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SUSPEND THE (BY LAW) RULES- WHAT IS THE PROPER WAY?


star1441

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Our bylaws say that a special membership meeting calls for "..a notice shall be given...at least ten days in advance..."

We are expecting that we will have to decide and vote on a contract soon.

The Chairman of the Board announced at the last General Meeting that we will need to act faster,and said:

"I propose to suspend the rules and change the notice to three days.

All in favor raise your hand"

, and that was that.

Proper? Valid? Binding?

 

Thank you.

 

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7 minutes ago, star1441 said:

Our bylaws say that a special membership meeting calls for "..a notice shall be given...at least ten days in advance..."

We are expecting that we will have to decide and vote on a contract soon.

The Chairman of the Board announced at the last General Meeting that we will need to act faster,and said:

"I propose to suspend the rules and change the notice to three days.

All in favor raise your hand"

, and that was that.

Proper? Valid? Binding?

No, it is not proper. Rules in the bylaws may not be suspended. Additionally, rules regarding previous notice may not be suspended. If action is actually taken at such a meeting, it will need to be ratified at a regular meeting of the membership, or at a properly called special meeting. The only way to reduce the amount of time required for notice would be to amend the bylaws.

Since the need for this meeting appears to have been known at the time of the most recent membership meeting, the membership probably should have just scheduled an adjourned meeting instead, but that ship has sailed now.

Edited by Josh Martin
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15 hours ago, star1441 said:

Our bylaws say that a special membership meeting calls for "..a notice shall be given...at least ten days in advance..."

We are expecting that we will have to decide and vote on a contract soon.

The Chairman of the Board announced at the last General Meeting that we will need to act faster,and said:

"I propose to suspend the rules and change the notice to three days.

All in favor raise your hand"

, and that was that.

Proper? Valid? Binding?

 

Thank you.

 

Not proper.  Not valid,  Not binding.

The only rules that are suspendible are those in the nature of rules of order--those that pertain the conduct of business in a meeting.

Rules relating to previous notice may never be suspended unless they include a provision for their own suspension.  And such rules rarely do.

So your only option is to amend the bylaws, but that often adds additional requirements in terms of previous notice.  So you're in a pickle, but whatever the chair did at the last General Meeting is null and void.  Since there is a contract involved, you're going to have to fix it, or it will surely come back to bite you.  Breaches of the rules such as this don't simply go away.

Edited by Gary Novosielski
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17 hours ago, star1441 said:

Our bylaws say that a special membership meeting calls for "..a notice shall be given...at least ten days in advance..."

We are expecting that we will have to decide and vote on a contract soon.

The Chairman of the Board announced at the last General Meeting that we will need to act faster,and said:

"I propose to suspend the rules and change the notice to three days.

All in favor raise your hand"

, and that was that.

Proper? Valid? Binding?

 

Thank you.

 

What are the requirements for amending the bylaws?

 

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