Postponed Meeting classification...

[Clay Rembert]

Hello,

Due to a set of unique circumstances, we postponed our regular monthly meeting and decided to hold it a week later, at the same time, location, agenda items etc.  How would the newly scheduled meeting be classified? One of our members adamantly feels that the new meeting should be considered a "Special Meeting".  Your thoughts...thanks in advance!

 

Clay

www.b2council.in

[jstackpo]

It is certainly NOT a "special meeting".  Ask your adamant member to show you where RONR supports that notion.  [Hint: he won't be able to.]

Just call it your regular meeting, "postponed to new date".

But.... who was the "we" that did the postponing?  When?  Before the meeting began?  Were the "we" authorized to do that?

[Clay Rembert]

Hi jstackpo,

I agree with you.  Incidentally, the member was concerned that it will have been over 35 days since our last "monthly" regular meeting as required in our bylaws.  The "we" included the Pres., Vice Pres., Treasurer, Board Chair and one of the standing committee chairs.  It was scheduled for Sunday the 1st of Sept, but postponed earlier today ( Aug 23rd) and moved to Sep 8th. 

 

Clay

Edited August 23, 2019 at 09:49 PM by ClayRembert

[Atul Kapur]

Where do you find the authority for this group to postpone the meeting? There is nothing in RONR that gives you this authority. Is there something in your bylaws?

[Josh Martin]

On 8/23/2019 at 4:47 PM, ClayRembert said:

Incidentally, the member was concerned that it will have been over 35 days since our last "monthly" regular meeting as required in our bylaws. 

Monthly does not necessarily mean “every 30 days.” There will often be slight variations in the number of days between regular meetings. So this is not a concern.

On 8/23/2019 at 4:47 PM, ClayRembert said:

It was scheduled for Sunday the 1st of Sept, but postponed earlier today ( Aug 23rd) and moved to Sep 8th. 

It is not clear whether this is permissible. We would need to know how the meeting was initially scheduled, how it was “postponed,” and what the bylaws say on this subject.

[Clay Rembert]

Hi, 

Atul and Josh, neither our current bylaws nor standing rules specifically address the postponing of meetings (of course now we a have a reason to amend them).  However, the bylaws do state that the president has unlimited delegation authority, and will always make decisions that are "in the best interest of the council membership".  Ironically, it was a few random members that snowballed, and suggested we consider changing the date for this one time.  Hope that makes sense...thanks!

Clay

 

[Josh Martin]

1 hour ago, ClayRembert said:

Atul and Josh, neither our current bylaws nor standing rules specifically address the postponing of meetings (of course now we a have a reason to amend them).  However, the bylaws do state that the president has unlimited delegation authority, and will always make decisions that are "in the best interest of the council membership".  Ironically, it was a few random members that snowballed, and suggested we consider changing the date for this one time.  Hope that makes sense...thanks!

The fact that the President has “unlimited delegation authority” has no bearing on this case, because the President cannot delegate authority that he does not have in the first place, and in my view, a general statement that the President will make decisions that are “in the best interest of the council membership” is far from sufficient to authorize the President to postpone a meeting.

I still cannot definitively say whether the postponement was proper, because we still do not know what the bylaw say regarding how meetings are scheduled in the first place (for instance, do the bylaws or other rules specifically state that meetings are held on a specific day, such as the third Thursday of each month, or if they merely state that meetings are “monthly” and then authorize some person or body to specify the exact dates), and how the decision was made to postpone it. While we are told that the decision to postpone was made by “the Pres., Vice Pres., Treasurer, Board Chair and one of the standing committee chairs,” I do not know whether this means that the decision was made at a meeting of an assembly which includes these persons, or whether it was made outside of a meeting.

[Clay Rembert]

Hi Josh!

We are planning to amend our bylaws to address the issue and conditions under which a meeting can be postponed...thanks!

 

Clay

[jstackpo]

Not to be flippant, but why?  What is it about RONR's rules that you wish to supersede?  Or is it that you plan to remove some unnecessary rules (good!) from your bylaws so that RONR's default rules will be in the clear.

[Josh Martin]

35 minutes ago, ClayRembert said:

We are planning to amend our bylaws to address the issue and conditions under which a meeting can be postponed...thanks!

Okay, but it might be desirable to answer our questions so that we can determine in what manner (if any) meetings can currently be postponed. Perhaps you can already do what you want.

No one has said that meetings categorically cannot be postponed under RONR. Instead, what has been said is that how (or if) a meeting may be postponed depends on the manner in which the meetings are scheduled in the first place. We have been unable to elaborate on this further, since you still have not provided what your bylaws say regarding how meetings are scheduled.

Edited September 10, 2019 at 06:05 PM by Josh Martin

[Clay Rembert]

Josh,

To your point of how meetings are scheduled, here's the exact verbiage (minus the formatting) in our  bylaws:

 

Types of Meetings

The B2 Resident Council will conduct the following types of meetings:

 

Regular Meetings will be held:

o Monthly

o On the Sunday before the normal building meeting

o Starting at 2pm in the lobby

o And adjourned in under 90 minutes (recess is optional)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Annual Meetings will be held:

o Yearly, as close to anniversary date as possible
o On the Sunday before the normal building meeting
o Starting at 2pm in the lobby
o To celebrate the previous year’s accomplishments
o To include special activities

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special Meetings:
o Must be called by president
o Address business that can’t wait until the next regular meeting
o Do not require previous minutes be approved
o Must be adjourned in under 90 minutes (recess is optional)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope that makes sense...thanks again!

 

Clay

 

[jstackpo]

Remind us (or me, at least!), with reference to your cited bylaws, exactly what your question is, please.

[Josh Martin]

1 hour ago, ClayRembert said:

Regular Meetings will be held:

o Monthly

o On the Sunday before the normal building meeting

o Starting at 2pm in the lobby

Thank you. Based on these facts, my conclusion would be that it is currently not in order to postpone a regular meeting in advance (unless, I suppose, the normal building meeting is also postponed - I don’t know how those are scheduled). The bylaws specifically provide that the meetings are held “On the Sunday before the normal building meeting” and “Starting at 2 PM in the lobby” and provides no exceptions or mechanism for postponing such meetings. At the meeting itself, however, an adjourned meeting could be set, and the meeting could then be adjourned. As a result, the postponement of the regular meeting from September 1st to September 8th was improper.

So if it is indeed desired for there to be a mechanism to postpone a meeting, in advance, it will be necessary to amend the bylaws.

Edited September 10, 2019 at 10:02 PM by Josh Martin

[Clay Rembert]

Josh,

Awesome explanation...mega thanks!

 

Clay