Meeting Annoucements

[Clay Rembert]

Hello,

After reading through countless sections of the 11th edition, things are unclear, so here goes...Our meetings are scheduled to be held at the same location and at the same time each month for the remainder of 2019.  Question...if we provide a calendar with those dates to each member in advance, are we still required to issue an additional notice each month?  Thanks in advance.

[Chris Harrison]

2 hours ago, ClayRembert said:

if we provide a calendar with those dates to each member in advance, are we still required to issue an additional notice each month? 

Strictly speaking I believe p. 89 would require you to send out a notice each month.  Though, if I were the presiding officer knowing all members had received a calendar with the  meeting details, I would likely rule any Point of Order that notice wasn't properly given Not Well Taken per RONR p. 456 ll. 13-18.

However, stay tuned for other thoughts. 

 

[Guest Zev]

The book does have examples of bylaws with a fixed date as the date of regular meetings. It does, however, suggest that the place and time of such meetings be established by a standing rule.

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Article V: Meetings. The first section of the article on meetings should fix the day on which regular meetings of the society are to be held -- as by specifying, for example, "the first Friday of each month." If the words "unless otherwise ordered by the Society [or "Executive Board"]" are added, the date can be changed in an unusual circumstance, but only for that single meeting on that particular occasion, and not for a period of time including several meetings. To change the general rule fixing the time for meetings would require amendment of the bylaws. The hour and place at which meetings are to be held should not be specified in the bylaws, but should be established by a standing rule (2) adopted by the society or, if it is empowered to do so, by the executive board.

RONR 11th edition p. 575:18-31

The absence of an escape clause such as the one starting with the words "unless otherwise ordered by the Society..." an unforeseen event may cause a serious problem.

I did a search on the forum for the word "notice" and looked at the first 20 pages. There are slightly over 350. I did not find anything specific to the issue of whether a calendar of events defined in the bylaws can substitute for meeting notices. Perhaps you can find something. I would be willing to go along with Mr. Harrison's take on this, however, I am a little bit nervous like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs in case something goes wrong.

[Clay Rembert]

We also post meeting announcements on the bulletin boards in the common areas of our building...hope that helps.  Thanks!

[Alexis Hunt]

The first paragraph of p. 89 considers that when the date is specified by the bylaws and the exact hour and place is scheduled by standing rule, then no further notice is required, but if the regular meetings are scheduled by resolution, then notice is required of each meeting.

I don't agree with Mr. Harrison that notice is necessarily required for each meeting, at least from the words on the page, as the text refers only to "in advance of each regular meeting", and this might well be impractical when multiple meetings are to be held in succession. However, I personally think that caution should be taken with respect to new members, as while I'm not aware of RONR providing a specific record date to determine which members must be given notice of the meeting, the right to notice is a right of each member individually. It would be unreasonable to argue that, because notice was sent to everyone in January, a member who joined in February did not need to be given a notice of a meeting in December, for instance.

I would think that if there is a standing rule that fixes the date, time, and place of regular meetings, then that would qualify as not requiring notice even though it doesn't exactly match the first sentence of p. 89---it seems that the idea is that a member can work out where and when to go on their own without needing to check the minutes, as long as they have a current copy of the rules on hand. However, I think there must be a clear regular schedule, rather than various one-off instances, and so a motion scheduling meetings for an entire year at once would, in my view, still fall under the "scheduled by resolution" scheme.

On 7/27/2019 at 4:47 PM, ClayRembert said:

We also post meeting announcements on the bulletin boards in the common areas of our building...hope that helps.  Thanks!

If this is an HOA, you likely have applicable statutory requirements that would supersede those in RONR.

[Richard Brown]

I'm inclined to agree with Alexis Hunt in her post immediately above that a separate notice of each meeting is not required under the circumstances described.  I think if I was the presiding officer, I would rule, like Mr. Harrison indicated he would probably do, that a point of order that notice was not properly given is not well taken.  Let them appeal my ruling to the assembly if two members are so inclined.

It's a close call. 

[Clay Rembert]

Awesome comments, just wanted to add that we are not HOA, but a recently formed resident council  (http://www.b2council.in) located in a retirement community.   

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It would be unreasonable to argue that, because notice was sent to everyone in January, a member who joined in February did not need to be given a notice of a meeting in December, for instance.

Alexis Hunt, you bring up a great point so what we also have in place is a "Greeter & Buddy" Committee.  The purpose of this committee is to welcome new residents , help them become acclimated to the building, provide them with information including a copy of our meeting schedule...hope that makes sense.  Mega thanks!