Dog Club Board Meeting in Default

[Guest Tim Wolf]

I am a member of a large Dog Club. There is a serious problem at the latest Board Meetings, in that there is too much interpersonal argumentation. So much so that at the most recent meeting, the president who was personally involved in the rancor, declared the meeting in DEFAULT based on Robert's. This wise old wolf stayed silent! Is there such a thing as declaring a meeting in default and if so what are the consequences.

[Richard Brown]

On 5/18/2023 at 12:09 PM, Guest Tim Wolf said:

Is there such a thing as declaring a meeting in default

No.

What happened next?  Did the meeting continue, did the chair declare it adjourned, or what?

[Josh Martin]

On 5/18/2023 at 12:09 PM, Guest Tim Wolf said:

Is there such a thing as declaring a meeting in default

No.

On 5/18/2023 at 12:09 PM, Guest Tim Wolf said:

and if so what are the consequences.

I have no idea what the President means, so I can't begin to say.

[J. J.]

She might mean "disorderly," but you will have to ask her.

[Gary Novosielski]

On 5/18/2023 at 1:09 PM, Guest Tim Wolf said:

I am a member of a large Dog Club. There is a serious problem at the latest Board Meetings, in that there is too much interpersonal argumentation. So much so that at the most recent meeting, the president who was personally involved in the rancor, declared the meeting in DEFAULT based on Robert's. This wise old wolf stayed silent! Is there such a thing as declaring a meeting in default and if so what are the consequences.

Apparently there is such a thing, as you have seen it done.  Whether it is not unmeaningless or otherwise is another question.

The common meaning of being "in" default is to have missed one or more payments due on a debt.  This doesn't seem to be the meaning here.  But the fact that interpersonal rancor interfered in the orderly conduct of the meeting is a situation where the buck stops at the chair.  The president should be looking to nip such situations in the bud by enforcing the rules of decorum set down in RONR.  They are designed and perfected to make interpersonal attacks difficult and unwieldy to carry out, without sounding foolish. Diving into the situation is exactly the  wrong thing to do, and whatever official-sounding declarations one tries to invent to duck responsibility is just silly.

One thing you can do if you notice tensions rising and voices raising, is to deflect attention by saying, "Point of Order! <pause to be recognized> I raise a point of order that the meeting is not in order."   This is essentially a statement that the chair not fulfilling his/her primary responsibility of keeping the meeting on topic and orderly, and seeing that all debate remains germane to the currently pending question.  With luck, it will cause people to reconsider what's going on.

[Rob Elsman]

For the chair to misrepresent what is in Robert's Rules to paper over his ignorance about how to preside is a good sign of utter incompetence. Could it maybe be time to remove this person and find someone who has actually read the book when he says something is in Robert's Rules?

[Joshua Katz]

On 5/18/2023 at 12:09 PM, Guest Tim Wolf said:

I am a member of a large Dog Club.

Out of curiosity, is it a dog club with many members, or a dog club whose subject matter is limited to large breeds?

[Gary Novosielski]

On 5/18/2023 at 9:10 PM, Joshua Katz said:

Out of curiosity, is it a dog club with many members, or a dog club whose subject matter is limited to large breeds?

Not far from here is the small animal hospital.