procedure for "undoing" a motion made almost 3 years ago

[Jeancspeck]

I am First Selectman in a small rural town, with a 3 member Board of Selectmen. in March of 2020, the Board passed the following motion, "to dedicate the second floor meeting room in honor of Maureen Brady." As we all know, March 2020 was the beginning of the pandemic, and we never got around to having a ceremony to celebrate the dedication.

Fast forward 2+ years...that conference room was repurposed into an office.  In taking a deeper look at Mrs. Brady's long career of public service (40+ years, multiple elected and appointed positions, great accomplishments, and is still a deputy ROV to this day well into her 80's), I decided I would bring a resolution to the Board to dedicate the town hall in her honor (while in office, she was instrumental in getting a deal put together for the land, and got the building built). 

The issue of the old motion from 2020 came up as being in conflict with a new motion to dedicate the building in her honor. 

My question (I think) is procedural...how do we 'undo' that previous motion so we can move forward with this new one?

thanks!

[George Mervosh]

Since the motion from 2020 has not been acted upon, the 2020 motion may be amended from a motion to dedicate the meeting room to a motion to dedicate the town hall.  See RONR (12th ed.), §35.  Unless your town has its own voting requirements for the adoption such a motion (and if it does, it takes precedence), the voting requirement in RONR is noted in 35:2 7)

Edited January 6, 2023 at 06:33 PM by George Mervosh

[Gary Novosielski]

On 1/6/2023 at 1:20 PM, Jeancspeck said:

I am First Selectman in a small rural town, with a 3 member Board of Selectmen. in March of 2020, the Board passed the following motion, "to dedicate the second floor meeting room in honor of Maureen Brady." As we all know, March 2020 was the beginning of the pandemic, and we never got around to having a ceremony to celebrate the dedication.

Fast forward 2+ years...that conference room was repurposed into an office.  In taking a deeper look at Mrs. Brady's long career of public service (40+ years, multiple elected and appointed positions, great accomplishments, and is still a deputy ROV to this day well into her 80's), I decided I would bring a resolution to the Board to dedicate the town hall in her honor (while in office, she was instrumental in getting a deal put together for the land, and got the building built). 

The issue of the old motion from 2020 came up as being in conflict with a new motion to dedicate the building in her honor. 

My question (I think) is procedural...how do we 'undo' that previous motion so we can move forward with this new one?

thanks!

You use the motion to Amend Something Previously Adopted, see  RONR (12th ed.) §35.

That's more straightforward than Rescinding the old motion and adopting a new one.

[Rob Elsman]

I agree with Messrs. Mervosh and Novosielski.

Besides being more straightforward, using Amend Something Previously Adopted avoids the unpleasant possibility that the motion, Rescind, might be adopted and the new main motion might be rejected—unlikely, but possible.

Please keep in mind that Amend Something Previously Adopted requires a majority vote for adoption only if previous notice has been properly given; otherwise, it requires either a two-thirds vote or a vote of the majority of the entire membership.

[Jeancspeck]

Thank you all for the sage advice.  Can you clarify "only if previous notice has been properly given" - does that mean it should be on the agenda, or something different?

 

[George Mervosh]

On 1/10/2023 at 1:03 PM, Jeancspeck said:

Thank you all for the sage advice.  Can you clarify "only if previous notice has been properly given" - does that mean it should be on the agenda, or something different?

It means that notice of the intent to make the motion is given.  It can either be given in a meeting (let's say in January for the February meeting), or it can be placed in the call of the meeting.

I would not worry about it either way.  If 2 of you are in favor of it, it will get done, since a vote of a majority of the entire board adopts this motion as far as RONR is concerned.

Edited January 10, 2023 at 06:24 PM by George Mervosh

[Jeancspeck]

Apologies - I was just rereading section 35-"To Take From The Table" but am not finding anything about amending something previously adopted...am in the wrong section? My reference is http://www.rulesonline.com/rror-06.htm#35

[George Mervosh]

On 1/11/2023 at 12:00 PM, Jeancspeck said:

Apologies - I was just rereading section 35-"To Take From The Table" but am not finding anything about amending something previously adopted...am in the wrong section? My reference is http://www.rulesonline.com/rror-06.htm#35

That link is to the 4th Edition of Robert's Rules of Order published in 1915, that's why.  This is the link to get the 12th edition.  https://robertsrules.com/books/newly-revised-12th-edition/

[Richard Brown]

@Jeancspeckagreeing with Mr. Mervosh, that version of Robert’s Rules is over 100 years old and is out of date. It is the fourth edition and we are currently in the 12th edition. Because of copyright restrictions, none of the more current editions are available online. You must either purchase the book or borrow it from a library or someone you know. It is available from Amazon as well as most bookstores. Amazon also has a Kindle version.