Guest Andy Posted August 2, 2010 at 07:28 PM Report Share Posted August 2, 2010 at 07:28 PM Hi I am a member of a union of 13,000 state employees. We have a 5 person executive committee, a 26 person board of directors and a 126 person delegate assembly. The exec committee and the board meet monthly, the DA meets once a year and is the union's highest governing body when it is in session. Recently we had an election for our executive committee and the person who won the election for secretary was accused of improper behavior. There were protest, etc. but in the end the election stood. Now, in preparation for our delegate assembly, a resolution was submitted to censure the secretary (by name) for improper election behavior. Our president has ruled that the resolution will not be posted on our website and it will not be heard by the DA. He said that on advice of counsel the resolution will not be allowed. Can the DA censure a statewide officer. Can the president rule that the resolution is our of order?Thanks for the help.Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert B Fish Posted August 2, 2010 at 07:40 PM Report Share Posted August 2, 2010 at 07:40 PM Hi I am a member of a union of 13,000 state employees. We have a 5 person executive committee, a 26 person board of directors and a 126 person delegate assembly. The exec committee and the board meet monthly, the DA meets once a year and is the union's highest governing body when it is in session. Recently we had an election for our executive committee and the person who won the election for secretary was accused of improper behavior. There were protest, etc. but in the end the election stood. Now, in preparation for our delegate assembly, a resolution was submitted to censure the secretary (by name) for improper election behavior. Our president has ruled that the resolution will not be posted on our website and it will not be heard by the DA. He said that on advice of counsel the resolution will not be allowed. Can the DA censure a statewide officer. Can the president rule that the resolution is our of order?Thanks for the help.AndyFirst of all, censuring an officer does express the assembly's displeasure but does not, e.g. remove him/her from office unless your bylaws say otherwise.The president, when declaring a motion to be out of order, must state a more concrete reason than "on advice of counsel." He must state the reason (such as violation of a particular law, or section of your bylaws). You should ask the chairman why he thinks he has the right to declare a motion out of order without giving a concrete reason. (Ask for the reference section or page and line).-Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Elsman Posted August 2, 2010 at 07:42 PM Report Share Posted August 2, 2010 at 07:42 PM No rule in RONR prohibits the supreme body of a society from adopting a motion of censure against one of its officers; neither does any rule in RONR give the president the power to rule such a motion out of order if it is admissible under the rules of order that govern the delegate assembly. If the president errs in ruling such a motion out of order, any delegate can raise an Appeal from the decision of the chair. See RONR (10th ed.), §24, pp. 247ff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Mervosh Posted August 2, 2010 at 07:54 PM Report Share Posted August 2, 2010 at 07:54 PM on advice of counsel the resolution will not be allowed. Can the DA censure a statewide officer. Can the president rule that the resolution is our of order?Rob has it right, but that's it? No further explanation why he'll rule that way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Elsman Posted August 2, 2010 at 08:01 PM Report Share Posted August 2, 2010 at 08:01 PM Rob has it right, but that's it? No further explanation why he'll rule that way?...that on advice of counsel...If I were the Grand Pooh-Bah of attorneys, there would be a course on parliamentary law in every law school in the land. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Honemann Posted August 3, 2010 at 12:57 PM Report Share Posted August 3, 2010 at 12:57 PM If I were the Grand Pooh-Bah of attorneys, there would be a course on parliamentary law in every law school in the land. If a law school were to offer a course on Parliamentary Law, it would be a breeze. The entire textbook for the course (not including the Table of Contents or Index) would consist of the following sentence:"An association or organization of any kind may adopt whatever rules of procedure it wishes for the governance of its meetings, whether it finds them in any book or simply makes them up out of whole cloth, provided that such rules do not violate the constitutional rights of any of its members or conflict with any federal, state, or local statutes which are applicable to it."So now are you ready for the final exam? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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