Guest Wes Posted September 23, 2014 at 01:36 PM Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 at 01:36 PM I walked in on a meeting last night with the past president, treasurer, uniform chair, and secretary discussing business and voting on a budget ... The meeting could not be called by anyone other than the president (me) and not without a 4 day notice per our bylaws. Also there was no quorum present but our past president informed me the budget passed. I brought all of these bylaw violations to their attention and they told me it did not matter they did what they had to do. Can I ask for resignations from these 4 members? Am I within the rights to do so? Input please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Guest Posted September 23, 2014 at 01:43 PM Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 at 01:43 PM Can I ask for resignations from these 4 members? Ask away. But resignation is a voluntary act. Assuming that "meeting" was illegitimate, any decisions made there are null and void. If the board is out of control you'll need to appeal to the general membership. See FAQ #20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Posted September 23, 2014 at 02:25 PM Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 at 02:25 PM A meeting that wasn't called properly and lacks a quorum is nothing more than a group of friends getting together. It appears to me that the only thing you need to do at this point is to call a meeting properly to handle the business they thought they were handling. If one of them wants to make a motion to ratify the budget they decided on, there's nothing wrong with that, but they can't act on their own. I hardly think disciplinary action is called for, but it might be wise to take a hard line on the rules, so they'll see that they aren't going to get by with bypassing the other members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Guest Posted September 23, 2014 at 02:41 PM Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 at 02:41 PM I hardly think disciplinary action is called for . . . Really? A group of officers (the board?) gets together, passes a budget (or thinks they did), then tells the president (who didn't even know about the meeting) that it doesn't matter that the meeting wasn't properly called and that a quorum wasn't present, and disciplinary action isn't warranted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Posted September 23, 2014 at 03:18 PM Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 at 03:18 PM Really? What are they guilty of, other than being ignorant of parliamentary procedure? If telling the president something that is incorrect were worthy of discipline, we would all be in trouble. Now, if they start spending money based on their unofficial budget, that would be reason for disciplinary action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted September 23, 2014 at 03:22 PM Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 at 03:22 PM I walked in on a meeting last night with the past president, treasurer, uniform chair, and secretary discussing business and voting on a budget ... The meeting could not be called by anyone other than the president (me) and not without a 4 day notice per our bylaws. Also there was no quorum present but our past president informed me the budget passed. I brought all of these bylaw violations to their attention and they told me it did not matter they did what they had to do. Can I ask for resignations from these 4 members? Am I within the rights to do so? Input please? A meeting that wasn't called properly and lacks a quorum is nothing more than a group of friends getting together. . . . I hardly think disciplinary action is called for, but it might be wise to take a hard line on the rules, so they'll see that they aren't going to get by with, bypassing the other members. Really? A group of officers (the board?) gets together, passes a budget (or thinks they did), then tells the president (who didn't even know about the meeting) that it doesn't matter that the meeting wasn't properly called and that a quorum wasn't present, and disciplinary action isn't warranted? I agree with Edgar. What happened strikes me as pretty outrageous. This wasn't just a group of friends getting together. They took action and adopted a budget and when told it was wrong said, in essence, "Tough. Whatcha gonna do about it"? I think that at a minimum, a motion of censure or of disapproval is in order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Posted September 23, 2014 at 03:37 PM Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 at 03:37 PM The only thing we've been told is that they told the president, "Tough, Whatcha gonna do about it?" If that is all they've done, I don't see anything other than a few hurt feelings. Unfortunate, yes, but not worthy of disciplinary action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Guest Posted September 23, 2014 at 03:44 PM Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 at 03:44 PM So we have the president, who thinks resignations are warranted; the officers, who think they did nothing wrong (or, worse, who know it was wrong but don't think that matters); and Mr. Fish, who's attitude is . . . no harm, no foul? It's like catching someone in the act of robbing a bank and letting him go because, well, he didn't actually steal anything. Yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Posted September 23, 2014 at 04:00 PM Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 at 04:00 PM At what point does robbing a bank become a crime? When you're sitting around the table planning, or when you walk into the bank and demand the money? It appears to me that all this group has done is planned the crime and told one person what they have planned. They haven't actually taken the money yet, and if they can get the members to ratify their plan, then they can take the money with authority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted September 23, 2014 at 04:12 PM Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 at 04:12 PM At what point does robbing a bank