BarryA Posted March 23, 2016 at 01:23 AM Report Share Posted March 23, 2016 at 01:23 AM "The Board of Directors shall act for [The Organization] and the House of Delegates during the intervals between meetings of the House of Delegates, subject to the exercise by the House of Delegates of its powers of ratification or prospective modification or rescission, except that it shall not remove a Board Member, an Administrative Review Board member or other person elected by the House of Delegates or amend these Bylaws." - our bylaws Our Board of Directors wants to suspend a rule at a future House of Delegates meeting, which would normally require a 2/3 vote of the House of Delegates at the meeting. But as indicated above, the Board shall act for the House of Delegates between meetings. Can the Board of Directors suspend a rule for a House of Delegates meeting that will occur later? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Katz Posted March 23, 2016 at 01:40 AM Report Share Posted March 23, 2016 at 01:40 AM This also veers into bylaw interpretation, but I think we can say that, as a general matter, the power to act on behalf of an organization between its meetings doesn't extend to suspending rules for that body at future sessions. In fact, a body cannot itself suspend rules at a future session - although it can amend the special rules of order. Keep in mind that we don't suspend particular rules, but rather any rules interfering with achieving a particular end. That is, the motion to suspend the rules includes the purpose, not the rule. "I move that we suspend the rules in order to..." It's never in order to just move to suspend rule 40b - rather, you suspend the rules in order to nominate Paul Ryan. Determining whether or not this bylaw in particular grants such power is beyond the scope of this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted March 23, 2016 at 02:41 AM Report Share Posted March 23, 2016 at 02:41 AM 11 hours ago, Godelfan said: This also veers into bylaw interpretation, but I think we can say that, as a general matter, the power to act on behalf of an organization between its meetings doesn't extend to suspending rules for that body at future sessions. . . . . I'm not sure I agree with this. If the matter the board has the authority to deal with between sessions of the House of Delegates, then, unless the rules specify otherwise, I believe the board could suspend the rules that interfere with whatever it wants to do to the same extent that the House of Delegates could. For example, if the board wants to suspend the rules to limit or extend debate on a particular motion, I believe it could do so. A lot depends on just what rule it is that the board members want to suspend. I am assuming that they are not trying to suspend the rule now, but that some board member(s) have expressed an intent to do so at the next board meeting. I have not researched this and am not certain of it. If I am mistaken, I welcome a correction (hopefully with a citation to RONR!). Edited to add: In reading subsequent posts, it is clear that I misread the initial question. My response above was based on the assumption that the board wants to suspend the rules at a BOARD meeting. It is clear to me now that the board wants to vote to do this at/for a meeting of the House of Delegates. I agree completely with those below (and above) who say that would not be permissible. The board is a subordinate body and cannot suspend the rules at a meeting of the superior body. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Katz Posted March 23, 2016 at 02:47 AM Report Share Posted March 23, 2016 at 02:47 AM You might be interpreting the question differently from me. You say that they are intending to "...do so at the next board meeting." My reading of the question was that they want to suspend a rule at the next House meeting. That is, I see them voting at a board meeting to suspend the rules at the next session of the House. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted March 23, 2016 at 05:59 AM Report Share Posted March 23, 2016 at 05:59 AM 4 hours ago, BarryA said: "The Board of Directors shall act for [The Organization] and the House of Delegates during the intervals between meetings of the House of Delegates, subject to the exercise by the House of Delegates of its powers of ratification or prospective modification or rescission, except that it shall not remove a Board Member, an Administrative Review Board member or other person elected by the House of Delegates or amend these Bylaws." - our bylaws Our Board of Directors wants to suspend a rule at a future House of Delegates meeting, which would normally require a 2/3 vote of the House of Delegates at the meeting. But as indicated above, the Board shall act for the House of Delegates between meetings. Can the Board of Directors suspend a rule for a House of Delegates meeting that will occur later? No. the board has no authority to suspend a rule at a meeting that isn't a board meeting. And that isn't how Suspension of the Rules works anyway, as Godelfan explained above. Clearly the motion to be passed under suspension of the rules would have to be made and voted on at the membership meeting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted March 23, 2016 at 01:42 PM Report Share Posted March 23, 2016 at 01:42 PM I agree with the posts by Godelfan and Gary. In my earlier post, I had misread the question. I have edited it to so reflect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Honemann Posted March 23, 2016 at 02:02 PM Report Share Posted March 23, 2016 at 02:02 PM The answer to the question posted in this thread appears to be so obvious that one wonders whether additional facts would make some sense out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarryA Posted March 24, 2016 at 12:28 AM Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2016 at 12:28 AM 10 hours ago, Daniel H. Honemann said: The answer to the question posted in this thread appears to be so obvious that one wonders whether additional facts would make some sense out of it. The Board wants to require that House members send agenda items ahead of time for a consent agenda, and prohibit any New Business from the floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted March 24, 2016 at 12:36 AM Report Share Posted March 24, 2016 at 12:36 AM 3 minutes ago, BarryA said: The Board wants to require that House members send agenda items ahead of time for a consent agenda, and prohibit any New Business from the floor. The board has no right to dictate how things shall be done at a meeting of the general membership (or house of delegates). It is a meeting of the house of delegates, not a board meeting. The board is subservient to the membership (and the house of delegates) unless your bylaws provide otherwise. Haven't we already answered that in several different ways? Are we missing something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted March 24, 2016 at 12:56 AM Report Share Posted March 24, 2016 at 12:56 AM 27 minutes ago, BarryA said: The Board wants to require that House members send agenda items ahead of time for a consent agenda, and prohibit any New Business from the floor. The board is free to wish, but nothing more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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