Roberts Rules on Motions

[Guest RAGA]

 

RuthAnn Alexander

Posted 3 minutes ago

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I have a question about Robert's Rules of Orders and Motions.
I am new to the Board.  In order to have a motion placed on the agenda at a Board Meeting, the motion must be sent in advance to our General Manager for approval.  I did this and had three motions placed on the agenda.  When the time came for the motions to be made, instead of being given the floor, our president read the motions.  On the first two occasions, as soon as the motion was read, another board official member raised their hand and was recognized.  This member immediately made a motion that was opposite of my motion.  For example, if the motion I had requested to present had been "I would like to make a motion to form a task force to review the dog barking policy", the recognized Board Member made the motion "That we do not form a task force to review the dog barking policy".  There was an immediate second from another officer of the Board and this motion was approved.
As the my third motion was being read by the president, I raised my hand so I would be recognized.  After I raised my hand, another Board Member raised their hand and was recognized before me.  Again a motion was made that was opposite of the motion on the agenda.  Of course, a second Board Officer Member seconded the motion and it was approved.

My questions:
If I request a motion to be put on the agenda and it is approved to be on the agenda, should that motion not be made by me?
If a motion needs to go through the General Manager for approval to be put on the Agenda, why didn't the other Board Member who made a different motion have to get approval to put that motion on the agenda?

A Motion was made and seconded, then passed by the Board.  The action was that all Board Meetings would be video taped and put on the HOA website within three days.  A year  later and this is not being doing.  How can the owners get the Board to enforce this motion.

[Joshua Katz]

56 minutes ago, Guest RAGA said:

In order to have a motion placed on the agenda at a Board Meeting, the motion must be sent in advance to our General Manager for approval. 

Do your rules say this? RONR does not. (As an aside, if your own rules do say it, then it must be followed, but I think it's crazy.)

In addition to it being crazy for an employee to be able to prevent the board from being able to handle items of business, it's crazy because it seems to arise from a misunderstanding of agendas. An agenda should not be a list of motions, but rather of topics on which motions may be made.

58 minutes ago, Guest RAGA said:

When the time came for the motions to be made, instead of being given the floor, our president read the motions. 

Technically, this is incorrect, but it doesn't really matter. Once an organization has done what yours has, and knows in advance what motions will be made, I don't think it matters who speaks the words. However:

59 minutes ago, Guest RAGA said:

On the first two occasions, as soon as the motion was read, another board official member raised their hand and was recognized.

The maker of a motion is entitled to speak first. This is the only reason it might matter, but it could easily be handled by recognizing the person who "made" the motion, if that person seeks the floor. However, the maker only has priority if he actually seeks recognition, so if you made no effort to be recognized, you weren't entitled to speak first.

1 hour ago, Guest RAGA said:

This member immediately made a motion that was opposite of my motion.  For example, if the motion I had requested to present had been "I would like to make a motion to form a task force to review the dog barking policy", the recognized Board Member made the motion "That we do not form a task force to review the dog barking policy".  There was an immediate second from another officer of the Board and this motion was approved.

This was out of order for multiple reasons. First, a main motion is out of order when another main motion is pending. Second, even if phrased as an amendment, it is out of order to move to not do something. 

 

1 hour ago, Guest RAGA said:

If I request a motion to be put on the agenda and it is approved to be on the agenda, should that motion not be made by me?

As I said, I don't know, and I don't think RONR can really answer this, because it arises from your rules which are quite different from RONR. In my opinion, I don't think it matters who speaks the words, but it might as well be treated as if the agenda-izer had made it (if present) for the purpose of priority in recognition. 

 

1 hour ago, Guest RAGA said:

If a motion needs to go through the General Manager for approval to be put on the Agenda, why didn't the other Board Member who made a different motion have to get approval to put that motion on the agenda?

I don't know, because I don't know exactly how your rule is phrased. Of course, it wasn't put on the agenda, it was just made, and motions are not out of order simply because they are not on the agenda - although they are out of order when not relevant to the current topic on the agenda. But your agenda has motions, not topics...you should just modify this rule rather than trying to figure out this riddle.

 

1 hour ago, Guest RAGA said:

A Motion was made and seconded, then passed by the Board.  The action was that all Board Meetings would be video taped and put on the HOA website within three days.  A year  later and this is not being doing.  How can the owners get the Board to enforce this motion.

This seems unrelated to the rest, but okay. The members can raise a point of order at a membership meeting. However, you, as a board member, could also raise one at a board meeting, since it is a board motion being ignored.

[Guest Who's Coming to Dinner]

Dear RAGA, you have been railroaded. Check your bylaws and other written rules to see if you really have to submit agenda items for approval by the General Manager. It sounds fishy to me. I agree with Herr Katz that you should be the one to make the motion; you are certainly entitled to be recognized first to argue in favor of your proposition. If this happens again, raise a point of order. You might even stand for dramatic effect, and say "Mr. President, I rise to a Point of Order." Then explain that, according to Robert's Rules, you are entitled to the floor. I would be prepared for these rascals to try to ignore you or pretend they don't understand what you are talking about. If that happens, you may repeat the point twice, and if still ignored, you may put it to a vote yourself while the President babbles away.

As Mr. Katz further observes, it is not in order to move not to do something when the outcome would be the same as making no motion at all. This also deserves to be swatted down with a point of order.

[Gary Novosielski]

The situation you describe, has the smell of corruption about it.