dog temporarily amending a by-law

[Guest Mary Ann Landolina]

my organization has a by law stating the Friday evening dinners can only be attended by members.  Because of the Pandemic we are considering opening Friday evenings to the public.

Can we do this by executive order as to not have to wait three weeks to follow our by laws.

The organization is in dire need of revenue or it may have to close its doors

[Gary Novosielski]

No, you can only do it by amending your bylaws.  

That may not have been the best choice of where to put that rule, but that's where you are now.

In the future, consider putting rules like this in Standing Rules, which allows them to be suspended more easily.

[Atul Kapur]

I think Mr. Novosielski meant to say that Standing Rules can be amended more easily than bylaws.

Standing rules "that have any application outside a meeting context, however, cannot be suspended." (RONR 11th ed., p. 18, 24-25) and I would think that a rule on who is entitled to attend the Friday evening dinner is outside a meeting context. If that were not the case, then the rule in the bylaw would be in the nature of a rule of order and could be suspended.

The bottom line for our Guest is that they cannot open the dinners to non-members without amending or violating their bylaws. The need to do either or both of those is up to the organization.

[Gary Novosielski]

OOps.