Personal Statement read into Minutes (not Board Opinion)

[Guest Linda]

At our Board meeting, the VP read a statement she wanted in the minutes thanking the resigning Treasurer and criticizing Club members for the way they had attacked and bullied her. She read the statement; there was no discussion.  The President would like a note entered into the minutes that the statement was the VP's personal opinion, that it was divisive and sharp in tone and may not reflect the opinion of the Board.  Would the addition of the President's note be appropriate?

[Atul Kapur]

Neither the VP's statement nor the president's note should go in the minutes.

"In an ordinary society, the minutes should contain mainly a record of what was done at the meeting, not what was said by the members." RONR (12th ed.) 48:2 (emphasis in original)

"the VP read a statement she wanted in the minutes" This is improper. She doesn't get to make that decision. The board could adopt a motion to include it in the minutes (inadvisable) but no one person can demand that a statement be included.

 

[Gary Novosielski]

On 11/12/2020 at 1:04 AM, Guest Linda said:

At our Board meeting, the VP read a statement she wanted in the minutes thanking the resigning Treasurer and criticizing Club members for the way they had attacked and bullied her. She read the statement; there was no discussion.  The President would like a note entered into the minutes that the statement was the VP's personal opinion, that it was divisive and sharp in tone and may not reflect the opinion of the Board.  Would the addition of the President's note be appropriate?

As Mr. Kapur has noted, neither statement should be included.  Have these minutes been up for approval yet?  If not, should they happen to show up in the draft minutes, then when Reading and Approval of Minutes is pending, a correction should be offered striking both statements.  Since the board did not approve of their inclusion, they don't belong in there. 

I do not believe that it would be proper, even if a majority favored them, to allow them to remain, since the minutes are a record of what happened, not what should have happened.  The statements could be offered at this meeting by a motion, but that motion, in my view, should be voted down.  

But it's foolish to predict the fate of a bad idea that has majority support.

[Dan Honemann]

2 hours ago, Gary Novosielski said:

I do not believe that it would be proper, even if a majority favored them, to allow them to remain, since the minutes are a record of what happened, not what should have happened.  The statements could be offered at this meeting by a motion, but that motion, in my view, should be voted down.  

But the VP did read her statement at the meeting.

[Richard Brown]

Based on the very clear language of section 48:3 of the 12th edition, both statements may be included in the minutes and at most it would require a majority vote. However, since the statement of the vice president was read at the previous meeting and no objection was made to her request that it be included in the minutes, I think it may be argued that the assembly granted that request at the time by unanimous consent.

The statement which the president wishes to be entered in the minutes may be added by majority vote pursuant to 48:3.

Whether we as members of this forum believe this statement should or should not go into the minutes is irrelevant. It is a decision which this assembly may make as to what it wants in its minutes. I believe assemblies have had this inherent right all along, but rule 48:3 makes it crystal clear.
 

 

 

[Rob Elsman]

Since the motion to enter the remarks on the minutes is a debatable incidental main motion, the assembly will have every opportunity to deliberate on the advisability of doing what the motion proposes.  I'm not so much worried about the deliberative process, here; but, once Sally gets to enter her remarks, it becomes more difficult to argue why Richard, Alice, Peggy, and Bill shouldn't get to enter theirs. 😐

[Gary Novosielski]

12 hours ago, Daniel H. Honemann said:

But the VP did read her statement at the meeting.

Yes, she did read it, but she did not properly seek to have it included.  So why should it be?

[Dan Honemann]

21 hours ago, Daniel H. Honemann said:

But the VP did read her statement at the meeting.

 

9 hours ago, Gary Novosielski said:

Yes, she did read it, but she did not properly seek to have it included.  So why should it be?

Well, we don't really know whether the VP has or has not properly sought to have the statement which she read included in the minutes of the meeting, but the point is that it is a statement which she did in fact read during the meeting, apparently without objection.  

On the other hand, we are told that the President "would like a note entered into the minutes that the statement was the VP's personal opinion, that it was divisive and sharp in tone and may not reflect the opinion of the Board", and we are asked if inclusion in the minutes of the President's note would be appropriate. 

The difference between these two statements is that one was in fact made during the meeting and the other was not. One is something that happened during the meeting the other is not. 

I'm not at all sure that these two statements stand on equal footing when it comes to a question as to whether or not it is proper to include them in the minutes. 

[Atul Kapur]

5 hours ago, Daniel H. Honemann said:

I'm not at all sure that these two statements stand on equal footing when it comes to a question as to whether or not it is proper to include them in the minutes. 

I'm not sure how, practically, this difference would manifest itself. Would it not be the case that the inclusion or exclusion of either statement in the minutes would be a decision that the board makes by a majority vote?

[Dan Honemann]

5 minutes ago, Atul Kapur said:

I'm not sure how, practically, this difference would manifest itself. Would it not be the case that the inclusion or exclusion of either statement in the minutes would be a decision that the board makes by a majority vote?

As for the VP's statement, I think the answer to this question is yes. 

I'm inclined to believe that there is no basis for inclusion of the President's statement in the minutes, since it was not made at that meeting. It is simply an opinion subsequently expressed by the President concerning something that did happen at the meeting.