Limitations on the Chair of a Public Body Governed by Robert's Rules.

[Guest NFAE]

 I serve on a public/elected Town Council. The meetings are governed by Robert's Rules (with no overriding by-laws or rules that I can identify). Also, I'm new to the body.

The Mayor thinks she cannot make motions or second motions in the meeting. I showed her the pertinent section of RRoO, but when she asked our city executive they said, 'No, the Mayor can't make motions."

I think this is wrong, but before I charge in to discuss this with the Mayor and executive in Public Session, I want to make sure the angels of right are on my side.

[Richard Brown]

The answer to your question is probably going to depend upon your city charter or state law. The first question is, “is the mayor actually a member of the council?”  If she is, then she likely has the same rights as all of the other councilmembers.

in many jurisdictions, the mayor presides at Council meetings but is not actually a voting member of the council. In other cities, the mayor is a regular voting member of the council. The powers of the mayor will vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction in this regard.

This is something that will be determined by your own state and local laws and city charter, not by Roberts rules of order.

[Dan Honemann]

15 minutes ago, Guest NFAE said:

 I serve on a public/elected Town Council. The meetings are governed by Robert's Rules (with no overriding by-laws or rules that I can identify). Also, I'm new to the body.

The Mayor thinks she cannot make motions or second motions in the meeting. I showed her the pertinent section of RRoO, but when she asked our city executive they said, 'No, the Mayor can't make motions."

I think this is wrong, but before I charge in to discuss this with the Mayor and executive in Public Session, I want to make sure the angels of right are on my side.

I'm inclined to doubt that "the angels of right" are on your side here.  Tread carefully.

[Guest Puzzling]

1 hour ago, Guest NFAE said:

 I serve on a public/elected Town Council. The meetings are governed by Robert's Rules (with no overriding by-laws or rules that I can identify).

Somehow this does not sound right.

There will be federal and state laws that override RONR.

I cannot imagine a public body that is only governed  by RONR.

 

[Josh Martin]

13 minutes ago, Guest Puzzling said:

Somehow this does not sound right.

There will be federal and state laws that override RONR.

I cannot imagine a public body that is only governed  by RONR.

Well, I hope what was meant was that the OP believes there are no superseding rules on this subject, which may or may not be correct, but at least would not be ridiculous.

If the OP is in fact claiming that there are no superseding rules whatsoever, then I think the OP may need to keep looking.

1 hour ago, Guest NFAE said:

 I serve on a public/elected Town Council. The meetings are governed by Robert's Rules (with no overriding by-laws or rules that I can identify). Also, I'm new to the body.

The Mayor thinks she cannot make motions or second motions in the meeting. I showed her the pertinent section of RRoO, but when she asked our city executive they said, 'No, the Mayor can't make motions."

I think this is wrong, but before I charge in to discuss this with the Mayor and executive in Public Session, I want to make sure the angels of right are on my side.

I concur with Mr. Brown that an important question to answer in this matter is whether the Mayor is, in fact, a member of the council, which may or may not be the case in a particular municipality.

Beyond that, RONR provides that the presiding officer of an assembly should not make or second motions in order to maintain the appearance of impartiality. If a member who served as presiding officer wished to make a motion, they would first relinquish the chair to another member. A small assembly might (or might not) choose to adopt a rule of order providing that the assembly shall follow the "small board rules" in this regard, which (among other things) lift this restriction.

Finally, there may well be applicable law or council rules on this matter, which might be what the city executive's opinion was based upon.

Edited February 12, 2021 at 05:43 PM by Josh Martin

[Rob Elsman]

In some city councils, the mayor is the presiding officer, but cannot vote; instead, he may possess the power of an executive veto.  You should obtain legal assistance from the city attorney or other legal representative of the government to determine what is correct.

[Gary Novosielski]

3 hours ago, Guest NFAE said:

 I serve on a public/elected Town Council. The meetings are governed by Robert's Rules (with no overriding by-laws or rules that I can identify). Also, I'm new to the body.

The Mayor thinks she cannot make motions or second motions in the meeting. I showed her the pertinent section of RRoO, but when she asked our city executive they said, 'No, the Mayor can't make motions."

I think this is wrong, but before I charge in to discuss this with the Mayor and executive in Public Session, I want to make sure the angels of right are on my side.

If there are no overriding by-laws or rules, then where is it stated that RONR is the parliamentary authority?

I find it almost unthinkable that the Council would have no bylaws.  Does it have a policy manual?  The bylaws are often included in that manual. And there must be state laws that establish the existence of municipal councils and give at least an overview of their operations.

Edited February 12, 2021 at 07:02 PM by Gary Novosielski