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Changing the time of a meeting 1 hour before the meeting


Parliamentarian

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Notice of our monthly meeting was sent out numerous times.  An hour before the meeting was to be held the Secretary apologized and acknowledged the time was incorrect and the meeting was to be held a few hours later. Unfortunately, some members were unable to attend and because they could not attend could not object at the meeting to inadequate notice. However they did notify the secretary of there concern. At the meeting debate was held on a major issue without their participation and a vote held prior to the next meeting despite the partcipant raising concerns and the motion passed without further debate.  The by-laws are silent on what constitutes "adequate notice" and requires referral to RRO on any undocumented rules.  Was proper protocol followed and are the grounds for appeal?

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On 8/29/2021 at 12:24 PM, Parliamentarian said:

Notice of our monthly meeting was sent out numerous times.  An hour before the meeting was to be held the Secretary apologized and acknowledged the time was incorrect and the meeting was to be held a few hours later. Unfortunately, some members were unable to attend and because they could not attend could not object at the meeting to inadequate notice. However they did notify the secretary of there concern. At the meeting debate was held on a major issue without their participation and a vote held prior to the next meeting despite the partcipant raising concerns and the motion passed without further debate.  The by-laws are silent on what constitutes "adequate notice" and requires referral to RRO on any undocumented rules.  Was proper protocol followed and are the grounds for appeal?

I don't think I have sufficient facts at this time to know whether what occurred was proper. What do your bylaws and other rules say, if anything, in regard to the date and time of your organization's monthly meetings, the manner in which these are set, and notice of meetings?

In the event that the change in meeting time was, in fact, improper, the proper course of action at this time would be for a member to raise a Point of Order at the next meeting regarding the matter, which the chair will rule on, and the matter may then be appealed to the assembly, which will make the final determination.

Edited by Josh Martin
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Thank you for your response.  The bylaws are silent on notification. The vote was taken electronically and tabulated between the two meetings since debate had been closed  during the erroneous scheduled meeting. The chair ruled between the meetings and again at the meeting that debate had been closed and that  since motion passed by a valid vote the issue was closed. THey stated that hopefully the matter would be taken up in the future.  Since the bylaws were silent on the matter it was felt that there was no grounds for a challenge. Monthly meeting are regularly scheduled but the time sometimes vary.  Multiple notices that went out showing the erroneous time with no one comments that it was incorrect until an hour for the meeting by the secretary.

The bottom line question here in the absence of bylaw requirements does Robert rule have any notice requirement for a meeting ?

 

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Another question, perhaps a line or two above the bottom, is the issue of electronic voting, which is only allowed if your bylaws permit it, and yet another question is how a chair can possibly "rule" anything outside of a meeting.

RONR has a notice requirement which says that notice must be provided a "reasonable" time in advance.  The definition of reasonable is left up to you.  So you cannot argue that since the bylaws are silent, no notice is required.  RONR says it is required.  What you can debate is whether one hour is a "reasonable" time.

I think there may be a difference between moving the time of the meeting to start earlier, as opposed to later.  Suppose a meeting was changed to an hour earlier.  Members could argue that they had plans that could not be canceled on an hour's notice.  But if they say they could not make a meeting that was to start an hour late, are they saying that if they did attend, they would need to leave after an hour?  

 

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On 8/29/2021 at 2:47 PM, Parliamentarian said:

Thank you for your response.  The bylaws are silent on notification. The vote was taken electronically and tabulated between the two meetings since debate had been closed  during the erroneous scheduled meeting. The chair ruled between the meetings and again at the meeting that debate had been closed and that  since motion passed by a valid vote the issue was closed. THey stated that hopefully the matter would be taken up in the future.  Since the bylaws were silent on the matter it was felt that there was no grounds for a challenge. Monthly meeting are regularly scheduled but the time sometimes vary.  Multiple notices that went out showing the erroneous time with no one comments that it was incorrect until an hour for the meeting by the secretary.

The bottom line question here in the absence of bylaw requirements does Robert rule have any notice requirement for a meeting ?

What RONR provides in regard to notice of regular meetings is that if the day, hour, and place of the meeting are always the same (generally, this is accomplished by fixing the day in the bylaws and the hour and place in a standing rule), then no notice is required whatsoever. Notice is often still given as a courtesy.

On the other hand, if the day, hour, or place of regular meetings varies, then notice must be sent to all members "a reasonable time in advance of each regular meeting." (RONR (12th ed.), 9:3) RONR strongly advises that the bylaws specify how much notice is required, to avoid arguments over what constitutes reasonable notice. RONR does not set its own specific requirement since what is "reasonable" will vary from society to society.

Since we are told that "time sometimes vary" for these meetings, notice of the meetings is required, so that members know when they are supposed to show up. Since the organization (unwisely) has failed to specify how much notice is required in its bylaws, the only requirement is that the notice must be sent "a reasonable time in advance," so it will be up to the assembly to decide whether an hour of notice is reasonable.

Edited by Josh Martin
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[Responding to Gary Novosielski]

I do not think it matters which direction the meeting is moved  because: 

1) the OP tells us that the meeting was rescheduled to a few hours later, not one.

2) the people may have booked plans for the evening after being told of the earlier start time. It does not necessarily mean that they we're only planning on devoting a short time to this meeting.

Edited by Atul Kapur
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