Guest Doug OB Posted January 30, 2019 at 09:42 PM Report Share Posted January 30, 2019 at 09:42 PM Our church by laws state that a motion to be discussed must be posted for the church to see one week prior to a business meeting. That being the case can a secondary motion be make from the floor to modify the main motion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zev Posted January 30, 2019 at 10:28 PM Report Share Posted January 30, 2019 at 10:28 PM Yes. However, the posting serves as a notice and any amendments must not exceed the scope of the notice. In other words, if the motion was to, for example, make a donation to the local food bank for $100 any amendment could be for less but not more, or a substitute could not be moved that the church purchase a new building for $500,000 instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Doug OB Posted January 30, 2019 at 11:03 PM Report Share Posted January 30, 2019 at 11:03 PM The chair denied the substitute motion because the substitute motion would replace the main motion and could not be made because it had not been posted a week prior to the meeting. The main motion was to use surplus funds to do maintenance work. The substitute motion was to revise the budget to do the maintenance work and use the surplus funds to retire some of the church dept. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted January 30, 2019 at 11:11 PM Report Share Posted January 30, 2019 at 11:11 PM 7 minutes ago, Guest Doug OB said: The chair denied the substitute motion because the substitute motion would replace the main motion and could not be made because it had not been posted a week prior to the meeting. The main motion was to use surplus funds to do maintenance work. The substitute motion was to revise the budget to do the maintenance work and use the surplus funds to retire some of the church dept I think the chair ruled correctly. The motion which notice was provided for was related to maintenance work. A motion relating to retirements would not be germane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted January 31, 2019 at 12:58 AM Report Share Posted January 31, 2019 at 12:58 AM I think that was supposed to be retiring debt, not dept. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atul Kapur Posted January 31, 2019 at 02:33 AM Report Share Posted January 31, 2019 at 02:33 AM There are at least two interpret that original motion but I think both interpretations lead to the chair ruling correctly. The chair could rule that the topic was how to spend the surplus funds. In that case the substitute goes beyond scope because it talks about revising the budget. In the alternative, the topic of the motion was how do we pay for the maintenance work. In that case, the substitute adds in the topic of debt retirement, which is outside of scope. In this reading, if the substitute just said that we revise the budget to accommodate the costs of maintenance work, it would have been within the scope of notice. Of course, either of these rulings would have been subject to an appeal at the time they were made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted January 31, 2019 at 01:34 PM Report Share Posted January 31, 2019 at 01:34 PM 12 hours ago, Gary Novosielski said: I think that was supposed to be retiring debt, not dept. In either event, neither seems related to maintenance work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Doug OB Posted January 31, 2019 at 05:39 PM Report Share Posted January 31, 2019 at 05:39 PM My thinking was there were two issues. How to pay for maintenance work and how to spend surplus funds. My substitute motion recommended paying for the maintenance work with a budget revision and spending the surplus funds to pay down debt. You all are probably right but I thought this could be done with a substitute motion. What should I have done to accomplish what I was trying to do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted January 31, 2019 at 05:45 PM Report Share Posted January 31, 2019 at 05:45 PM (edited) 7 minutes ago, Guest Doug OB said: What should I have done Flippant Answer: Gone back in time and post your two proposals as separate motions. Serious Answer: Post your two proposals as separate motions in time for the next church business meeting. Edited January 31, 2019 at 05:46 PM by jstackpo spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted January 31, 2019 at 07:39 PM Report Share Posted January 31, 2019 at 07:39 PM 1 hour ago, Guest Doug OB said: My thinking was there were two issues. How to pay for maintenance work and how to spend surplus funds. My substitute motion recommended paying for the maintenance work with a budget revision and spending the surplus funds to pay down debt. You all are probably right but I thought this could be done with a substitute motion. What should I have done to accomplish what I was trying to do? Since you say your church’s rules require motions to be posted one week before the business meeting, I don’t think you could have accomplished this objective without providing notice of your motion in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zev Posted January 31, 2019 at 09:23 PM Report Share Posted January 31, 2019 at 09:23 PM Also, during the debate on the main motion to use surplus funds to do maintenance work you can urge the assembly to vote down the motion and in that eventuality you will offer notice of the substitute motion you had in mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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