Guest johnny johnson Posted January 23, 2015 at 01:11 AM Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 at 01:11 AM is it within the rules for a clerk/treasure to speak free at will in a town meeting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted January 23, 2015 at 01:23 AM Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 at 01:23 AM If this is a governmental body, such as a city council, the answer to your question will probably be determined by the council's own rules and by various provisions in state law, such as your state open meetings laws. Can give us a few more details? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted January 23, 2015 at 01:25 AM Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 at 01:25 AM "Speak free" might be too much talk, but your Town Ordinances probably has the answer to your question. RONR would not allow unlimited speaking by members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted January 23, 2015 at 02:53 AM Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 at 02:53 AM often giving her opinion on agenda item during disscusion, in my opinion often swaying votes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hieu H. Huynh Posted January 23, 2015 at 03:33 AM Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 at 03:33 AM Members have the right to speak in debate. I think swaying votes is a reason for debate. The amount of debate a member would have would depend on your rules. RONR allows for a member to speak no longer than ten minutes for each speech and no more than twice on the same question on the same day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Lages Posted January 23, 2015 at 03:39 AM Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 at 03:39 AM As noted in the responses above, there are a lot of unknown variables here such as: what exactly is a town meeting? That is, what body is meeting? Is the clerk/treasurer a member of the body that is meeting? But aside from those questions, I would go a little further than Mr. Huynh's response and state that swaying votes is the primary purpose of speaking in debate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted January 23, 2015 at 03:41 AM Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 at 03:41 AM Members have the right to speak in debate. I think swaying votes is a reason for debate. The amount of debate a member would have would depend on your rules. RONR allows for a member to speak no longer than ten minutes for each speech and no more than twice on the same question on the same day.I don't think it's certain from guest Johnny Johnson's question whether this person is a member of whatever body is meeting. It looks to some of us like this might be a sort of city council meeting. But, if she is a member, then I agree that she probably has the right to speak and the main reason for speaking is indeed to sway votes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted January 23, 2015 at 05:28 AM Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 at 05:28 AM OTOH, if the clerk/treasurer is an employee of the town (as well as a resident), there might be restrictions on his/her speaking rights. But those limits, if any, would be in the Town ordinances, not in RONR. A guess: if this is a New England Town Meeting, such meetings have very extensive rule books which differ from RONR in a number of particulars. We here stick to RONR; there are parliamentarians (in New England, obviously) who are well versed in the Town Meeting Rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted January 23, 2015 at 04:03 PM Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 at 04:03 PM this is a town meeting and the clerk is not an elected member but i thank you guys very much, i think you answerd my question by telling me to check the ordinances. thank you, this is a lot of help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted January 23, 2015 at 06:01 PM Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 at 06:01 PM Just one point to consider: It's possible the clerk might not be an elected member, but might still be a member. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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