Guest at board of director's meeting

[Guest Gues]

We have a board member who has brought his wife in the past to a board meeting.  the wife has been disruptive and critical, although not a board member.  I looked in Robert's rules, and could not find anything specific.  is there such a rule?

[Greg Goodwiller, PRP]

There is no rule in RONR that wives must be disruptive and critical.

There is a clear statement only members of any society (or board) have any rights - including the rights to be present and/or to speak. Those are completely the responsibility of the society or board, unless the bylaws say otherwise.

[Guest Who's Coming to Dinner]

Can a guest be called to order by a member? Or does it need to be a point of privilege affecting the rights of the assembly? Or must one wait to make a main motion to discipline the guest?

[Guest Zev]

I think it depends. If the person in question is in the process of speaking then an incidental motion Raise A Question Of Privilege affecting the privileges of the assembly could be used to then introduce the main motion "I move that all guests be excused from this meeting." Otherwise just gain the floor and make the main motion.

[Gary Novosielski]

1 hour ago, Guest Who's Coming to Dinner said:

Can a guest be called to order by a member? Or does it need to be a point of privilege affecting the rights of the assembly? Or must one wait to make a main motion to discipline the guest?

If the chair fails to silence the non-member, any member may raise a point of order that the meeting is not in order.

[Josh Martin]

1 hour ago, Guest Who's Coming to Dinner said:

Can a guest be called to order by a member? Or does it need to be a point of privilege affecting the rights of the assembly? Or must one wait to make a main motion to discipline the guest?

It is certainly a question of privilege, since RONR states that “Questions of the privileges of the assembly may relate to its organization or existence; to the comfort of its members with respect to heating, ventilation, lighting, and noise or other disturbance; to the conduct of its officers and employees, or of visitors; to the punishment of its members; or to the accuracy of published reports of its proceedings; etc.” (RONR, 11th ed., pg. 227) As Zev notes, however, the device of raising a question of privilege may or may not enter into it, depending on the current parliamentary situation.

I would think that a disorderly guest could also be called to order, which could prompt the chair to take action regarding the guest on his own initiative (subject to appeal).

Edited February 14, 2019 at 11:50 PM by Josh Martin

[Guest Zev]

14 minutes ago, Josh Martin said:

I would think that a disorderly guest could also be called to order, which could prompt the chair to take action regarding the guest on his own initiative (subject to appeal).

The reason I did not like this option is because a Point Of Order requires the presiding officer to issue a ruling, a possible appeal, and if no motion were pending the Appeal could conceivably be postponed or, unlikely though, laid on the table, leaving the situation unresolved. The raising of the question of privilege gets right to the point and there are only three other motions that could take precedence, and, even if the meeting were suspended, the dealing with this issue would be immediately resumed.

[Josh Martin]

12 hours ago, Guest Zev said:

The reason I did not like this option is because a Point Of Order requires the presiding officer to issue a ruling, a possible appeal, and if no motion were pending the Appeal could conceivably be postponed or, unlikely though, laid on the table, leaving the situation unresolved. The raising of the question of privilege gets right to the point and there are only three other motions that could take precedence, and, even if the meeting were suspended, the dealing with this issue would be immediately resumed.

While it is correct that there are very few motions which take precedence over the motion to Raise a Question of Privilege, if the question is ultimately handled as a motion, that is handled as a main motion, albeit one which interrupts any other pending business. Alternatively, if the chair orders the chair removed on his own initiative, I believe that ruling could still be appealed. So it doesn’t really make it any more immune to delay.

[Gary Novosielski]

12 hours ago, Josh Martin said:

 Alternatively, if the chair orders the chair removed on his own initiative, I believe that ruling could still be appealed. 

 

If the chair orders himself removed, it might be prudent not to appeal.