Rescinded letter

[Guest Mayor John]

As a mayor, I have rescinded a letter I wrote to Borough council. The solicitor says that council now hast to meet to officially accept, or reject my request to resend the letter.

[Atul Kapur]

Do you have a question? Specifically, a parliamentary question, as opposed to a second opinion on legal advice.

[Josh Martin]

On 12/22/2023 at 9:12 PM, Guest Mayor John said:

As a mayor, I have rescinded a letter I wrote to Borough council. The solicitor says that council now hast to meet to officially accept, or reject my request to resend the letter.

The rules on this matter are almost certainly found in the Borough Council's rules or applicable law, not Robert's Rules of Order. As a result, I do not think we are in any position to second guess the solicitor on this matter.

To the extent it is of assistance (which I think is not much), RONR says the following regarding withdrawal of a motion, which seems more applicable than "rescind" here, since my understanding is no motion has yet been adopted by the council on this matter.

"Before a motion has been stated by the chair, it is the property of its mover, who can withdraw it or modify it without asking the consent of anyone. Thus, in the brief interval between the making of a motion and the time when the chair places it before the assembly by stating it, the maker can withdraw it as follows:

In the same interval also, another member can ask if the maker of the motion is willing to withdraw it or accept a change in it, which suggestion the maker can either accept or reject. In such a case the chair either announces, “The motion has been withdrawn,” or states the question on the modified motion. If a motion is modified, the seconder can withdraw his second. When the seconder withdraws his second to the modified motion, the member who suggested the modification has, in effect, supplied a second.

After a motion has been stated by the chair, it belongs to the meeting as a whole, and the maker must request the assembly's permission to withdraw or modify his own motion, according to the rules stated in Standard Characteristics 1–8, above." RONR (12th ed.) 33:12-13

I must note, however, that 1.) this doesn't quite fit the facts of the situation (nothing in RONR really does, since this seems to be a customized procedure in your borough's rules), and 2.) in any event, the Borough Council's rules and applicable law take precedence over RONR. Since I am not familiar with those rules, I ultimately can express no opinion on the correctness of the solicitor's advice.

Edited December 23, 2023 at 03:15 PM by Josh Martin

[J. J.]

On 12/22/2023 at 10:12 PM, Guest Mayor John said:

As a mayor, I have rescinded a letter I wrote to Borough council. The solicitor says that council now hast to meet to officially accept, or reject my request to resend the letter.

Did you have a meeting where the letter was read or introduced into business.  

 

(Just for the record, is this a Pennsylvania Borough?)

[Gary Novosielski]

On 12/22/2023 at 10:12 PM, Guest Mayor John said:

As a mayor, I have rescinded a letter I wrote to Borough council. The solicitor says that council now hast to meet to officially accept, or reject my request to resend the letter.

Since re-sending a letter is quite the opposite of rescinding it, this is a confusing situation.  

[Rob Elsman]

In the context of parliamentary procedure, it is a main motion that can be the subject of a motion to Rescind or Amend Something Previously Adopted. I have been wondering what it even means to rescind a letter. I don't get it.

[Shmuel Gerber]

On 12/23/2023 at 8:18 PM, Rob Elsman said:

 I have been wondering what it even means to rescind a letter. I don't get it.

See definition 2a at https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rescind

rescind. transitive verb: take back, cancel

[Rob Elsman]

The letter in question seems from the facts given to have been sent and received. Rescinding the letter now seems about as useful as rescinding yesterday's sunrise.

Perhaps the letter contains some kind of open offer. It might be that withdrawing such an offer might be an option; but, the letter is, I think, just a fact.

[Josh Martin]

On 12/24/2023 at 12:38 PM, Rob Elsman said:

The letter in question seems from the facts given to have been sent and received. Rescinding the letter now seems about as useful as rescinding yesterday's sunrise.

Perhaps the letter contains some kind of open offer. It might be that withdrawing such an offer might be an option; but, the letter is, I think, just a fact.

Well, presumably this letter entailed more than simply providing information, otherwise I can't imagine why there would be such controversy over it. I imagine since the letter was from the Mayor, the letter contained some sort of official act of the Mayor which requires the council's approval. I understand the rescinding of "the letter" to refer to those official acts.

Edited December 24, 2023 at 07:56 PM by Josh Martin