Handling of presentations as listed in an Agenda

[Guest Eskander]

Hey everyone!

So I need a little bit of help understanding a situation a little bit more.

My deliberative body (a simple student organization) is subject to the open meeting law in my state. Due to this, we are required to post our agendas prior to the meeting. These agendas are prepared by the presiding officer and are not approved by the body. Our OML allows for us to combine agenda items and remove some, however it does not specify any method.

Now, at our upcoming meeting, two members sent in relatively similar requests for an agenda item to the chair. Upon discovery, they have requested that they just both speak on one. These two agenda items are just an information only presentation of a project.

Now, to my understanding we have a few options.

Could a member motion to combine these two agenda items? Then the two speakers would just present?

Or, could one member present and then yield to the other to speak as well? Leaving the other presentation item as unopened? Would that prompt this to transfer over the unfinished business? 

Or, simply, could one presentation be postponed indefinitely, even though it does not bring a question to the floor?

What can we do in this situation?

Thanks so much all, I hope you are all enjoying the 12th edition as much as I am.

[Josh Martin]

3 hours ago, Guest Eskander said:

Could a member motion to combine these two agenda items? Then the two speakers would just present?

I see no reason why not. The agenda may be amended while it is pending for approval, by majority vote or unanimous consent.

I think this is probably the best solution for what you want to do.

3 hours ago, Guest Eskander said:

Or, could one member present and then yield to the other to speak as well? Leaving the other presentation item as unopened? Would that prompt this to transfer over the unfinished business? 

No, a member cannot yield their time to another member.

3 hours ago, Guest Eskander said:

Or, simply, could one presentation be postponed indefinitely, even though it does not bring a question to the floor?

No. The motion to postpone indefinitely cannot be applied to a presentation for information only. The purpose of the motion to postpone indefinitely is to kill a motion while avoiding a direct vote on it. It has no meaningful application for something which isn't voted on anyway.

3 hours ago, Guest Eskander said:

What can we do in this situation?

I think amending the agenda is the most logical solution.

[Richard Brown]

7 hours ago, Guest Eskander said:

My deliberative body (a simple student organization) is subject to the open meeting law in my state. Due to this, we are required to post our agendas prior to the meeting. These agendas are prepared by the presiding officer and are not approved by the body. Our OML allows for us to combine agenda items and remove some, however it does not specify any method.

I would be surprised if your open meetings law doesn't contain any provisions for adding things to the agenda.  Allowing things to be added to the agenda willy-nilly pretty much defeats the purpose of having to publish the agenda in advance.  However, removing something from the agenda is usually not be a problem in my experience  

Josh Martin answered your question very well from a parliamentary standpoint.  The only thing I would add to his answer is that with this being a public body subject to an open meetings law, you need to check that law very carefully to find out what you can and cannot do in the way of amending the agenda. That is a legal question more so than a parliamentary one and will vary from state to state.  In my own state, removing something from the agenda is absolutely no problem.  Taking things out of order is not a problem, either, but adding something to the agenda is very much a problem.   It requires a unanimous vote of the public body to  add something to the agenda at the meeting and the public must be  permitted to be heard on whether the addition should be permitted before the body votes on actually adding it. 

Edited September 4, 2020 at 05:53 PM by Richard Brown
Edited last sentence in first paragraph