Does the power to call meetings confer the right of a president to impose Robert's Rules?

[Guest morrighanmtc@outlook.com]

The Board of Directors of my organization (of which I am one) have had a challenging few years in trying to take action.  Our bylaws do not specify Roberts Rules, although quorum is defined, as is the type of majority required to pass a motion.  Our board president wants to expedite action through use of RR.  A simple majority of the board does not want to use RR, and prefers a different consensus model.  Can the president impose RR on the board?  Would that be consistent with RR at all?  I understand the irony, but I am serious about the question.

 

[Richard Brown]

15 minutes ago, Guest morrighanmtc@outlook.com said:

Can the president impose RR on the board? 

No. Unless your Board is  authorized by the bylaws to do this, which is quite unlikely, it would require a vote of the membership to actually adopt RONR (Robert’s Rules ) as your parliamentary authority and make it binding on the organization. This. can be done by amending the bylaws or by adopting a special rule of order specifying RONR as your parliamentary authority. To adopt it by means of a special rule of order requires previous notice and a two-thirds vote. To adopt it in your bylaws requires following the procedure for amending the bylaws. 

However, RONR may still be followed as a custom without formally adopting it, but it would not be binding in such a case. The chair may similarly use it as a guide without it being formally adopted, but again it would not be binding. 
 

[Guest Zev]

To the OP morrighanmtc:

If what you say "...a different consensus model" means what I think it means, then the adoption of consensus signifies that just one or two individuals can detain and stop completely any course of action favored by the vast majority or even the near totality of members. You may also wish to read the following article that discusses the downside of the consensus model and warn the members of the board of its negative effects.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V_M4owXmu8BxbWI37orX0K4XEnKxCwoBtca0tMsozWo/edit?pli=1

[Rob Elsman]

See RONR (12th ed.) xlvii-xlviii.