Agenda Items

[Guest newtoRR]

Our chair sent an email to board members stating that all agenda items have to be discussed with them first. "Anyone who has something they wish to add to the agenda needs to have a conversation with me in sufficient time before the meeting so I have knowledge of what the agenda item entails. This is the right of the president who presides over the meeting to ensure time is available to discuss such additions." There have been several instances of this chair refusing/neglecting to add submitted agenda items. The written directive claims time management as the reason, but in practice it seems to actually be more about political expediency in terms of blocking agenda items to prevent discussion that may lead to motions and outcomes this individual doesn't want. Does the president have this power under RR? (Our bylaws do not speak to this at all except to say that meetings will be conducted using Roberts Rules of Order).

[George Mervosh]

On 9/25/2023 at 1:27 PM, Guest newtoRR said:

Our chair sent an email to board members stating that all agenda items have to be discussed with them first. "Anyone who has something they wish to add to the agenda needs to have a conversation with me in sufficient time before the meeting so I have knowledge of what the agenda item entails. This is the right of the president who presides over the meeting to ensure time is available to discuss such additions." There have been several instances of this chair refusing/neglecting to add submitted agenda items. The written directive claims time management as the reason, but in practice it seems to actually be more about political expediency in terms of blocking agenda items to prevent discussion that may lead to motions and outcomes this individual doesn't want. Does the president have this power under RR? (Our bylaws do not speak to this at all except to say that meetings will be conducted using Roberts Rules of Order).

Absolutely not and he won't find anything in RONR that even comes close to implying he does.

[Guest newtoRR]

I wonder if you could help us point to where in RONR it indicates he doesn't? It seems like a no-brainer for sure. We're not a board well versed in Robert's Rules and historically haven't really followed them (is my understanding, I'm relatively new to the board). We've now found ourselves with a dictatorial chair that we can't easily remove so are looking to RONR to help infuse some democracy back into this space.

[Joshua Katz]

Is it the case that the organization adopts an agenda at each meeting? And that the chair prepares the draft agenda?

[Josh Martin]

On 9/25/2023 at 3:25 PM, Guest newtoRR said:

I wonder if you could help us point to where in RONR it indicates he doesn't? It seems like a no-brainer for sure. We're not a board well versed in Robert's Rules and historically haven't really followed them (is my understanding, I'm relatively new to the board). We've now found ourselves with a dictatorial chair that we can't easily remove so are looking to RONR to help infuse some democracy back into this space.

With regard to agendas specifically:

"In some organizations, it is customary to send each member, in advance of a meeting, an order of business or agenda, with some indication of the matters to be considered under each heading. Such an agenda is often provided for information only, with no intention or practice of submitting it for adoption. Unless a precirculated agenda is formally adopted at the session to which it applies, it is not binding as to detail or order of consideration, other than as it lists preexisting orders of the day (41:40ff.) or conforms to the standard order of business (3:16, 41:5ff.) or an order of business prescribed by the rules of the organization (2:16, 3:16)." RONR (12th ed.) 41:62

"For a proposed agenda to become the official agenda for a meeting, it must be adopted by the assembly at the outset of the meeting.

At the time that an agenda is presented for adoption, it is in order for any member to move to amend the proposed agenda by adding any item that the member desires to add, or by proposing any other change.

It is wrong to assume, as many do, that the president “sets the agenda.” It is common for the president to prepare a proposed agenda, but that becomes binding only if it is adopted by the full assembly, perhaps after amendments as just described. [RONR (12th ed.) 41:62; see also pp. 16–17 of RONR In Brief.]" FAQ #14

In addition, as a general matter, it's not up to you or the assembly to prove the President can't do something. Rather, it's up to him to prove he can do something. RONR can't cover every crazy idea Presidents come up with, so it has this catch-all rule that points out Presidents have no authority beyond the duties of the presiding officer described in RONR, unless the organization's rules so provide. The duties of the presiding officer are described in RONR (12th ed.) 47:7-10, and the rule pointing out that Presidents cannot just assume they have additional authority is as follows:

"All of the duties of the presiding officer described above relate to the function of presiding over the assembly at its meetings. In addition, in many organized societies, the president has duties as an administrative or executive officer; but these are outside the scope of parliamentary law, and the president has such authority only insofar as the bylaws provide it. In some organizations, the president is responsible for appointing, and is ex officio a member of, all committees (with the exception of the nominating committee, which should be expressly excluded from such a provision, and with the further possible exception of all disciplinary committees; see 56:47). But only when he is so authorized by the bylaws—or, in the case of a particular committee, by vote of the assembly—does he have this authority and status. As an ex-officio member of a committee, the president has the same rights as the other committee members, but is not obligated to attend meetings of the committee and is not counted in determining the number required for a quorum or whether a quorum is present." RONR (12th ed.) 47:20

If this "dictatorial chair" gets really bad, I would advise reviewing RONR (12th ed.) 62:2-15, titled "Remedies for Abuse of Authority by the Chair in a Meeting."

Edited September 25, 2023 at 08:40 PM by Josh Martin

[Atul Kapur]

This is common in business and corporate meetings. It may just be that the new president is used to that sort of setting and unfamiliar with parliamentary procedure. A copy of RONR - In Brief would be a friendly way to introduce it to him (assuming he's willing to learn and this hasn't already been tried).