Guest Lindley Posted December 17, 2012 at 10:14 PM Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 at 10:14 PM Our county-appointed committee has a "public forum" for 30 minutes prior to the start of each meeting. Each public forum speaker must sign up before the meeting, and is allotted up to 3 minutes for his/her comments. I (as committee Chair) have been asked if it is possible for one speaker to give their "3 minutes" to another or past speaker; does Robert's Rules address this type of situation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Harrison Posted December 17, 2012 at 10:22 PM Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 at 10:22 PM RONR deals with what members can and cannot do. If you all want to allow the public (nonmembers) to speak you will need to adopt some rules on how that will be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edgar Posted December 17, 2012 at 10:25 PM Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 at 10:25 PM Speaking time can not be transferred.And, as far as RONR is concerned, "the public" is just another term for non-members (of the body that is meeting) and non-members have no parliamentary rights at all (not even the right to attend meetings).Which is not to say that the board can't let one non-member speak for one minute, let another speak for ten minutes, and prevent another non-member from speaking at all.As always, your rules (and applicable laws) may vary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Foulkes Posted December 17, 2012 at 11:16 PM Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 at 11:16 PM Our county-appointed committee has a "public forum" for 30 minutes prior to the start of each meeting.To add to the previous posts, if this public forum is taking place prior to the committee meeting being called to order, then I'd venture that you'd have to look at any other rules in place that govern this portion of the gathering. RONR deals primarily with what happens, and what can validly occur, during a properly called meeting, not before or after (with some exceptions that seem inapplicable here). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edgar Posted December 17, 2012 at 11:24 PM Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 at 11:24 PM Our county-appointed committee has a "public forum" for 30 minutes prior to the start of each meeting., , , if this public forum is taking place prior to the committee meeting being called to order. . .Nice catch. If the meeting hasn't begun then "the public" and "the committee members" share an equal status, just as if they had all gathered at the tavern across the street. The committee won't be able to act as a committee until the meeting is called to order and the committee magically (okay, parliamentarily) materializes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shmuel Gerber Posted December 24, 2012 at 11:15 PM Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 at 11:15 PM Nice catch. If the meeting hasn't begun then "the public" and "the committee members" share an equal status, just as if they had all gathered at the tavern across the street. The committee won't be able to act as a committee until the meeting is called to order and the committee magically (okay, parliamentarily) materializes.I doubt this is the case. From the description given, these forums (hearings?) are obviously being organized and conducted by the committee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edgar Posted December 24, 2012 at 11:35 PM Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 at 11:35 PM From the description given, these forums (hearings?) are obviously being organized and conducted by the committee.Well, they're organized and conducted by a group of people who, when the meeting is called to order, will constitute, and can act as, the committee. Perhaps that takes place before the "public forum" begins. Not that it matters much in the context of the original question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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