Report by/from the Chair

[Guest Nekton]

Hello All,

this is my first post here.  I have searched the forum a bit but have not found an answer to my question, possibly because I'm not using the right search terms, and wading through 300+ returns is beyond my ability at the moment.  I appreciate any input and apologize if this is something commonly asked that I have missed.

 

I am on the board of a recreational club.  They hold Board meetings monthly and a General Membership meeting twice annually.  At our Board meetings our various committee chairs give reports (as needed) but our President, who presides as Chair at all meetings, does not.  At a recent meeting it was asked if we could formally add a President's Report to the agenda?  No one objects, but the question was raised as to whether it is allowed.  The question stems (I believe) from the requirement that the Chair remain impartial during the meeting, and the thought that either their report, or questions/debate raised as a result of their report, might conflict with their duties as Chair.

 

I can find no direct reference to this in RONR, although admittedly I haven't done a deep dive.  Chapter 1 and 4 both mention the the steps that need to be taken if the Chair wishes to speak to an issue (raised during the meeting by someone else), but don't mention a report from the President themselves.

 

Would it be acceptable for the President to give a report at Board meetings?  A General Membership meetings?  If yes are they required to cede the chair to an impartial Member for the duration of their report and any subsequent questions or debate that may arise?  We would likely want to add this report as the first on the agenda, preceding the Treasurer's report.

 

Thanks again for any help.

 

N

 

 

[Atul Kapur]

It is definitely allowed. The Chair does not need to step down from the Chair to present their report.

RONR has a standard Order of Business, which includes as the second item: Reports of Officers, Boards, and Standing Committees.

The President's Report is usually the first of the Officer's Reports.

You mention Chapters 1 and 4, which suggests to me that you are looking at Robert's Rules online. The problem is that is the 4th edition, published in 1915 (and therefore in the public domain). The current edition is the 12th, which was just published in August. In it, the usual order of business is in Section 41 and Reports is in 41:13-14

[Richard Brown]

Agreeing with Dr. Kapur, it is not only permissible for the chair to give a report, it is common.

As to the online 4th edition of Robert's Rules of Order, I again agree with Dr. Kapur.  That version is over 100 years old.  Please get a copy of the brand new 12th edition.   A lot has changed.

[Josh Martin]

7 hours ago, Guest Nekton said:

At a recent meeting it was asked if we could formally add a President's Report to the agenda? 

Sure.

7 hours ago, Guest Nekton said:

Would it be acceptable for the President to give a report at Board meetings?  A General Membership meetings?

Yes to both.

7 hours ago, Guest Nekton said:

If yes are they required to cede the chair to an impartial Member for the duration of their report and any subsequent questions or debate that may arise?

No, unless the President's report contains recommendations.

Additionally, debate is not in order following the report in a meeting of the general membership, unless the report contains recommendations and motions to implement those recommendations are made. Debate is only in order when a motion is pending. This rule is relaxed in meetings of small boards (not more than about a dozen members present), so discussion might be permitted without a motion pending at the board meeting, depending upon the size of the board. It should also be noted that under the small board rules, there is no requirement for the presiding officer to maintain the appearance of impartiality.

Edited October 28, 2020 at 02:01 PM by Josh Martin

[Rob Elsman]

1 hour ago, Josh Martin said:

...are they required to cede the chair to an impartial Member for the duration of their report and any subsequent questions or debate that may arise?

In general, I think the answer has to be "yes".  Firstly, it is not proper in larger assemblies for the presiding officer to deliver a report from the chair.  Secondly, it is not proper for the presiding officer to give the appearance of partiality or partisanship while in the chair.  The regular presiding officer should relinquish the chair to deliver the report and not take the chair until matters arising out of the report, if any, have been disposed of.

It is quite proper for members of the assembly to make main motions on matters arising out of a president's report after the report has been presented.

[Guest Nekton]

Gentlemen,

 

Thank you, this is exactly the information I was hoping for.  You are correct that I was only looking at the online information available and that purchasing a current edition of the Rules would be a wise thing for our organization to do.  I will propose it at our next meeting.  Our board does exceed the 12 person limit so we would not be able to take advantage of the small board rule and the leeway that it offers the Chair.  Still, there appears no reason why our President can not present their own report as an officer of the club and, if anything debatable arises, or any recommendations are given in it, we can apply the requirement to step aside. 

 

Thank you again!

 

N

[Richard Brown]

24 minutes ago, Rob Elsman said:

Firstly, it is not proper in larger assemblies for the presiding officer to deliver a report from the chair. . . . The regular presiding officer should relinquish the chair to deliver the report and not take the chair until matters arising out of the report, if any, have been disposed of.

 

I disagree.  There is nothing in RONR which indicates that the president should "relinquish" the chair when giving the president's report and it is customary for him to remain in the chair.  If the president is actually making a recommendation or motion, it might be appropriate for him to relinquish the chair while the matter is under consideration, but it is my experience that a president's report is usually a report of what he has done since his last report.  There is no need to relinquish the chair for that.

29 minutes ago, Rob Elsman said:

It is quite proper for members of the assembly to make main motions on matters arising out of a president's report after the report has been presented.

I agree that it is proper for a member to make a motion regarding a matter contained n the president's report, but it is not very common for thal to happen.  In addition, if it is not something the president actually made a recommendation on, it might be quite proper for him to remain in the chair to handle the motion.  If, for example, the president reported that an annual event which the organization usually participates in has been canceled for this year, and he has merely reported the fact and not made any sort of recommendation, it would be proper for him to remain in the chair if a member makes a motion that the society participate in a different event instead.

[Josh Martin]

57 minutes ago, Rob Elsman said:

Firstly, it is not proper in larger assemblies for the presiding officer to deliver a report from the chair. 

I am not aware of anything in RONR which says any such thing.

"In addition to their annual reports, the president and vice-president from time to time may wish or need to report on their activities in connection with administrative duties. Such reports are usually for purposes of information only, but may sometimes contain recommendations calling for action by the assembly." RONR (12th ed.) 48:19

If it was indeed the case that the presiding officer must relinquish the chair any time the presiding officer makes a report, then it would seem the text would say so in the rules discussing such reports. Since it does not, my presumption would be that the chair is not required to relinquish the chair solely on the basis of giving a report.

57 minutes ago, Rob Elsman said:

Secondly, it is not proper for the presiding officer to give the appearance of partiality or partisanship while in the chair. 

Certainly, but I don't know that giving a report, in and of itself, will necessarily give the appearance of partiality or partisanship.

It may well be that, in a particular circumstance, it would be desirable for the presiding officer to relinquish the chair for a report even although the report contains no recommendations because the report expresses opinions on some matter, however, I still do not believe it is the case that the presiding officer must categorically relinquish the chair whenever giving a report.

57 minutes ago, Rob Elsman said:

It is quite proper for members of the assembly to make main motions on matters arising out of a president's report after the report has been presented.

I have no disagreement with this, but I still don't think this means the President must relinquish the chair whenever presenting a report.

52 minutes ago, Guest Nekton said:

Still, there appears no reason why our President can not present their own report as an officer of the club and, if anything debatable arises, or any recommendations are given in it, we can apply the requirement to step aside. 

I would clarify once again that the only occasion when debate may arise is when a motion is made. This could be done in response to a recommendation made by the President or could be done on the initiative of a member in response to something within the report, but in either case, a motion must be made before debate can begin. Since the small board rules are not applicable either to the board or to the membership, this rule applies in both cases.

Edited October 28, 2020 at 04:17 PM by Josh Martin