Proper procedure to cancel a meeting

[Guest Travis Verdin]

My organization is only required to meet quarterly, but has traditionally met on the second Saturday of every month. For August the Principal Chief wanted to cancel the meeting to review important items with the council in a special meeting. What is the proper procedure to cancel and have this meeting?

[Richard Brown]

What exactly do your bylaws say about the frequency or timing of your meetings?  Please quote the provision exactly, don’t paraphrase.

[Weldon Merritt]

On 7/31/2024 at 9:02 AM, Guest Travis Verdin said:

What is the proper procedure to cancel and have this meeting?

For purposes of this response I assume that the meeting has been properly scheduled in accordance with your rules. And the answer is that the meeting probably cannot be cancelled unless the rules provide for cancellation of a properly called meeting. What can be done is to have a couple of members show up and either establish and adjourned meeting (a continuation of the meeting at a different time), or simply adjourn the meeting for lack of a quorum. (Two of the actions that can be taken in the absence of a quorum).

[Weldon Merritt]

On 7/31/2024 at 9:13 AM, Richard Brown said:

What exactly do your bylaws say about the frequency or timing of your meetings?  Please quote the provision exactly, don’t paraphrase.

Yes, that information would be very helpful, and might very well change my response.

[Rob Elsman]

Since we have recently come out of the national emergency of a pandemic, it might be worth noting that some governmental officers apparently have a statutory authority to prohibit gatherings for the sake of public health.

[Guest Travis Verdin]

On 7/31/2024 at 9:13 AM, Richard Brown said:

What exactly do your bylaws say about the frequency or timing of your meetings?  Please quote the provision exactly, don’t paraphrase.

The Council shall meet in official session at least four times a calendar year on a quarterly basis at such time and place as shall be established by ordinance. The order of business for any such meeting shall be posted in accordance with Section 3 of this article. Other business, however may also be transacted at such meeting if the Council votes to consider such other business.

Section 3. Posting Procedure.

The following shall be the procedure of the Council in posting any notice or other document as required by this Constituion or by ordinance.

a) The Council shall designate by ordinance no fewer than two public places where that posting shall be made. If any posting place is to be changed, the Council shall make such change by ordinance.

b) Posting shall take place as soon as practicable.

[Rob Elsman]

My guess is that, in this particular set of circumstances, the answer to the original question asked will have to be found in the relevant ordinances or statutes. You might want to contact the body's legal counsel for assistance.

[Gary Novosielski]

On 7/31/2024 at 10:02 AM, Guest Travis Verdin said:

My organization is only required to meet quarterly, but has traditionally met on the second Saturday of every month. For August the Principal Chief wanted to cancel the meeting to review important items with the council in a special meeting. What is the proper procedure to cancel and have this meeting?

How was the meeting actually scheduled, and by whom?  It may not be possible to cancel it, depending on several factors.  

[Joshua Katz]

I don't understand the situation. He wants to cancel the meeting in order to have a special meeting at the same time?

[Weldon Merritt]

On 7/31/2024 at 7:47 PM, Joshua Katz said:

I don't understand the situation. He wants to cancel the meeting in order to have a special meeting at the same time?

The OP didn't say that the proposed special meeting would be at the same time as the currently scheduled meeting. But whether it wood would be or nit not, it isn't clear why the "important items" could not be considered at the originally scheduled meeting. It seems to me that this would be a more sensile option.

Edited August 1, 2024 at 05:49 PM by Weldon Merritt
Corrected typos

[Rob Elsman]

Why would you prefer the more sensile option? I don't get it.

 

[Josh Martin]

On 7/31/2024 at 9:02 AM, Guest Travis Verdin said:

My organization is only required to meet quarterly, but has traditionally met on the second Saturday of every month. For August the Principal Chief wanted to cancel the meeting to review important items with the council in a special meeting. What is the proper procedure to cancel and have this meeting?

For starters, this doesn't make any sense. The obvious solution is to simply review the important items during the regular quarterly meeting. Why make it more complicated?

In any event, however, a regular meeting of the council cannot be canceled unless your bylaws so provide, and it does not appear that your bylaws provide any mechanism for such a cancelation.

What could be done, however, would be for the council to immediately adjourn and then hold this special meeting - although again, it seems simpler to just consider these important items during the regular meeting.

Or perhaps the special meeting is intended to be held at a different time? In that event, the question makes a bit more sense, but the answer remains the same. The regular meeting has to happen, but the meeting could be very brief.

Edited August 2, 2024 at 05:19 PM by Josh Martin