Prioritizing Motions

[Tomm]

When the Bylaws list a ridiculous rule such as, "All motions to be voted on at the Annual Membership Meeting shall be submitted to the RCSC Corporate office by four (4) pm, no later than twenty (20) days prior to the meeting date."

Of course it can't mean ALL MOTIONS! But would specifying "Main Motions" be enough to exclude your typical Privileged, Subsidiary and Incidental motions, or motions that bring a question again before the assembly?

I just receive a draft copy of our organizations revised Bylaws and am evaluating their compliance with RONR.

 

[Josh Martin]

On 9/24/2022 at 6:57 PM, Tomm said:

When the Bylaws list a ridiculous rule such as, "All motions to be voted on at the Annual Membership Meeting shall be submitted to the RCSC Corporate office by four (4) pm, no later than twenty (20) days prior to the meeting date."

Of course it can't mean ALL MOTIONS! But would specifying "Main Motions" be enough to exclude your typical Privileged, Subsidiary and Incidental motions, or motions that bring a question again before the assembly?

Specifying "main motions" would exclude privileged, subsidiary, and incidental motions. As for motions that bring a question before the assembly, that will depend on the particulars. Some of the motions that bring a question before the assembly are main motions, some are not main motions, and some are main motions in some circumstances but not others.

On the other hand, an overly literal interpretation of this rule would still include a good deal of incidental main motions. For instance, a motion to Recess when no business is pending is an incidental main motion. Certainly, however, it is an improvement over the current rule. (On the other hand, excluding all incidental main motions is likely not desirable either.)

I wonder if a good starting point for such a rule might be the language RONR uses for the types of motions that are in order at special meetings, since the purpose of the rule seems similar.

"The only business that can be transacted at a special meeting is that which has been specified in the call of the meeting. This rule, however, does not preclude the consideration of privileged motions, or of any subsidiary, incidental, or other motions that may arise in connection with the transaction of such business or the conduct of the meeting." RONR (12th ed.) 9:15

Whatever wording of this rule is utilized, some common sense on the part of the presiding officer and the assembly will be needed, since the rule cannot possibly cover all configurations.

On 9/24/2022 at 6:57 PM, Tomm said:

I just receive a draft copy of our organizations revised Bylaws and am evaluating their compliance with RONR.

Bylaws do not need to be compliant with RONR. The bylaws take precedence over RONR.

[Atul Kapur]

On 9/25/2022 at 12:41 PM, Josh Martin said:

As for motions that bring a question before the assembly, that will depend on the particulars. Some of the motions that bring a question before the assembly are main motions, some are not main motions, and some are main motions in some circumstances but not others.

I am certain that Mr. Martin means questions that bring a question again before the assembly. 

But "again-hole" isn't a recognized term as is "not-hole"

[Tomm]

On 9/25/2022 at 9:41 AM, Josh Martin said:

I wonder if a good starting point for such a rule might be the language RONR uses for the types of motions that are in order at special meetings, since the purpose of the rule seems similar.

I would hope there would be some sort of guiding principle or rule that would help distinguish the difference between all motions and the types of main motions that the bylaw is intending and not just leave it up to a decision by the chair.

On 9/25/2022 at 9:41 AM, Josh Martin said:

"The only business that can be transacted at a special meeting is that which has been specified in the call of the meeting. This rule, however, does not preclude the consideration of privileged motions, or of any subsidiary, incidental, or other motions that may arise in connection with the transaction of such business or the conduct of the meeting." RONR (12th ed.) 9:15

Any suggestion on how to rewrite that rule so it's more applicable to my concerns?

[puzzling]

On 9/25/2022 at 12:57 AM, Tomm said:

When the Bylaws list a ridiculous rule such as, "All motions to be voted on at the Annual Membership Meeting shall be submitted to the RCSC Corporate office by four (4) pm, no later than twenty (20) days prior to the meeting date."

Of course it can't mean ALL MOTIONS! But would specifying "Main Motions" be enough to exclude your typical Privileged, Subsidiary and Incidental motions, or motions that bring a question again before the assembly?

I just receive a draft copy of our organizations revised Bylaws and am evaluating their compliance with RONR.

 

I think the whole idea is bad and I don't think just rewriting it to main motions will do the trick.

If you really want something like this maybe a more creative indirect way is better, maybe  create in the bylaws an agenda committee and only motions on the  send to or put by this committee on the agenda (and thus be considered) have some rules about the exact functions and tasks of this committee and rules on how the assembly can overrule them.

Pay careful attention to how to handle motions that need previos notice.

And how to handle a Consent calendar? , how are you gonna deal with motions one or more members want to have taken of it? 

[Gary Novosielski]

On 9/25/2022 at 4:07 PM, puzzling said:

And how to handle a Consent calendar? , how are you gonna deal with motions one or more members want to have taken of it? 

I've never seen an Annual General Meeting with a Consent Calendar.

[Josh Martin]

On 9/25/2022 at 11:24 AM, Tomm said:

Any suggestion on how to rewrite that rule so it's more applicable to my concerns?

The only business that can be transacted at the annual meeting is that which is required by the bylaws or which has been submitted to the RCSC Corporate office by four (4) pm, no later than twenty (20) days prior to the meeting date. This rule, however, does not preclude the consideration of privileged motions, or of any subsidiary, incidental, or other motions that may arise in connection with the transaction of such business or the conduct of the meeting.

[Gary Novosielski]

On 9/26/2022 at 8:04 AM, Josh Martin said:

The only business that can be transacted at the annual meeting is that which is required by the bylaws or which has been submitted to the RCSC Corporate office by four (4) pm, no later than twenty (20) days prior to the meeting date. This rule, however, does not preclude the consideration of privileged motions, or of any subsidiary, incidental, or other motions that may arise in connection with the transaction of such business or the conduct of the meeting.

That's a good one (1).

[Tomm]

On 9/26/2022 at 5:04 AM, Josh Martin said:

The only business that can be transacted at the annual meeting is that which is required by the bylaws or which has been submitted to the RCSC Corporate office by four (4) pm, no later than twenty (20) days prior to the meeting date. This rule, however, does not preclude the consideration of privileged motions, or of any subsidiary, incidental, or other motions that may arise in connection with the transaction of such business or the conduct of the meeting.

Thank you very much! It was a tricky question and not easy to handle but you came thru perfectly! Thanks again.