Discussion item to action item

[Guest kruth]

Issue on the agenda as discussion item. Member makes a motion to change it to an action item so the Board can vote on the issue. Board majority votes down the motion (meaning the majority of the Board does not want to vote on the issue.) 

Can this issue appear on a future agenda as an action item?

[Guest Edgar]

In RONR-Land, all discussion items are action items. In other words, unless some action is contemplated, there is no need for discussion.

[Josh Martin]

Issue on the agenda as discussion item. Member makes a motion to change it to an action item so the Board can vote on the issue. Board majority votes down the motion (meaning the majority of the Board does not want to vote on the issue.) 

Can this issue appear on a future agenda as an action item?

 

I concur with Edgar, but in any event, no rule in RONR prevents a member from making the motion at a future board meeting.

[Guest kruth]

Thanks to Edgar and Josh for the timely replies. The way our Board Chairman interprets RRules, there is a distinction between discussion and action items. We have to discuss an issue on 3 agendas before we can vote on it as an action item. So on the night in question, our Board essentially voted not to vote on the issue, by voting against converting it from discussion to action on the spot. Because the substance of the issue was not voted down, just the concept of converting it that night, some Board members want it on the next agenda as an action item, to be voted on. Our Chairman is now calling this a "reconsideration" of a motion, but it doesn't seem that way to me. Thoughts? 

[Bruce Lages]

Is this "we have to discuss an item on 3 agendas before we can vote on it" policy a rule you all have established previously, either in your bylaws or as a special rule of order, or is this part of your board chairman's interpretation of RONR?

[Josh Martin]

The way our Board Chairman interprets RRules, there is a distinction between discussion and action items. We have to discuss an issue on 3 agendas before we can vote on it as an action item. So on the night in question, our Board essentially voted not to vote on the issue, by voting against converting it from discussion to action on the spot.

 

This is all nonsense so far as Robert's Rules is concerned. A motion can be made and voted on the same night, and there is no need to vote to "convert" it into an "action item."

 

Our Chairman is now calling this a "reconsideration" of a motion, but it doesn't seem that way to me. Thoughts? 

 

The motion to Reconsider has very narrow time limits which have likely already passed. Of course, you also can't really reconsider a motion that was never considered in the first place.

[sMargaret]

 The way our Board Chairman interprets RRules, there is a distinction between discussion and action items. We have to discuss an issue on 3 agendas before we can vote on it as an action item.

Do ask your Board Chair to show you the section in RONR that makes that distinction... Some useful motions for this may be Parliamentary Inquiry, Point of Order, and Appeal from the Decision of the Chair. 

[Guest kruth]

OK, here's another question: After a member moves to add something to the agenda, does there have to be a majority, 2/3 or any vote to make it so? See my comment in bold below.

Question 14:
How can I get an item on the agenda for a meeting?

Answer:
For a proposed agenda to become the official agenda for a meeting, it must be adopted by the assembly at the outset of the meeting. At the time that an agenda is presented for adoption, it is in order for any member to move to amend the proposed agenda by adding any item that the member desires to add, or by proposing any other change. (Here it doesn't say whether there needs to be a vote, or what kind)

It is wrong to assume, as many do, that the president “sets the agenda.” It is common for the president to prepare a proposed agenda, but that becomes binding only if it is adopted by the full assembly, perhaps after amendments as just described. [RONR (11th ed.), p. 372, ll. 24-35; see also p. 16 of RONRIB.]

 

[Dan Honemann]

"When the adoption of a proposed agenda is pending, it is subject to amendment by majority vote. After an agenda has been adopted by the assembly, no change can be made in it except by a two-thirds vote, a vote of a majority of the entire membership, or unanimous consent. (See also Taking Up Business Out of Its Proper Order, pp. 363–64; cf. p. 630, ll. 12–17.)"  (RONR, 11th ed, p. 373.)