President Leaving a Meeting in the middle of discussion before vote

[Guest Danny Pyeatt]

Is it legal according to Robert's Rules for a Board President of a school board, to enter into discussion then leave before the vote is taken on the agenda item?  Also we have a nine (9) member school board, it it proper and what Robert's Rules calls for the President to always vote last in a roll call vote, when all the other members rotate during each roll call vote?

[Weldon Merritt]

53 minutes ago, Guest Danny Pyeatt said:

Is it legal according to Robert's Rules for a Board President of a school board, to enter into discussion then leave before the vote is taken on the agenda item?

It violates no rule in RONR. Whether it is or is not "legal" according to any applicable statute, consult an attorney.

55 minutes ago, Guest Danny Pyeatt said:

Also we have a nine (9) member school board, it it proper and what Robert's Rules calls for the President to always vote last in a roll call vote, when all the other members rotate during each roll call vote?

Yes, the chair should be called on last in a roll call. (RONR 45:48) Under RONR, the other members generally are called in alphabetical order, but it may be that the applicable statute requires rotation. Even if that is not so, doing it that way would not cause the vote to be invalid.

[Bruce Lages]

4 hours ago, Weldon Merritt said:

Yes, the chair should be called on last in a roll call. (RONR 45:48) Under RONR, the other members generally are called in alphabetical order, but it may be that the applicable statute requires rotation. Even if that is not so, doing it that way would not cause the vote to be invalid.

That brings up a related question (at least to me): If the board is using the small board rules, where the presiding officer can vote on all questions, will these rules on a roll call vote still apply? Since the chair can vote whether or not his vote will make a difference, is it still necessary to call his name last?

[Rob Elsman]

It is perfectly proper for the president to leave a meeting when incapacity or some greater duty arises.  For example, it may have been that the president had a prescheduled appointment with the chairman of the state legislature's appropriations committee to work out the next year's budget request.

Insofar as the rules in RONR control, the names of members, including the president's, are called alphabetically in a roll call.  Under these rules, the president participates fully, just like any other member, so there is no need to call his name last to make or break a tie.

I do not understand what is the need to rotate the calling of members' names.  Surely, each member can vote his own best judgment whenever his name is called.

[Weldon Merritt]

1 hour ago, Bruce Lages said:

That brings up a related question (at least to me): If the board is using the small board rules, where the presiding officer can vote on all questions, will these rules on a roll call vote still apply? Since the chair can vote whether or not his vote will make a difference, is it still necessary to call his name last?

Good question. RONR doesn't make a distinction in 45:48, but I certainly can see an argument that the small board rules themselves create the distinction.

I see that Mr. Elsman is of the opinion that the chair's name should be called alphabetically along with the others'. (I assume he means when the board is operating under the small board rules.) I agree that his interpretation is a reasonable one. Based on my (somewhat limited) observation, however, I think that in practice, most boards observe the practice of calling the chair's name last, regardless of the board's size.

[Atul Kapur]

2 hours ago, Rob Elsman said:

I do not understand what is the need to rotate the calling of members' names.  Surely, each member can vote his own best judgment whenever his name is called.

Particularly in political bodies, some feel that it is an advantage to those who vote later in the process because they know how the vote is likely to go and whether their vote will affect the outcome (similar to being in the small or big blind positions during a Hold 'Em poker game). 

[Rob Elsman]

Mr. Kapur, since members are able to "Pass" when their names are called, I do not see how your response answers my lack of understanding about the rotation of the calling of names.

[Gary Novosielski]

8 hours ago, Guest Danny Pyeatt said:

Is it legal according to Robert's Rules for a Board President of a school board, to enter into discussion then leave before the vote is taken on the agenda item?  Also we have a nine (9) member school board, it it proper and what Robert's Rules calls for the President to always vote last in a roll call vote, when all the other members rotate during each roll call vote?

It violates no rule in RONR.  If the president departs, the vice president would assume the chair.  Presumably in that event the vice president's name would be called last in the roll call.

[Atul Kapur]

6 hours ago, Atul Kapur said:

Particularly in political bodies, some feel that it is an advantage to those who vote later in the process because they know how the vote is likely to go and whether their vote will affect the outcome (similar to being in the small or big blind positions during a Hold 'Em poker game). 

 

6 hours ago, Rob Elsman said:

Mr. Kapur, since members are able to "Pass" when their names are called, I do not see how your response answers my lack of understanding about the rotation of the calling of names.

I have observed that many of those same people are also unaware that they can pass.