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Chair decisions


Lori Lukinuk

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Situation:

1. Motion A brought forward at a board meeting. Stated, moved, and seconded.

2. Member A moves Object to Consideration of the question.

3. 2/3 vote required to sustain the objection is achieved and Chair states Motion A will not be considered and moves on to next agenda item.

4. Next board meeting. Motion A brought back to the table. By-laws of the organization clearly state, "Any question, when once decided by the Board at a Regular or Special meeting, shall not be reconsidered for 12 months."

Ignore the fact that by-law is likely not a smart thing to have in a by-law and is a misuse of the term reconsider according to RONR. Reality is this is what the by-laws state.

5. Member A brings forward a point of order asking how this motion can be brought back for reconsideration.

6. Chair states that at the previous meeting Motion A was not moved or seconded and therefore not really on the table at the time when the objection to consideration was made.

7. Member A refers the assembly back to the already approved minutes that clearly show that Motion A was moved and seconded correctly and the motion objecting to consideration was done correctly.

8. Chair then states that she was confused during the vote and voted incorrectly and was therefore bringing back the Motion.

9. Member A pointed out that this is not allowed in any rules of order or by-laws of the assembly.

10. Chair rules that Member A's point of order is not well taken and there will be a revote.

11. Member A asked that the Chair show the rational for her decision in the by-laws or rules of order. Chair refuses to do so.

12. Chair states the member could challenge the decision of the Chair.

13. Member A did challenge and the chairs decision was sustained. (It should be known that 2 members who had previoulsly voted to not consider the motion were not present. Other members who were not present for the previous vote stated they did not understand the situation and voted to sustain the decision of the chair.

Finally...the questions are..... If not stated anywhere in by-laws or rules of order that the chair can bring back a motion because he/she was confused, is this allowed to happen? Secondly,....Is there anything a member can do when such a situation happens, (is there any recourse?) Does the chair have the authority (if not in the by-laws) to go against the by-laws even if they were confused.

14.

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As the membership decided all your questions with their votes, the matter is decided.

Your report strikes me as one point of view and the chair apparently has another one. The assembly was given the task to decide and they went with the chair's view.

-Bob

Generally, I would agree with you. The point around not being allowed to go against by-laws even by unanimous consent is concerning. Not sure how a member who wishes to follow the rules on a board that while perhaps well intentioned, choses to change the rules to suit the situation. Also, I don't see how the point of order was ever addressed. The members point referred to the by-laws and the 2/3 vote that consideration of the motion not happen. The chairs response basically was that the by-laws don't matter because she was confused when she voted and so it is fine to go against the by-laws. A very inexperienced, again well intentioned, assembly voted that confusion outranks the by-laws.

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Finally...the questions are..... If not stated anywhere in by-laws or rules of order that the chair can bring back a motion because he/she was confused, is this allowed to happen?

Nope.

Secondly,....Is there anything a member can do when such a situation happens, (is there any recourse?) Does the chair have the authority (if not in the by-laws) to go against the by-laws even if they were confused.

The members used all the recourse they had available to them (appealing from the decision of the chair). The membership makes the final decision. The only recourse now would be to rescind the motion (I assume it was adopted or there's really no issue). If you're afraid this decision may affect future situations of a similar nature, the precedent created by the ruling and subsequent appeal may also be rescinded. (RONR, 10th ed., pg. 294, lines 28-30)

A very inexperienced, again well intentioned, assembly voted that confusion outranks the by-laws.

It's ultimately up to the assembly to interpret its own Bylaws, and the assembly decided that a motion which had OTC applied to it was not "decided by the board" in the context of your rule. (RONR, 10th ed., pg. 570, line 16)

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