Open discussion for public?

[Guest Curious George]

Greetings,

Is there a way for all board members to sit and have an open discussion without it being a board.  
 

Q&A session for the public without it being a forum or does there have to be board members missing from public view?

 

At a local energy company who has a president who violated nepotism and well let’s say is basically being investigated as a bad actor in the public by local prosecutor.  Azle Texas- Tri County Electric

The whole board has for years basically kept more of a close door meeting which is how this ended up happening in the first place.

Why can’t the general members of the organization be able to both participate in the organizations discussions?  The board is acting like a general discussion is not allowed.

I understand we are not England and can yell “Boo, Hiss or Sit Down” like the do in England.  Roberts rules were designed for dignified discussion.  But when discussions are not allowed- crime seems to be afoot. 
 

Thank you

[puzzling]

On 9/12/2023 at 1:48 AM, Guest Curious George said:

Greetings,

Is there a way for all board members to sit and have an open discussion without it being a board.  
 

Q&A session for the public without it being a forum or does there have to be board members missing from public view?

 

At a local energy company who has a president who violated nepotism and well let’s say is basically being investigated as a bad actor in the public by local prosecutor.  Azle Texas- Tri County Electric

The whole board has for years basically kept more of a close door meeting which is how this ended up happening in the first place.

Why can’t the general members of the organization be able to both participate in the organizations discussions?  The board is acting like a general discussion is not allowed.

I understand we are not England and can yell “Boo, Hiss or Sit Down” like the do in England.  Roberts rules were designed for dignified discussion.  But when discussions are not allowed- crime seems to be afoot. 
 

Thank you

Not sure ehat your question is (or are you just having a rant) 

Probably the organisation is ruled by (state)laws and there are also the organisations bylaws to consider 

If it is a members organisation,  elect the right people on the board  check the bylaws,

Except if there are sunshine laws yhat prohibit boardmembers from gathering to informally discuss anything there is nothing in RONR that prevent it. 

(Except that they cannot take any decisions this way)

RONR does not grant attendance to boardmeetings to anybody but  boardmembers. If the organisation wishes to have it that way they will have uo put that in their bylaws. 

Hood luck

[Joshua Katz]

True to your name, there are many questions here. I'll try to hit them all.

On 9/11/2023 at 8:48 PM, Guest Curious George said:

Is there a way for all board members to sit and have an open discussion without it being a board.  

If the rules in RONR govern (but see below) then yes, they would just do it. RONR does not convert a gathering into a meeting; meetings require certain preconditions. 

 

On 9/11/2023 at 8:48 PM, Guest Curious George said:

Q&A session for the public without it being a forum or does there have to be board members missing from public view?

 

Well, I'm not sure what the difference between a Q&A session and a forum is. Can you explain what you have in mind?

On 9/11/2023 at 8:48 PM, Guest Curious George said:

At a local energy company who has a president who violated nepotism and well let’s say is basically being investigated as a bad actor in the public by local prosecutor.  Azle Texas- Tri County Electric

 

You should tread carefully where the long arm of the law is involved.

On 9/11/2023 at 8:48 PM, Guest Curious George said:

Why can’t the general members of the organization be able to both participate in the organizations discussions?  The board is acting like a general discussion is not allowed.

 

What do you mean by "the organization's discussions"? The general members have their own meetings (in most organizations) and the board has its. It's up to the bylaws and the board how much participation to allow by non-members of the board at board meetings. If you disagree on the wisdom of the organization's choice, you would propose a bylaw amendment. As to the general theory, the idea is somewhat akin to republicanism - certain decisions are best made by a smaller body, and so the members delegate decision-making power to their representatives.

On 9/11/2023 at 8:48 PM, Guest Curious George said:

I understand we are not England and can yell “Boo, Hiss or Sit Down” like the do in England.  Roberts rules were designed for dignified discussion.  But when discussions are not allowed- crime seems to be afoot. 

I don't agree in general that crime is afoot when general members don't participate at board meetings.

