who may make a motion

[Guest Ted]

The scenario is an 8 member Board of Directors of a small organization. The monthly board meetings are held via teleconference. I interpret the Board as being the deliberative assembly.

A general member of the organization mailed something like this to the Board: A request that her motion be placed on the Board agenda under New Business in the following form: "I move that the organization donate either $50 or $150 to the sister organization in Canada. This member signed the motion and had another general member second it.

The Board did place the matter on the agenda and after discussion a Board member moved to donate as indicated and it was passed unanimously and donated.

The general member is now claiming we were out of order.

My understanding is that only a member of the particular group has the full rights of that group and in our case that would be the Board of Directors. In any event we executed the donation as desired and cannot see what harm was done.

What should we respond to this unhappy general member?

[Rob Elsman]

The rule that limits the making of a motion to the members of an assembly is suspendable; therefore, since a Point of Order was not raised at the board meeting, the adoption of the motion stands, and the person complaining is out of luck. See RONR (10th ed.), pp. 243-244.

[J. J.]

A nonmember is incapable of making a motion. However, if the board wishes to adopt a motion suggested by a nonmember, it may.

If no board member made the motion, but it came up without a motion, any member could have raised a point of order when the issue first came up. After debate has begun, it is too late to raise a point of order (p. 243). The adoption is a done deal.

[Rob Elsman]

The rule that limits the making of a motion to the members of an assembly is suspendable; therefore, since a Point of Order was not raised at the board meeting, the adoption of the motion stands, and the person complaining is out of luck. See RONR (10th ed.), pp. 243-244.

...after discussion a Board member moved to donate as indicated...

...besides, it seems to be the fact that a member of the board did make the motion. Is that right?

[Tim Wynn]

The scenario is an 8 member Board of Directors of a small organization. The monthly board meetings are held via teleconference. I interpret the Board as being the deliberative assembly.

The board is a form of deliberative assembly, yes.

A general member of the organization mailed something like this to the Board: A request that her motion be placed on the Board agenda under New Business in the following form: "I move that the organization donate either $50 or $150 to the sister organization in Canada.

[Trina]

...

A general member of the organization mailed something like this to the Board: A request that her motion be placed on the Board agenda under New Business in the following form: "I move that the organization donate either $50 or $150 to the sister organization in Canada. This member signed the motion and had another general member second it.

The Board did place the matter on the agenda and after discussion a Board member moved to donate as indicated and it was passed unanimously and donated.

The general member is now claiming we were out of order.

...

As others have said, the actions of the board seem proper. Is the general member unhappy because the final (recorded in the minutes) form of the motion says something like '[board member] Jones moved that blah blah blah' rather than '[general member] Smith moved that blah blah blah'? I'm just curious why the person who requested the action is now unhappy that her suggestion was carried out. I suppose (if that's the issue) the wording of the motion could have been such that it mentioned who came up with the idea. If it really matters, I suppose the wording could even be amended after the fact to include the general member's name (NOT as the maker of the motion, of course), although that seems like an inconsequential amendment (and probably even improper at this point, since you say the action named in the motion has already been fully carried out).

That leaves me curious, as a question to other posters -- can a motion ever be amended to change the wording after the action has been executed, so long as the action required by the motion is not itself changed? Along the lines of changing the 'whereas' clauses in a resolution, without changing the 'resolved that'...

[George Mervosh]

That leaves me curious, as a question to other posters -- can a motion ever be amended to change the wording after the action has been executed, so long as the action required by the motion is not itself changed? Along the lines of changing the 'whereas' clauses in a resolution, without changing the 'resolved that'...

No, the preamble is just as much a part of the motion as the rest of the motion, which cannot be amended after the action has been carried out.

[hmtcastle]

No, the preamble is just as much a part of the motion as the rest of the motion, which cannot be amended after the action has been carried out.

And I'd have a hard time with amending the preamble even before the action had been carried out. Not that it can't be done but it seems a bit too much like re-writing history.

It's one thing to decide not to paint the clubhouse before the paint is applied; it seems quite another to change the reasons for the original decision.

[Guest Ted]

The rule that limits the making of a motion to the members of an assembly is suspendable; therefore, since a Point of Order was not raised at the board meeting, the adoption of the motion stands, and the person complaining is out of luck. See RONR (10th ed.), pp. 243-244.

Thank you and all who have contributed to my understanding of this matter. It is reassuring to have your responses and I have learned from them.

Regarding the point of order, since as a general member she is not invited or present during the Board teleconference meetings, there was no opportunity for her to raise a point of order but I suppose another board member could have.

If we had suspended the rule to permit a non member to make a motion she still would not have been present at the teleconference to make the motion unless we specifically invited her which we could have.

[Guest Ted]

...besides, it seems to be the fact that a member of the board did make the motion. Is that right?

Yes, A Board Member did make a motion to donate.

[Guest Ted]

The board is a form of deliberative assembly, yes.

A general member of the organization mailed something like this to the Board: A request that her motion be placed on the Board agenda under New Business in the following form: "I move that the organization donate either $50 or $150 to the sister organization in Canada.

This is indeed a request, not in the parliamentary sense but in the common language sense, and as such, it can be honored or rejected. There's nothing wrong with her making the request and nothing wrong with the board rejecting it. If the board wants to incorporate it into its agenda, there's nothing wrong with that either; if there was, a member could block the board from placing items on its agenda merely by requesting that the item be placed on the agenda.

The fact that she called it her motion is not really a factor, in case you felt it was. The motion, if it comes before the board, belongs to the board; it doesn't matter if a nonmember thought it up.

Subjects in an agenda are special orders or general orders and are taken up under those headings... so they don't belong in Unfinished Business

.

You can't make or second a motion outside a meeting, and only a board member can make or second a motion of the board. Perhaps, she did this just to show that it had support, or, perhaps, she is mistakenly under the impression that she has a right to make motions in the board meeting.

I'm comfortable with that.

A board member moved. It all seems to be on the up and up.

I'll assume this is a different general member.

Your understanding is correct.

Neither can I. What harm is the general member saying was done. Something must be missing here.

I would ask what rule he thinks was broken, so that the (possible)infraction can be addressed. It's not the board's duty to appease the general member, though (or is it? I'm not familiar with the rules of your organization).

[Josh Martin]

Apparently she believed it should have been voted on as a motion made by her. The minutes also stated the idea originated with her.

Well, she's wrong. She's not a board member, so she has no right to make motions at a board meeting (especially considering that she wasn't at the meeting). Considering that you approved her request, and even made an unnecessary note in the minutes to give her credit for the idea, I have no idea why she's complaining.