cancel an annual holiday fundraiser). Now additional information has come to light (offers to chair the committee where none were previously present) that is causing many members to reconsider. The board immediately called a special meeting to discuss. Now I have received a second correspondence saying that the special meeting has been cancelled because we must "stand by the vote at the meeting". If the board did hold a special meeting for discussion, couldn't a new motion be made to hold the holiday fundraiser? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trina Posted September 28, 2012 at 08:55 PM Report Share Posted September 28, 2012 at 08:55 PM Which body voted to cancel the fundraiser (board or general membership)? Was the special meeting to be a meeting of the same body? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Melanie Posted September 28, 2012 at 08:57 PM Report Share Posted September 28, 2012 at 08:57 PM The general membership originally voted and was all informed of & invited to the special meetng as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trina Posted September 28, 2012 at 09:01 PM Report Share Posted September 28, 2012 at 09:01 PM Was the special meeting a meeting of the general membership? Just inviting the general members to sit in at a board meeting is not the same thing.It would be unlikely that a board has authority to overturn a general membership decision -- that's why these questions matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Melanie Posted September 28, 2012 at 09:06 PM Report Share Posted September 28, 2012 at 09:06 PM The meeting where the original vote took place (by the general members) was a regularly scheduled monthly meeting of the general membership. The special meeting was to be of the general membership as well. The board is saying that that nothing can be done about a vote once it has passed so there is no reason to hold a special meeting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edgar Posted September 28, 2012 at 09:11 PM Report Share Posted September 28, 2012 at 09:11 PM The board is saying that that nothing can be done about a vote once it has passed so there is no reason to hold a special meeting.Well the board is mistaken.And it certainly can't cancel a properly called meeting of the general membership.But the meeting has to be either a special meeting of the general membership or a special meeting of the board. It can't be a meeting of one body and of the other body "as well".As for the holiday fundraiser, just adopt a new motion to hold it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Melanie Posted September 28, 2012 at 09:15 PM Report Share Posted September 28, 2012 at 09:15 PM All I need is a meeting so I can make a new motion to hold the fundraiser, right? I thought the board was mistaken, but since I am new to this organization and its been many years since I practiced my parli pro skills I wanted to make sure. Thanks for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trina Posted September 28, 2012 at 09:16 PM Report Share Posted September 28, 2012 at 09:16 PM The meeting where the original vote took place (by the general members) was a regularly scheduled monthly meeting of the general membership. The special meeting was to be of the general membership as well. The board is saying that that nothing can be done about a vote once it has passed so there is no reason to hold a special meeting.Well, that's certainly not true. The motion could be rescinded (or amended, if desired) by the general membership. Since the call to the special meeting could give notice that a motion to rescind would be offered, plain old majority vote could do the trick. If previous notice was not given, it would take a two-thirds vote.The call to the special meeting must inform the members of the nature of the business to be considered (a meeting just to 'discuss' isn't something contemplated by RONR). Also, it's worth noting that a meeting, once called, cannot be cancelled (you said in the first post that the special meeting had been cancelled -- that is doubtful, if the call to the meeting has actually gone out). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trina Posted September 28, 2012 at 09:17 PM Report Share Posted September 28, 2012 at 09:17 PM Well the board is mistaken.And it certainly can't cancel a properly called meeting of the general membership.But the meeting has to be either a special meeting of the general membership or a special meeting of the board. It can't be a meeting of one body and of the other body "as well".As for the holiday fundraiser, just adopt a new motion to hold it.Yeah... there is that. Quite possibly there is no need to do anything about the previous motion to cancel the fundraiser. It may depend on the exact wording of the motion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted September 29, 2012 at 06:41 PM Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 at 06:41 PM The board is saying that that nothing can be done about a vote once it has passed so there is no reason to hold a special meeting.Well, that's nonsense. If the membership voted to have the event, they could certainly have voted to cancel the event, even though the board could not.But beyond that, you need to have a procedure in your bylaws for calling special membership meetings, and follow it. Was that done?If so then what I'm really curious about is, once the special meeting was called, who had the authority to cancel it, and where did that authority come from? Canceling a dinner or fund-raiser is one thing. Canceling a meeting is usually far more difficult to pull off, and often impossible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Laura Posted October 5, 2012 at 02:52 PM Report Share Posted October 5, 2012 at 02:52 PM Can the board overrule a membership vote regarding reinstatement of of captain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trina Posted October 5, 2012 at 03:09 PM Report Share Posted October 5, 2012 at 03:09 PM Can the board overrule a membership vote regarding reinstatement of of captain?Take a look at this official interpretation.In general this forum works best if you start a new topic to ask a new (albeit related) question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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