Wording to change an non motioned rule

[Guest Board member]

I’m trying to clean up the minutes to follow RRs. A discussion was put in past minutes to allow society’s members questions and concerns to be included in the minutes. It was not motioned or voted on, just added. I would like to make a motion to have the minutes follow RRs format. How would I word this motion? Do I include to amend the informal adoption of a rule? I don’t want to null and void my motion.

[Chris Harrison]

I am not sure I completely understand your question.  Are you saying that no motion was made nor voted on to "allow society’s members questions and concerns to be included in the minutes" but somehow the minutes are reflecting that this motion was adopted?  If that wasn't what happened can you please clarify?

[Guest Who's Coming to Dinner]

What you have is a custom. If RONR is your parliamentary authority, it takes only a point of order to put a stop to the practice.

[Guest Board member]

Yes, the secretary wrote in the minutes in 2012, that the board will include in detail questions and concerns from homeowners and that one homeowner said everything that is said at the meetings should be included in the minutes. I know this to be untrue, but it is written in the minutes. Since then, a whole bunch of unnecessary information has been added. There was no motion or vote. I want the minutes to follow RR and get rid of all that “detail”. I plan to make a motion that the minutes follow RRs as stated in the bylaws. But I want to be sure the past minutes don’t void my motion.

[Chris Harrison]

10 minutes ago, Guest Board member said:

Yes, the secretary wrote in the minutes in 2012, that the board will include in detail questions and concerns from homeowners...

Since this happened 6 years ago you will probably be hard pressed to prove that there was no actual motion made or vote taken. Absent such proof you would need to move to Rescind  this "motion".  See RONR pp. 305-310 for details.

[Guest Board member]

I’ve read the minutes, no motion or vote was ever mentioned. But the custom rule was.

[Joshua Katz]

24 minutes ago, Guest Board member said:

Yes, the secretary wrote in the minutes in 2012, that the board will include in detail questions and concerns from homeowners and that one homeowner said everything that is said at the meetings should be included in the minutes. I know this to be untrue, but it is written in the minutes. Since then, a whole bunch of unnecessary information has been added. There was no motion or vote. I want the minutes to follow RR and get rid of all that “detail”. I plan to make a motion that the minutes follow RRs as stated in the bylaws. But I want to be sure the past minutes don’t void my motion.

The general rule is that the minutes shouldn't contain this stuff, as you know.  But it is also the case that including this stuff is of no effect.  If the minutes said a rule was adopted, that would be one thing.  But they don't, they just contain (as I understand it) some extraneous language promising more extraneous language in the future.  The extraneous language in the 2012 minutes isn't binding, and won't prevent you from producing proper minutes now.  (If you want to be cute, you can move to amend something previously adopted and remove it from those minutes, as an example of the type of extraneous language that doesn't belong.)  But don't make a motion to produce proper minutes (if RONR is your parliamentary authority) just amend the pending minutes to get rid of it, and/or use a point of order.  A motion to follow the rules is, in my opinion, problematic, particularly because of what the organization is likely to do if it fails.  It's also out of order.