General discussions - Email discussion

[Guest Deborah Jungeblut]

If a board member who is not an officer  emails all board members to express her/his opinion on an agenda item. Is this considered an unofficial board meeting?  Does it violate any rules? 

[Weldon Merritt]

As far as RONR is concerned, there is no such thing as "an unofficial board meeting." The board is either meeting or it is not. And for a meeting to be legitimate, it must be a properly scheduled regular or adjourned meeting, or a properly called special meeting.

That said, the member's actions you describe violates no rule in RONR. If your organization is subject to some sort of open meetings law, the action may violate that law; but that's a question for an attorney. Either way, any action on the matter about which the member emailed the board may be taken onyx only at a legitimate meeting.

 

Edited July 18, 2024 at 02:51 PM by Weldon Merritt
Corrected a typo

[Richard Brown]

I agree with Mr. Merritt. There is nothing about what you described that violates anything in RONR. As long as it is not being referred to as an official meeting, board members are free to get together and discuss the organization’s issues informally any time and in any minor they desire. They can meet at Jill’s cafe, Joe’s Bar, Todd’s house, by phone, by email, by text message, by Zoom or in any other manner they desire and with as few or as many of them as they desire. 

Edited July 17, 2024 at 11:08 PM by Richard Brown