become a crime? When you're sitting around the table planning, or when you walk into the bank and demand the money? It appears to me that all this group has done is planned the crime and told one person what they have planned. They haven't actually taken the money yet, and if they can get the members to ratify their plan, then they can take the money with authority. It seems to me that this statement from the original poster in his original post says plainly that this group of "outlaws" did more than plan something. They did something. They adopted a budget. "our past president informed me the budget passed." That sounds to me like, as far as this band of outlaws is concerned, they adopted a budget. They didn't just talk about maybe adopting one in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Wes Posted September 23, 2014 at 04:25 PM Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 at 04:25 PM No this budget was presented to our General membership as an approved budget by that group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Posted September 23, 2014 at 04:28 PM Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 at 04:28 PM No this budget was presented to our General membership as an approved budget by that group. Now that's a horse of a different color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted September 23, 2014 at 04:39 PM Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 at 04:39 PM Now that's a horse of a different color. Glad you got your color blindness fixed!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted September 23, 2014 at 04:43 PM Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 at 04:43 PM At what point does robbing a bank become a crime? When you're sitting around the table planning, or when you walk into the bank and demand the money? It appears to me that all this group has done is planned the crime and told one person what they have planned. They haven't actually taken the money yet, and if they can get the members to ratify their plan, then they can take the money with authority. I've heard it said that if a boy steals a candy bar he is guilty of, at most, a misdemeanor, while if two boys plot to steal a candy bar*, they are guilty of conspiracy, a felony. __________ *...but never actually steal it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Posted September 23, 2014 at 04:58 PM Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 at 04:58 PM My point is that four friends are sitting around discussing what they want to do, they can adopt whatever they like. "I move we paint the sky green." But if they have no authority to carry it out, it is just a bunch of friends talking about what they would like to happen. But if those four friends present what they came up with as coming from a committee they all happen to be on, then that makes they liars and they ought to be disciplined. However, if they had presented it as a minority report, they're still doing nothing wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Wes Posted September 23, 2014 at 05:19 PM Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 at 05:19 PM I have now contacted our school board and reported this as it happened on my watch and I do not want to open myself up to any legal action. This group of people told me after I pointed out ever bylaw that was broken in doin this said we don't care we did what we had to do. There were about 6-8 bylaws broken and this has been the way it's been from day 1. There is a lil group that if they don't get their way they simply ignore the bylaws as they did last night. Maybe the school board can straighten out the fraudulent budget that has been passed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted September 23, 2014 at 06:05 PM Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 at 06:05 PM It's not clear what sort of organization this is, or why the local school board would have any authority over it--or, for that matter, why it is developing budgets if that is the school board's job (as is normally the case.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Guest Posted September 23, 2014 at 06:29 PM Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 at 06:29 PM It's not clear what sort of organization this is, or why the local school board would have any authority over it . . . Perhaps because this is a school district? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Wes Posted September 24, 2014 at 01:39 AM Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 at 01:39 AM This is a high school band booster organization. The school board is does not handle the band fees etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted September 24, 2014 at 12:58 PM Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 at 12:58 PM Perhaps because this is a school district?Well, sure, but then the school board would be developing the budget for the district, not some outside group. Given that it turns out to be a booster club, I suspect the school board has little authority to do anything. Most of the time booster clubs have their own bank account, and are fiscally independent from the district. Their donations are accepted by the district as gifts, but internal booster club matters aren't something that would normally fall within the school board's purview. Still, no harm in letting them know. Maybe they can use political or other influence to help put matters right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Guest Posted September 24, 2014 at 01:12 PM Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 at 01:12 PM Well, sure, but then the school board would be developing the budget for the district, not some outside group. But wasn't that the point (as originally portrayed)? That this outside group (comprised of inside members) was acting as if it was doing so legitimately when, apparently, it knew it wasn't. In any event, rather than waiting for Guest Wes to drop the next shoe (of which there seem to be more than two), I'm calling it a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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