Special Committee

[Tom Coronite]

A special committee is formed to search for candidates or a candidate for a position and make a recommendation to the assembly. Special committee in their report to the assembly recommends Joe Brown for the position. The assembly moves to interview Joe, and decides not to hire him. 

Is the special committee already discharged because they gave their report? Is there a particular protocol to have the committee "stand down" until a certain time in case the assembly desires to give them further instruction? or would a new special committee need to be formed?

[Richard Brown]

Based on the language on page 504 502, I am of the opinion that the special committee is discharged when it makes its recommendation.... when it presents its report.  That is much the same way a nominating committee is discharged when it presents its report.  The fact that the committee rejected its recommendation is not relevant.

Here is what I believe to be the pertinent language on page 504 502:  "A special committee—since it is appointed for a specific purpose—continues to exist until the duty assigned to it is accomplished, unless discharged sooner (see 36); and it ceases to exist as soon as the assembly receives its final report."

However, i believe the committee could be revived and instructed by the assembly to resume its search and keep working to find a new candidate.

[Hieu H. Huynh]

5 minutes ago, Richard Brown said:

Based on the language on page 504, I am of the opinion that the special committee is discharged when it makes its recommendation.... when it presents its report.  That is much the same way a nominating committee is discharged when it presents its report.  The fact that the committee rejected its recommendation is not relevant.

Here is what I believe to be the pertinent language on page 504:  "A special committee—since it is appointed for a specific purpose—continues to exist until the duty assigned to it is accomplished, unless discharged sooner (see 36); and it ceases to exist as soon as the assembly receives its final report."

However, i believe the committee could be revived and instructed by the assembly to resume its search and keep working to find a new candidate.

Page 504?

[Tom Coronite]

I agree that p. 504 suggests they are discharged. And as you say, if the candidate is rejected it stands to reason another would be sought. But how can the assembly instruct the committee to do so if they've already disbanded? How do we "get the band back together" so to speak?

or can we avoid the gap with a motion to have the committee stand by until the candidate is fully vetted? Is such a motion to retain a committee, who would otherwise be discharged, in order?

[Richard Brown]

5 minutes ago, Hieu H. Huynh said:

Page 504?

Oops.  Page 502.  Corrected now.  Thanks!!

[Richard Brown]

16 minutes ago, 1stChurch said:

I agree that p. 504 suggests they are discharged. And as you say, if the candidate is rejected it stands to reason another would be sought. But how can the assembly instruct the committee to do so if they've already disbanded? How do we "get the band back together" so to speak?

or can we avoid the gap with a motion to have the committee stand by until the candidate is fully vetted? Is such a motion to retain a committee, who would otherwise be discharged, in order?

I think a motion to have the search committee "revived" and to continue its search would be in order and perhaps the cleanest way of doing it. 

That is similar to what RONR suggests happens to a nominating committee automatically if one of the nominees withdraws prior to the election, per this language from page 435:  "A nominating committee is automatically discharged when its report is formally presented to the assembly, although if one of the nominees withdraws before the election, the committee is revived and should meet immediately to agree upon another nomination if there is time."

Reviving the committee seems to me like the best way, although think a motion that the committee continue to exist until such time as a candidate is actually approved by the assembly would also be in order.

[Tom Coronite]

Ah! Thanks, that's very helpful.

[Dan Honemann]

It seems to me that the easiest thing to do at this point is simply to start over by making a motion at your next meeting similar (or even identical) to the motion previously adopted which created the now discharged committee.

[Shmuel Gerber]

7 hours ago, Daniel H. Honemann said:

It seems to me that the easiest thing to do at this point is simply to start over by making a motion at your next meeting similar (or even identical) to the motion previously adopted which created the now discharged committee.

RONR says, on page 174 (11th ed.), "A proposal to recommit to the same standing or special committee that previously considered the question should be voted on before other proposals for standing or special committees are voted on" (emphasis added). I think this raises an interesting question as to whether this is to apply only in the case of a question on which the committee's recommendation represents a partial report (so that the committee has not yet been discharged), or whether RONR recognizes more broadly a motion to recommit a question to the same special committee from which it was reported, even though the committee has technically been discharged from the moment its report was received.

[Dan Honemann]

4 minutes ago, Shmuel Gerber said:

RONR says, on page 174 (11th ed.), "A proposal to recommit to the same standing or special committee that previously considered the question should be voted on before other proposals for standing or special committees are voted on" (emphasis added). I think this raises an interesting question as to whether this is to apply only in the case of a question on which the committee's recommendation represents a partial report (so that the committee has not yet been discharged), or whether RONR recognizes more broadly a motion to recommit a question to the same special committee from which it was reported, even though the committee has technically been discharged from the moment its report was received.

I think a subsidiary motion can be made to recommit a pending motion or resolution to the special committee to which it had previously been referred and that has submitted its final report, but in the instant case I'm not sure there is any pending motion to recommit.

[Shmuel Gerber]

1 minute ago, Daniel H. Honemann said:

I think a subsidiary motion can be made to recommit a pending motion or resolution to the special committee to which it had previously been referred and that has submitted its final report, but in the instant case I'm not sure there is any pending motion to recommit.

Sounds good to me.