Striking an item from the agenda

[Guest Dlreynolds]

Do we need a vote of the entire board or just a second to strike an item from the agenda?

[Dan Honemann]

19 minutes ago, Guest Dlreynolds said:

Do we need a vote of the entire board or just a second to strike an item from the agenda?

If an item is properly on an agenda, then it most certainly will require a vote to remove it unless you have some strange rule somewhere permitting it to be removed in some other way.  

[Guest Sufficient]

So a second is not sufficient?

[Dan Honemann]

42 minutes ago, Guest Sufficient said:

So a second is not sufficient?

What, exactly, do you mean by "a second"?  🙂

 

[Guest Second]

A board member wants to move that we strike an item on our agenda until we discuss it further as a board. I’m asking if when she moves to strike can itI be removed until further discussion takes place if I second it?

[J. J.]

19 minutes ago, Guest Second said:

A board member wants to move that we strike an item on our agenda until we discuss it further as a board. I’m asking if when she moves to strike can itI be removed until further discussion takes place if I second it?

In small boards, seconding a motion is not necessary.  If you are a member of this board, and you really want to second it, you can. 

[Guest Vote]

But my question is: does it really need to go to a vote if the motion has a second?

[Atul Kapur]

A second may or may not be necessary, as @J. J. notes above.

But a second is not sufficient to remove an item from the agenda. That requires a vote, as @Daniel H. Honemann has stated. Unless, as he also stated, there is a special rule or circumstance.

Edited May 10, 2021 at 06:58 PM by Atul Kapur

[Guest Vote]

But my question is: is it necessary to vote on this if there’s a second?

[Richard Brown]

5 minutes ago, Guest Vote said:

But my question is: is it necessary to vote on this if there’s a second?

As both Mr. Honemann and Dr. Kapur said, yes, it is necessary to vote on it unless it is done by unanimous consent.

[Guest Vote ok]

I know it won’t get pulled for further discussion if there’s a vote...it will just get pushed through without discussion as always 

[George Mervosh]

3 minutes ago, Guest Vote ok said:

I know it won’t get pulled for further discussion if there’s a vote...it will just get pushed through without discussion as always 

Okay, but their refusal to vote your way doesn't change the answer provided by Mr. Honemann in post #2.

Edited May 10, 2021 at 07:17 PM by George Mervosh

[Guest Clear]

I understand that. I spoke with our attorney today and he said depending on what we have in place as a board a second would be sufficient. I thought that sounded far to simple.

[Dan Honemann]

20 minutes ago, Guest Clear said:

I understand that. I spoke with our attorney today and he said depending on what we have in place as a board a second would be sufficient. I thought that sounded far to simple.

Well, if you have only two or three members on the board, that might do it.  🙂

[Atul Kapur]

3 hours ago, Guest Vote ok said:

it will just get pushed through without discussion as always 

Why without discussion? Amending the agenda is a debatable motion. 

If the item is a main motion it, too, is debatable.

Or are you speaking of something on a Consent Agenda?

[Rob Elsman]

To avoid inevitable confusion, I think it best to refer to such a "Consent Agenda" as a Consent Calendar.  See RONR (12th ed.) 41:32.

[Richard Brown]

Who are all of the guests who keep commenting in this thread? There appear to be six different guests including the original poster. Are they all different people or is it one person using multiple names?  It’s confusing because those of us who were answering don’t know whether we are responding to the original poster or to someone else who might not have anything to do with the organization or the situation at issue.

[Atul Kapur]

28 minutes ago, Rob Elsman said:

To avoid inevitable confusion, I think it best to refer to such a "Consent Agenda" as a Consent Calendar.  See RONR (12th ed.) 41:32.

Except that the RONR term "consent calendar" does not, by itself, indicate or even imply that the items of business listed under that heading are not debatable (41:32 does note that this can be done by a special rule of order, but that is not the default).

On the other hand, the vernacular term "consent agenda," wherever I have seen it used, does include the concepts that the items listed under that heading will be voted on in gross and without debate or amendment.

[Richard Brown]

I have found the term consent agenda to be much more commonly used term, much more so than consent calendar.

[Joshua Katz]

On 5/10/2021 at 1:31 PM, Guest Sufficient said:

So a second is not sufficient?

Let's back up. In a standard deliberative assembly, a second is required to place business before the assembly so that the chair knows that it's worth considering. A seconder is not saying he agrees with the motion, simply that he agrees it is worth considering. There is no circumstance where having a second is sufficient to pass a motion, because they arise at different steps of the process. Once a motion is seconded, it will be debated by the assembly. Then the chair will put the question to a vote. (There are circumstances where the demand of a single member requires something to happen, but not where a second is both needed and enough to make something happen.)

On 5/10/2021 at 2:32 PM, Guest Second said:

A board member wants to move that we strike an item on our agenda until we discuss it further as a board. I’m asking if when she moves to strike can itI be removed until further discussion takes place if I second it?

But wait. Assuming this is an agenda for a board meeting, that's exactly what you'll be doing. The item will come up, there will be a motion made on it, and that motion will be debated, i.e. discussed. That is the further discussion. What am I missing?

If, on the other hand, it is an agenda for a membership meeting, then the board has no business striking items from it anyway.

On 5/10/2021 at 3:12 PM, Guest Vote ok said:

I know it won’t get pulled for further discussion if there’s a vote...it will just get pushed through without discussion as always 

Why no discussion? And why "as always"? What type of business is it?

 

On 5/10/2021 at 3:43 PM, Daniel H. Honemann said:

Well, if you have only two or three members on the board, that might do it.  🙂

I was going to argue with this, but then I noticed the smiley and will leave it alone.

On 5/10/2021 at 3:22 PM, Guest Clear said:

I spoke with our attorney today and he said depending on what we have in place as a board a second would be sufficient.

What your attorney is saying is not based on RONR (or, if it is, he is incorrect). But it may or may not be accurate as per your own rules, or applicable laws.