Guest Susan Posted August 30, 2018 at 02:00 PM Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 at 02:00 PM If a board member misses a meeting and returns to the next scheduled meeting, what is it called when he cannot vote on behalf of previous meeting minutes or business? My mind went blank but was asked about this. Help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Mervosh Posted August 30, 2018 at 02:04 PM Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 at 02:04 PM He CAN participate in the approval of the minutes, but I don't understand what you mean by "or business". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Susan Posted August 30, 2018 at 02:07 PM Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 at 02:07 PM He mentioned that he could not vote to accept minutes from the last meeting so he "excused" himself from participating in the vote. There is a word that escapes me and I can't think of it. He said it but now, I can't remember. Brain hiccup... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Katz Posted August 30, 2018 at 02:14 PM Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 at 02:14 PM Recused. He was under no obligation to recuse himself, but is free to do so, without any explanation, or, as in this case, with a poor one. I also don't know what you mean by "or business" though. The business of the previous meeting presumably should be handled at that meeting. In the rare event that you have unfinished business, he can vote on it freely. General rule: members can always vote. In any case, the word you are looking for, when you choose not to vote on something, is to recuse oneself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Mervosh Posted August 30, 2018 at 02:25 PM Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 at 02:25 PM 10 minutes ago, Joshua Katz said: In any case, the word you are looking for, when you choose not to vote on something, is to recuse oneself. Sadly that word is not in RONR. Perhaps it's in the Deluxe Edition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted August 30, 2018 at 03:02 PM Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 at 03:02 PM 45 minutes ago, Guest Susan said: He mentioned that he could not vote to accept minutes from the last meeting so he "excused" himself from participating in the vote. There is a word that escapes me and I can't think of it. He said it but now, I can't remember. Brain hiccup... The word you are looking for is probably "abstain", however,, it is not necessary for him to abstain on approval of minutes. For that matter, no vote is necessary on approval of minutes. The chair asks if there are any corrections to the draft minutes. Corrections if any are usually handled by unanimous consent, but if there is a disagreement, a majority vote settles the question. The chair then announces "If there are no (further) corrections, the minutes stand approved as (read/corrected)." No vote is needed on final approval, since disapproval is not an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted August 30, 2018 at 03:27 PM Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 at 03:27 PM I agree that the proper term for refraining from voting is to "abstain", at least as far as RONR is concerned. Governmental bodies, however, often are subject to rules requiring members to "recuse" themselves from voting or participating in debate on certain issues. And, just in case it's not clear, there is no requirement that a member have attended the prior meeting in order to vote on corrections to those minutes. Even though he might not have been there, he does have the right to vote and he might well know certain things relevant to the approval of the minutes. Some examples might be that the minutes refer to who was present or absent at the meeting. If the minutes incorrectly state that he was present or absent, he certainly has first hand knowledge as to whether that statement is correct. He also probably knows the date of the meeting and where it was held. I've seen lots of mistakes in minutes as to the date or location of the meeting. And he might know that highlights of debate, which secretaries sometimes put in draft minutes, don't belong there and should be deleted. And so on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Katz Posted August 30, 2018 at 06:29 PM Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 at 06:29 PM All of you are correct about what RONR says, but the OP was looking for a word that sounded like "excuse." "Abstain" does not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts