Guest Heather Posted March 20, 2017 at 02:58 PM Report Share Posted March 20, 2017 at 02:58 PM A new board member insists her "abstention vote" to be recorded in the minutes. She also wants "more details" about discussions we had, not just motions/approvals, etc. We do not do roll call votes. I go by Roberts Rules of Order as much as possible. I feel like I am being bullied into changing things to humour her whim. How can I respond diplomatically? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Mervosh Posted March 20, 2017 at 03:02 PM Report Share Posted March 20, 2017 at 03:02 PM Just tell her it's not proper under the rules in RONR and insist she point how it is proper if she disagrees, and forget about being diplomatic when the requests are nonsensical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted March 20, 2017 at 03:27 PM Report Share Posted March 20, 2017 at 03:27 PM Or if you want to get off the hook of having to argue with her, explain to her that she can make a motion requesting "more details" in the minutes and a (second, separate) motion that her non-voting be included in the minutes. That will probably be the end of it, especially if both motions get roundly defeated. Majority to adopt in both cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Who's Coming to Dinner Posted March 20, 2017 at 06:49 PM Report Share Posted March 20, 2017 at 06:49 PM I hope that doesn't backfire. Other board members may think, "Yeah, that's a great idea. Let turn our minutes into lecture notes like we do at work." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted March 20, 2017 at 06:57 PM Report Share Posted March 20, 2017 at 06:57 PM Majority rules..... (Hire a stenographer and then test the members, after the meeting, on the content of the verbatim "minutes". If they flunk the test, they don't get their expenses reimbursed...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Mervosh Posted March 20, 2017 at 08:51 PM Report Share Posted March 20, 2017 at 08:51 PM I don't particularly care for the idea of encouraging this member to make such a motion. From the limited facts presented she seems to be the only one who cares enough to mention it to Guest Heather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. J. Posted March 21, 2017 at 02:22 PM Report Share Posted March 21, 2017 at 02:22 PM 17 hours ago, George Mervosh said: I don't particularly care for the idea of encouraging this member to make such a motion. From the limited facts presented she seems to be the only one who cares enough to mention it to Guest Heather. I would not object to the member requesting that the fact she abstained be noted. That is a Request and would require a majority to approve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Mervosh Posted March 21, 2017 at 02:24 PM Report Share Posted March 21, 2017 at 02:24 PM Just now, J. J. said: I would not object to the member requesting that the fact she abstained be noted. That is a Request and would require a majority to approve. If it were a one time thing or something that happens very rarely a request is a good idea and probably should be granted without much fuss, but this and the other comments about what should be in the minutes seems like something far more than a request. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexis Hunt Posted March 21, 2017 at 09:01 PM Report Share Posted March 21, 2017 at 09:01 PM 6 hours ago, George Mervosh said: If it were a one time thing or something that happens very rarely a request is a good idea and probably should be granted without much fuss, but this and the other comments about what should be in the minutes seems like something far more than a request. A representative student body of which I was a part adopted a rule stating that members could ask to have their votes or abstentions recorded in the minutes. It worked quite well. As for putting more details about discussions in the minutes, it's not uncommon for someone to want such details recorded. But Robert's Rules takes the position that they do not need to be recorded, because they are not a part of the substance of the meeting: they are a detail of process rather than part of the outcome. Nonetheless, they can be useful for later reference for The most difficult issue that arises from putting summaries of debate into the minutes is that unless they are done in a skilled and impartial fashion, they can very frequently become the subject of much debate that isn't necessary, where one member thinks that a statement is very important and needs to be in the minutes, and another member objects. Worse, it can become a situation of "X said that all potates are awful" and then X reply's "No I didn't! You misheard me!" and then there is a lot of hullabaloo over this. Additionally, you can kiss any hope of the secretary being able to participate in the meeting goodbye, because they will be too busy recording what is going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Katz Posted March 21, 2017 at 10:33 PM Report Share Posted March 21, 2017 at 10:33 PM 1 hour ago, Alexis Hunt said: As for putting more details about discussions in the minutes, it's not uncommon for someone to want such details recorded. But Robert's Rules takes the position that they do not need to be recorded, because they are not a part of the substance of the meeting: they are a detail of process rather than part of the outcome. Nonetheless, they can be useful for later reference for It seems something is missing here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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