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[Guest M]

At a recent city council meeting, the mayor skipped an agenda item without any comment. There may have been some controversy on this item and people were in attendance because of that item. No comment was made about that by the other council members and the meeting continued until adjournment. My question is simply, is this acceptable? Obviously, it is not nice, but are there any rules about this action?

[Rev Ed]

Yes, a Point of Order should have been made by a Council member at the time.  At this point, the issue is too late.  However, nothing in RONR would prevent the issue from being dealt with at the next meeting.

[Guest Nancy N.]

As far as Robert's Rules is concerned, it's pretty much a procedural solecism.

[Guest Nancy N.]

... dealt with at the next meeting.

 

You got a couple ideas for this?

[Josh Martin]

At a recent city council meeting, the mayor skipped an agenda item without any comment. There may have been some controversy on this item and people were in attendance because of that item. No comment was made about that by the other council members and the meeting continued until adjournment. My question is simply, is this acceptable? Obviously, it is not nice, but are there any rules about this action?

 

If no one on the council wanted to take action on the subject, I don't think it violates any rule in RONR. If a member wanted to do something, he should have said something.

 

The council may have its own rules on this subject.

 

You got a couple ideas for this?

 

Well, so far as RONR is concerned, someone can simply make the motion at the next meeting, but since this is a City Council, it probably has its own rules on the subject.

[Guest mg]

Then, am I understanding correctly? If an item is on an public city council agenda and the council( or mayor) changes its/his/her mind and does not want to publicly deal with it, the mayor can just skip over it and the meeting continues as if it wasn't there?  They would then have the option of either putting it on the next agenda or leaving it off entirely with no explanation. I am understanding that there are no rules on this--is that right?

[Guest Edgar]

If an item is on an public city council agenda and the council( or mayor) changes its/his/her mind and does not want to publicly deal with it, the mayor can just skip over it and the meeting continues as if it wasn't there?  

 

As Mr. Harrison noted, one of the members of the council could have raised a point of order (at the time) to the effect that the agenda item was skipped. Assuming no one did, it's too late now. Some here refer to this as "you snooze, you lose".

 

How did this item get on the agenda in the first place? If one of the council members put it there, why didn't he speak up when it was skipped. See also FAQ #14.

 

But your city council is no doubt subject to additional rules (and laws) which go well beyond the RONR defaults. So you may have additional options.