Committee re-voting after congregational vote

[Guest G. S. Pastor]

An ELCA congregation, who follows RR, held a called meeting and approve a 50k renovation budget to a building. The council president has now said that even though bids for renovation fall within the approved 50k, they still need to be voted on again by the specified committee and council because it is over the approved dollar amount the bylaws state is allowed to be spent in one transaction by a committee without a vote, even though the congregation has approved the overall dollar amount.

Are the secondary committee and council votes necessary if the bids falls within the definition of renovation and within the overall dollar amount? 

[Atul Kapur]

This is a question about interpreting what your bylaws say, not about RONR.

[Gary Novosielski]

I agree that this is a question that involves a customized rule in your bylaws, not RONR.

I tend to agree with you that the second vote does not make a lot of sense, but I don't know your rules.  Presumably the "council" and any committees are subordinate bodies to the congregation, so I don't see the reason for another vote. You could raise a Point of Order at a membership meeting that the rules are not being followed; the president will issue a ruling, and that ruling is subject to immediate Appeal.  (See RONR 12th ed. §23-24.)  The reasoning here is that a committee or council, does not have the power to contradict a superior body, so even if they could vote, they would not be allowed to vote No.  That makes the vote dilatory.

But all this assumes that the rules in RONR apply, and there could be quirks in your bylaw that call that assumption into question.  

 

Edited May 31, 2023 at 03:02 PM by Gary Novosielski