Jane Eastman Posted August 27, 2019 at 01:48 PM Report Share Posted August 27, 2019 at 01:48 PM At a recent meeting, we were voting on new members. Motion made, seconded and voted on (passed). Afterwards, someone noted discrepancies with the new members' paperwork. The maker of the original motion moved to withdraw the motion that was seconded and then passed. I think this was done incorrectly because the original motion was voted on. How do I record this in the minutes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted August 27, 2019 at 01:56 PM Report Share Posted August 27, 2019 at 01:56 PM Record that the motion passed (because that is what happened, after all). You can't "withdraw" something that isn't pending. Depending on the nature of the "discrepancies", it may turn out that you have a "continuing breach" -- see page 251 -- but until that is worked out and settled, the adopted motion stands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Mervosh Posted August 27, 2019 at 01:59 PM Report Share Posted August 27, 2019 at 01:59 PM I think both motions should be recorded even though I fully agree with Dr. Stackpole that you can't withdraw a motion that is not pending. Your job is to record what happened, even if what happened is completely wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atul Kapur Posted August 27, 2019 at 03:19 PM Report Share Posted August 27, 2019 at 03:19 PM You said that the maker of the original motion moved to withdraw it. Did that motion to withdraw get seconded and did it pass? By the way, the motion you should have used was Reconsider. Alternatively, as Dr. Stackpole has said, if the person was ineligible according to your bylaws, then a Point of Order could have been raised that the original motion was not in compliance with your bylaws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted August 27, 2019 at 03:37 PM Report Share Posted August 27, 2019 at 03:37 PM 5 minutes ago, Atul Kapur said: By the way, the motion you should have used was Reconsider. I'm not so comfortable with that. Once somebody has been accepted into membership (the outcome of the first vote), that motion cannot be "reconsidered" as a means of undoing the election to membership -- page 444, line 25. The only way to dismember someone is via disciplinary procedures. Of course, if it turns out that the election to membership was itself improper (those "discrepancies") that changes things. But at the time of admission to membership, the vote to do so was valid, and not subject to reconsideration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atul Kapur Posted August 27, 2019 at 07:00 PM Report Share Posted August 27, 2019 at 07:00 PM (edited) 3 hours ago, jstackpo said: I'm not so comfortable with that. Once somebody has been accepted into membership (the outcome of the first vote), that motion cannot be "reconsidered" as a means of undoing the election to membership -- page 444, line 25. The only way to dismember someone is via disciplinary procedures. Of course, if it turns out that the election to membership was itself improper (those "discrepancies") that changes things. But at the time of admission to membership, the vote to do so was valid, and not subject to reconsideration. Rather than use the citation about when an election to an office is final, I was basing my comment on the purpose of reconsideration from page 315, lines 19-23: Quote The purpose of reconsidering a vote is to permit correction of hasty, ill-advised, or erroneous action, or to take into account added information or a changed situation that has developed since the taking of the vote. This seems to be a case of erroneous action based on added information since the taking of the vote (the discrepancies have come to light). I did assume that the proposed member was not in the meeting. Using the rules for Reconsider and considering that membership is a form of contract, the other party has not been informed of the outcome so Reconsider can still be used. (p. 319, lines 1-3) BTW, @jstackpo, your citation refers to election to an office. While RONR makes clear that directors are considered officers, I do not find anything to say that membership itself is an office. Edited August 27, 2019 at 07:01 PM by Atul Kapur corrected typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zev Posted August 28, 2019 at 12:53 AM Report Share Posted August 28, 2019 at 12:53 AM I'm with Mr. Stackpole on this one. Besides, its just paperwork. Send the thing to the member for corrections. If the member fills it to the satisfaction of the assembly then there is nothing else to do. If it is still unsatisfactory then send it back to the member with the assembly issuing a stern warning. If it then returns OK then all is well. If not then I would hold a trial and expel the member. I suspect such a trial would take approximately fifteen minutes. Maybe less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jane Eastman Posted August 28, 2019 at 06:44 PM Report Share Posted August 28, 2019 at 06:44 PM So, one of the three candidates for membership was improper to begin with and was not caught by the submitter. The other was incompletely filled out. My question is on the withdrawal of the motion which I didn't think was correct as the original motion had been voted on and passed. The person making the original motion moved to withdraw the motion, it was seconded and passed (also think this was wrong). Then the same person moved and it was seconded to approve only one of the new member applicants with the other two applicants pending trustee investigation and subsequent approval. If, the motion to withdraw is wrong, which you have said is, what would have been the correct course of action as I know this will happen again? I will record in the minutes exactly what occurred. Thank you very much for your assistance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted August 28, 2019 at 07:35 PM Report Share Posted August 28, 2019 at 07:35 PM Record what happened, even though 2/3 of the motions were not proper one way or another. Do NOT try to explain or correct the improper steps in the minutes -- that will be the task of the next meeting to make appropriate motions or raise appropriate points of order to fix things. Then you record those in the minutes of that (second) meeting, which should leave things fixed when all was said and doe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atul Kapur Posted August 28, 2019 at 08:41 PM Report Share Posted August 28, 2019 at 08:41 PM 1 hour ago, Guest Jane Eastman said: what would have been the correct course of action as I know this will happen again? Well, it sounds like you need a stronger process of reviewing and vetting the applications and forms before the motion to admit to membership is made. One idea is to mandate that all membership applications be submitted to a committee that will review them before a motion to admit to membership can be made (or, that the motion to admit to membership can only be made by the committee, after it is satisfied that the application meets all the requirements). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shmuel Gerber Posted August 29, 2019 at 12:33 AM Report Share Posted August 29, 2019 at 12:33 AM On 8/27/2019 at 11:37 AM, jstackpo said: The only way to dismember someone is via disciplinary procedures. And crocodiles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted August 29, 2019 at 09:05 PM Report Share Posted August 29, 2019 at 09:05 PM 🐊 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts