Allowing Committee Meetings

[Tomm]

The Board Policy states that Standing Committee's do not meet in the months of July and August. Some committee's are, in fact, still meeting but only calling them "gatherings." The only problem with that is there are no notices made to the Members that those "gatherings" are being held and there are no summaries/memorandums, which are typically posted for the membership to read! 

BTW, the Board doesn't meet either, at least not publicly where the members are allowed to attend?

What would the proper way be to allow those committee's to meet during July and August?

Should the Board have motioned to suspend that rule prior to going into their 2 month hiatus, or could a simple permission by the president of the board allow them to happen? 

 

[Josh Martin]

On 7/17/2024 at 12:47 PM, Tomm said:

The Board Policy states that Standing Committee's do not meet in the months of July and August.

What is the exact wording of this policy?

From the paraphrase provided, it is not immediately clear to me whether this rule is intended to provide that the board and committees are not required to meet in July and August (or to provide that they are not required to meet in July and August), or if it is intended to provide that committees are prohibited from meeting in July and August.

On 7/17/2024 at 12:47 PM, Tomm said:

Some committee's are, in fact, still meeting but only calling them "gatherings." The only problem with that is there are no notices made to the Members that those "gatherings" are being held and there are no summaries/memorandums, which are typically posted for the membership to read! 

RONR does not require notices of committee meetings to be provided to anyone other than members of the committee, nor does it require that any memoranda in the nature of minutes be provided to anyone other than the members of the committee.

If your organization has its own rules on this matter, it will have to refer to those rules.

On 7/17/2024 at 12:47 PM, Tomm said:

BTW, the Board doesn't meet either, at least not publicly where the members are allowed to attend?

I'm not sure what the question is here, but RONR does not require notices of board meetings to be provided to anyone other than members of the board, nor does it grant a right to attend to anyone other than members of the board.

If your organization has its own rules on this matter, it will have to refer to those rules.

On 7/17/2024 at 12:47 PM, Tomm said:

What would the proper way be to allow those committee's to meet during July and August?

Until I see the exact language of the rule in question, I'm not certain I agree the committees are prohibited from meeting in July and August.

To the extent that they are, the solution would be to amend the rule.

On 7/17/2024 at 12:47 PM, Tomm said:

Should the Board have motioned to suspend that rule prior to going into their 2 month hiatus, or could a simple permission by the president of the board allow them to happen? 

To the extent it is correct that the committees are prohibited from meeting in July and August (of which I am still doubtful), neither the President nor the board can suspend that rule. The President, acting alone, lacks the authority to suspend the board's rules. Further, a rule which has effect outside the context of the current meeting may not be suspended, unless the rule so provides. There is no mechanism under RONR to suspend a rule for two months.

[Tomm]

On 7/17/2024 at 1:16 PM, Josh Martin said:

What is the exact wording of this policy?

"A standing committee is a small group of Members, subordinate to the Board, which is organized to assist the Board in specific areas as follows and does not meet in the months of July and August. Other months without meetings can be determined by each committee individually."

On 7/17/2024 at 1:16 PM, Josh Martin said:

I'm not sure what the question is here, but RONR does not require notices of board meetings to be provided to anyone other than members of the board, nor does it grant a right to attend to anyone other than members of the board.

Hmmm? As I look thru that Board Policy I see no requirement that a Committee needs to send out notices, however, it is something that is always done for the 10 months that they do meet.

[Josh Martin]

On 7/17/2024 at 3:29 PM, Tomm said:

A standing committee is a small group of Members, subordinate to the Board, which is organized to assist the Board in specific areas as follows and does not meet in the months of July and August. Other months without meetings can be determined by each committee individually.

Hmm. I still think there is some ambiguity here. It remains unclear to me whether "does not meet in the months of July and August" was intended to mean that the committees are not required to meet in those months or if they are prohibited from doing so. Ultimately, it will be up to the board to determine what its own policies mean, and the board is of course free to amend its policies.

On 7/17/2024 at 3:29 PM, Tomm said:

Hmmm? As I look thru that Board Policy I see no requirement that a Committee needs to send out notices, however, it is something that is always done for the 10 months that they do meet.

Then it would seem to me there is no requirement for the committees to send notices (except, of course, to members of the committee), and the committees have done so in the past simply as a courtesy.

[Joshua Katz]

On 7/17/2024 at 1:29 PM, Tomm said:

"A standing committee is a small group of Members, subordinate to the Board, which is organized to assist the Board in specific areas as follows and does not meet in the months of July and August. Other months without meetings can be determined by each committee individually."

On 7/17/2024 at 1:16 PM, Josh Martin said:

Sticking rules into definitions is a bad idea.