Conflict of interest

[Rydquist]

I am a board member of a Heritage Association that encourages the preservation of historic homes in our community, recognizes those homes after research and documentation with a visible maker, and has those homes on our website. One of our board members applied to to our city to divide the property, demolish the historic home and build two new modern homes. Our code of Regulations does not address a situation like this, but does follow Robert's Rules of Order. We are clearly in a quandary as what to do. Any suggestions? 

[Atul Kapur]

Your association may make a motion to censure the member.

If you feel he has breached a provision of the bylaws or has taken action that is "injurious to the organization or its purposes" (RONR 11th ed., p. 443, lines 9-10), then you can explore further disciplinary procedures as detailed in Chapter XX of RONR. These are detailed in order to protect the member's rights and RONR advises that these "procedures should generally be regarded as a drastic step reserved for serious situations or those potentially so." (p. 444, lines 8-10) It's up to your organization to decide if this qualifies. Even so, "It is usually in the best interests of the organization first to make every effort to obtain a satisfactory solution of the matter quietly and informally." (p. 444, lines 12-14)