Guest Gary Posted February 13, 2020 at 11:42 AM Report Share Posted February 13, 2020 at 11:42 AM (edited) Committees in my town are encouraged to follow RONR. I serve on my towns government study committee and voted against motion because the action involved did not correctly interpret state laws. The vote was 4 to 1. Must I now support the action approved my the majority and be silent on the issue? Or can I explain why I voted no during related public meetings on the action? Thank you. Edited February 13, 2020 at 03:31 PM by Shmuel Gerber Topic title edited by moderator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Mervosh Posted February 13, 2020 at 01:40 PM Report Share Posted February 13, 2020 at 01:40 PM 1 hour ago, Guest Gary said: Committees in my town are encouraged to follow RONR. I serve on my towns government study committee and voted against motion because the action involved did not correctly interpret state laws. The vote was 4 to 1. Must I now support the action approved my the majority and be silent on the issue? Or can I explain why I voted no during related public meetings on the action? Thank you. You don't need to be silent regarding your position on the matter but you can't discuss the deliberations that went on in the committee. "But in debate on any written or oral report in the assembly, any member of the reporting committee who does not concur has the same right as any other member of the assembly to speak individually in opposition. No one can make allusion in the assembly to what has occurred during the deliberations of the committee, however, unless it is by report of the committee or by unanimous consent." RONR (11th ed.), p. 528 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atul Kapur Posted February 13, 2020 at 02:28 PM Report Share Posted February 13, 2020 at 02:28 PM It a not clear to me that the above quotation applies to this situation. The quote is about the situation where the parent assembly is considering the committee's report. I'm not certain that the "public meetings" Guest Gary is attending are analogous to the parent assembly of his committee or whether they are external bodies. That doesn't necessarily change the answer, but it might. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Posted February 13, 2020 at 03:34 PM Report Share Posted February 13, 2020 at 03:34 PM Hello. The Government Study Committee is appointed by the Town Select Board. The GSC makes recommendations to the Town on responsible government and best practice. That requires clarity on state laws, among other research which include authoritative legal opinions the GSC has but do not support the GSC action I opposed. I would like to explain that at forth coming public meetings on the subject involved. My concern is if that is not proper. It seems to me that RONR is the source for my answer. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Mervosh Posted February 13, 2020 at 03:40 PM Report Share Posted February 13, 2020 at 03:40 PM 5 minutes ago, Guest Gary said: Hello. The Government Study Committee is appointed by the Town Select Board. The GSC makes recommendations to the Town on responsible government and best practice. That requires clarity on state laws, among other research which include authoritative legal opinions the GSC has but do not support the GSC action I opposed. I would like to explain that at forth coming public meetings on the subject involved. My concern is if that is not proper. It seems to me that RONR is the source for my answer. Thank you. I think the citation mentioned earlier is applicable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Posted February 13, 2020 at 04:14 PM Report Share Posted February 13, 2020 at 04:14 PM Hello. The Government Study Committee is appointed by the Town Select Board. The GSC makes recommendations to the Town on responsible government and best practice. That requires clarity on state laws, among other research which include authoritative legal opinions the GSC has but do not support the GSC action I opposed. I would like to explain that at forth coming public meetings on the subject involved. My concern is if that is not proper. It seems to me that RONR is the source for my answer. Thank you. May I add that all town committee meetings are open to the public by state law. All town committee meeting minutes are posted for the public by state law. so I simply want to understand if under RONR I can speak during public meetings to express why I voted against the committees motion? Or do I need to support the result of the committees motion? Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atul Kapur Posted February 13, 2020 at 04:20 PM Report Share Posted February 13, 2020 at 04:20 PM Mr. Mervosh has confirmed his answer, after seeing the extra information you provided. I concur with his answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Posted February 14, 2020 at 03:33 PM Report Share Posted February 14, 2020 at 03:33 PM Hello. The Government Study Committee is appointed by the Town Select Board. The GSC makes recommendations to the Town on responsible government and best practice. That requires clarity on state laws, among other research which include authoritative legal opinions the GSC has but do not support the GSC action I opposed. I would like to explain that at forth coming public meetings on the subject involved. My concern is if that is not proper. It seems to me that RONR is the source for my answer. Thank you. May I add that all town committee meetings are open to the public by state law. All town committee meeting minutes are posted for the public by state law. so I simply want to understand if under RONR I can speak during public meetings to express why I voted against the committees motion? Or do I need to support the result of the committees motion? Thank you. Thanks for your time and assistance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted February 14, 2020 at 11:50 PM Report Share Posted February 14, 2020 at 11:50 PM You do not have to support the motion you opposed. You cannot act to sabotage the work but you don't have to appear to support it. You don't need to say anything about it. The time to explain why you intend to vote for or against a motion is during the actual debate on the motion. I'm assuming here that you are an actual member of this body, although for some reason that does not feel crystal clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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