Mariana Posted May 27, 2010 at 11:07 PM Report Share Posted May 27, 2010 at 11:07 PM My Board of Directors consists of members of Executive Board of Directors and Committee Chairpersons. Most of Committees, in addition to a Chairperson, have 2-3 coordinators. Can coordinators attend Board Meetings? Do they have a voting power? Can they be a non-voting members of the Board of Directors and participate in discussions? Our Bylaws are mute on these issues. Thank you for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmtcastle Posted May 27, 2010 at 11:15 PM Report Share Posted May 27, 2010 at 11:15 PM Can coordinators attend Board Meetings?Only if the board lets them.Do they have a voting power?Only if they're members of the boardCan they be a non-voting members of the Board of Directors and participate in discussions?There are no non-voting members in RONR-Land. Your rules may vary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trina Posted May 27, 2010 at 11:59 PM Report Share Posted May 27, 2010 at 11:59 PM My Board of Directors consists of members of Executive Board of Directors and Committee Chairpersons. Most of Committees, in addition to a Chairperson, have 2-3 coordinators. Can coordinators attend Board Meetings? Do they have a voting power? Can they be a non-voting members of the Board of Directors and participate in discussions? Our Bylaws are mute on these issues. Thank you for your help.If bylaws are silent, the non-members definitely cannot vote, and they cannot be given permission to vote (at least not without amending the bylaws). They would not normally have the other rights either (attendance, participation in discussion/debate), but the assembly (the board) can vote to permit them to do those things. To allow a non-member to participate in debate would require suspending the rules which normally prevent participation (suspending the rules takes a 2/3 vote). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mariana Posted May 28, 2010 at 03:33 PM Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 at 03:33 PM To allow a non-member to participate in debate would require suspending the rules which normally prevent participation (suspending the rules takes a 2/3 vote).Dear Trina,Thank you for the response. When you say "suspending the rules" do you mean "one time suspention", "for life" or both? Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Harrison Posted May 28, 2010 at 03:34 PM Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 at 03:34 PM Drer Trina,Thank you for the response. When you say "suspending the rules" do you mean "one time suspention", "for life" or both? Thank you.One time only. See RONR pp. 252-258. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mariana Posted May 28, 2010 at 03:35 PM Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 at 03:35 PM Only if the board lets them.Only if they're members of the boardThere are no non-voting members in RONR-Land. Your rules may vary.Thank you for the response! When you say "Your rules may vary", do you mean policies and procedures adopted by the association? Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mariana Posted May 28, 2010 at 03:37 PM Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 at 03:37 PM One time only. See RONR pp. 252-258.Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Harrison Posted May 28, 2010 at 03:58 PM Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 at 03:58 PM When you say "Your rules may vary", do you mean policies and procedures adopted by the association? Thank you.Yes. That would also include your Bylaws, Constitution, and any applicable laws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmtcastle Posted May 28, 2010 at 04:05 PM Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 at 04:05 PM To allow a non-member to participate in debate would require suspending the rules which normally prevent participation (suspending the rules takes a 2/3 vote).But, since a board can discuss a question without a formal motion, I wonder if a non-member can be permitted to join this discussion by a simple majority vote. In other words, is this informal discussion different from debate on a formal motion? I'm inclined to think it's not, that you'd still need a two-thirds vote, but I wonder just how relaxed those relaxed rules can get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmtcastle Posted May 28, 2010 at 04:08 PM Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 at 04:08 PM Thank you for the response! When you say "Your rules may vary", do you mean policies and procedures adopted by the association? Thank you.Any rule creating non-voting members would have to be in your bylaws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted May 29, 2010 at 05:36 PM Report Share Posted May 29, 2010 at 05:36 PM When you say "suspending the rules" do you mean "one time suspention", "for life" or both? Thank you.A motion to suspend the rules "for life" is out of order. The rules may be suspended, at most, for the duration of the current session. If it is desired to change the assembly's rules for a longer period, then the proper procedure is to adopt a special rule of order. (RONR, 10th ed., pg. 85, lines 14-20)But, since a board can discuss a question without a formal motion, I wonder if a non-member can be permitted to join this discussion by a simple majority vote. In other words, is this informal discussion different from debate on a formal motion? I'm inclined to think it's not, that you'd still need a two-thirds vote, but I wonder just how relaxed those relaxed rules can get.If no question is pending, a majority vote will suffice to allow a non-member to speak.Any rule creating non-voting members would have to be in your bylaws.Agreed, but I think a special rule of order would suffice to allow specified non-members to speak in debate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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