[Gary Novosielski]

On 9/11/2023 at 8:48 PM, Guest Curious George said:

Greetings,

Is there a way for all board members to sit and have an open discussion without it being a board.  
 

Q&A session for the public without it being a forum or does there have to be board members missing from public view?

 

At a local energy company who has a president who violated nepotism and well let’s say is basically being investigated as a bad actor in the public by local prosecutor.  Azle Texas- Tri County Electric

The whole board has for years basically kept more of a close door meeting which is how this ended up happening in the first place.

Why can’t the general members of the organization be able to both participate in the organizations discussions?  The board is acting like a general discussion is not allowed.

I understand we are not England and can yell “Boo, Hiss or Sit Down” like the do in England.  Roberts rules were designed for dignified discussion.  But when discussions are not allowed- crime seems to be afoot. 
 

Thank you

I'm not familiar with electric utilities that have "memberships", except in the case of a stock corporation, where stockholders can make motions at stockholders meetings, but not at board meetings.  It sounds like a lot of the answers here are to be found in your bylaws, charter, or other foundational documents.  If the rules in RONR apply, non-board members are not allowed to attend board meetings, let alone speak at them, so you won't find a remedy there.

[Josh Martin]

On 9/12/2023 at 11:26 AM, Gary Novosielski said:

I'm not familiar with electric utilities that have "memberships", except in the case of a stock corporation, where stockholders can make motions at stockholders meetings, but not at board meetings.  It sounds like a lot of the answers here are to be found in your bylaws, charter, or other foundational documents.  If the rules in RONR apply, non-board members are not allowed to attend board meetings, let alone speak at them, so you won't find a remedy there.

There are electric utility cooperatives, in which the customers/ratepayers are also the members, and the members elect the board, as opposed to investor-owned utilities, which operate in the manner you describe. Electric utility cooperatives are more commonly located in rural areas.

On 9/11/2023 at 7:48 PM, Guest Curious George said:

Is there a way for all board members to sit and have an open discussion without it being a board.  

Q&A session for the public without it being a forum or does there have to be board members missing from public view?

At a local energy company who has a president who violated nepotism and well let’s say is basically being investigated as a bad actor in the public by local prosecutor.  Azle Texas- Tri County Electric

The whole board has for years basically kept more of a close door meeting which is how this ended up happening in the first place.

Why can’t the general members of the organization be able to both participate in the organizations discussions?  The board is acting like a general discussion is not allowed.

I understand we are not England and can yell “Boo, Hiss or Sit Down” like the do in England.  Roberts rules were designed for dignified discussion.  But when discussions are not allowed- crime seems to be afoot. 

"A deliberative assembly or committee is normally entitled to determine whether nonmembers may attend or be excluded from its meetings (even when not in executive session). Many public and semipublic bodies, however, are governed by sunshine laws—that is, their meetings must be open to the public. Normally, such laws have no application to private, nongovernmental bodies.

In meetings of many public bodies, such as school boards, the public may attend. Similarly, in some private organizations such as church councils, parishioners may be permitted to attend. These attendees are not members of the meeting body and ordinarily have no right to participate. Some bodies, especially public ones, may invite nonmembers to express their views, but this is done under the control of the presiding officer subject to any relevant rules adopted by the body and subject to appeal by a member. Often, by rule or practice, time limits are placed on speakers and relevance is closely monitored." RONR (12th ed.) 9:28-29

I suspect this utility is regulated by applicable law, and as a result, you may ultimately need to consult an attorney for an answer to your question.

If RONR was all that is controlling, only members of the board have rights in connection with board meetings. The board may, if it wishes, provide mechanisms for non-board members to participate in the meeting. Granting non-board members the right to participate fully in debate would require a 2/3 vote. Setting aside some sort of open forum, public hearing, Q&A, etc. would require only a majority vote. The board is not, however, required to do any of these things by RONR.

It may well be that there are rules on this matter in the organization's rules or applicable law, but that is beyond the scope of RONR and this forum. Such rules will take precedence over RONR.

Edited September 12, 2023 at 07:10 PM by Josh Martin