Agenda approved, topic not on but a vote was called was the vote valid?

[DJGarvin]

An Agenda was approved at the beginning of the meeting and the topic brought up at the end for a vote was not on the agenda. Is the vote valid?

[Dan Honemann]

16 minutes ago, DJGarvin said:

An Agenda was approved at the beginning of the meeting and the topic brought up at the end for a vote was not on the agenda. Is the vote valid?

The mere fact that a motion not on an adopted agenda is voted on would not render the vote invalid.

Perhaps some additional facts would be helpful.

 

[DJGarvin]

The topic was provided as a recommendation from the Finance Committee by the Chair of the Finance Committee, however there was no action made at the Finance Committee to make this recommendation. This is taken from a direct reading of the minutes from both meetings.

[jstackpo]

Well, I'm not too clear on the route the information took from the finance committee to your meeting, but it doean't really matter.

A motion brought up by anybody, on their own, that wasn't in the initially adopted agenda, would fall under the New Business heading in the Standard Order of Business -- page 353 & 371 -- and would be perfectly proper (as long as it fell within the general objects of your association).

[Josh Martin]

26 minutes ago, DJGarvin said:

The topic was provided as a recommendation from the Finance Committee by the Chair of the Finance Committee, however there was no action made at the Finance Committee to make this recommendation. This is taken from a direct reading of the minutes from both meetings.

This would not invalidate the motion either. At this point, it is immaterial how the motion was made. It was improper for the chairman of the finance committee to claim to make a motion on behalf of the finance committee when in fact the committee made no such recommendation, and perhaps some action should be taken against the finance chairman in this matter, but since the motion was ultimately approved by the assembly, the motion’s origins are no longer relevant.

[DJGarvin]

Hopefully this help.

As the motion was presented as a recommendation by the a Committee, it does not need a second, therefore one was not made, but the Finance Committee did not make a decision to present this as a recommendation, therefore this is just a motion and since it was not seconded didn't it die, and the vote was asked for on something that did not exist.

[Richard Brown]

10 minutes ago, DJGarvin said:

Hopefully this help.

As the motion was presented as a recommendation by the a Committee, it does not need a second, therefore one was not made, but the Finance Committee did not make a decision to present this as a recommendation, therefore this is just a motion and since it was not seconded didn't it die, and the vote was asked for on something that did not exist.

That does not change anything.  The lack of a second is immaterial an is waived once debate commences.  The lack of a second would have required a timely (immediate) point of order.

Edited to add:  From page 37 of RONR:  After debate has begun or, if there is no debate, after any member has voted, the lack of a second has become immaterial and it is too late to make a point of order that the motion has not been seconded. If a motion is considered and adopted without having been seconded—even in a case where there was no reason for the chair to overlook this requirement—the absence of a second does not affect the validity of the motion's adoption."

Also, if the chair of the committee falsely presented the motion as being a recommendation of the committee, I agree with Mr. Martin that disciplinary action or a motion of censure as to the chairman might be appropriate.

Edited May 23, 2019 at 03:44 PM by Richard Brown
Added last two paragraphs and citation to page 37 of RONR

[DJGarvin]

Thank you everyone