Vote held but not on agenda

[Guest Libby]

Monthly meeting had presentation on specific topic.  Many questions were raised.  Chair said we had to have more discussion before we moved forward.  After last topic on agenda discussed and quite a few of the quorum had left the motion was made by a member to vote on moving forward with info presented in presentation.  Vote held.  The next day May members received info that this had happened and sent letter calling a point of order to the board.  The chair is ignoring it.  How to proceed?  Any info appreciated!

[Weldon Merritt]

First of all, unless you have some very peculiar rules, a point of order cannot be raised by a letter, it must be made at a meeting. So the chair should ignore it until it is properly made.

Second, as long as a quorum was present and the motion was not one requiring previous notice, it was validly adopted. So even if a point of order is later raised at a meeting, the chair should rule it not well taken. Members who leave a meeting before it is adjourned assume the risk that they may miss important business.

Third, the proper way to proceed now, for those who do not favor the motion, is to move to rescind or amend it. The motion to Rescind or Amend Something Previously Adopted is covered in RONR Sec. 35. It can be adopted by an ordinary majority vote if previous notice is given. Otherwise it requires either a two-thirds vote or a vote of a majority of the entire membership.

[Alicia Percell, PRP]

Just because it was the chair's opinion that the group needed "more discussion before we moved forward," the chair can't unilaterally impose that opinion on the majority, and apparently the majority disagreed and decided to move ahead.

As Mr. Merritt noted above, just because "quite a few of the quorum had left" already, as long as the number remaining was still a quorum, the action taken was valid.

[Gary Novosielski]

On 2/28/2023 at 9:43 AM, Guest Libby said:

Monthly meeting had presentation on specific topic.  Many questions were raised.  Chair said we had to have more discussion before we moved forward.  After last topic on agenda discussed and quite a few of the quorum had left the motion was made by a member to vote on moving forward with info presented in presentation.  Vote held.  The next day May members received info that this had happened and sent letter calling a point of order to the board.  The chair is ignoring it.  How to proceed?  Any info appreciated!

The chair was correct in ignoring it.  A Point of Order can only be raised in a meeting.  And on what grounds would these points be raised?  From your description, there were no rules broken, and as long as the number of departing members did not cause a loss of quorum, votes are valid.  If you voluntarily leave a meeting, you are presumably aware that things may be decided in your absence.  

[ A.
I neglected to press Submit on this post earlier this morning, so it will appear:

• at the bottom of the thread; and,
• to be channeling Mr. Merritt to a large degree.

apologies to those whom this irritates.

B.
To add some actual new info to this,  I'll mention that there is a parliamentary device that is tailor-made for the scenario offered by Guest Libby.  The motion to Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes (see 37:46) is designed to prevent action by an unrepresentative majority in a meeting that still has a quorum present.  Unfortunately it is one of the most convoluted rules in all of RONR, and not generally on the tip of anyone's tongue in an organization whose purpose is other than obsessing over the rules in RONR.  😏

]

 

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Edited February 28, 2023 at 10:50 PM by Gary Novosielski
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