GOING INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION- INCORRECTLY

[star1441]

At a board meeting, the president said: You understand that this next matter will be an executive session.

And the discussion started.

No formal motion, no second, no vote.

Was this a proper and valid executive session?

Are the participants bound ?

Thank you.

 

[Hieu H. Huynh]

It appears the board agreed to it if no one objected or raised a point of order.

[Joshua Katz]

Agreeing with Mr. Huynh, it is not proper procedure for next time, and someone should object next time (unless you all truly want it to be in executive session). It requires a majority vote to enter executive session; the chair cannot simply order one. In this case, since no one objected, it was, indeed, in executive session, and nothing should be revealed. This all assumes, of course, that your organization is not subject to any open meetings laws, which could significantly complicate the matter. 

If you now wish you had objected, you can move to make the minutes open.

[Richard Brown]

16 minutes ago, Joshua Katz said:

If you now wish you had objected, you can move to make the minutes open.

You can also move to lift the secrecy of the executive session. Making the minutes public is not quite the same thing as lifting the secrecy of the executive session. If you vote to only make the minutes public, members are still prohibited from discussing any other details of the executive session. By lifting the secrecy of the executive session, members are free to openly discuss what transpired.