Motions

[Guest Lou]

When the chair and a manager are on the podium, the manager explains the topic and goes right into a motion so no one else can speak. Can a motion come from the podium?

[Kim Goldsworthy]

When the chair and a manager are on the podium, the manager explains the topic and goes right into a motion so no one else can speak.

Sorry to hear that.

I would recommend instead that you follow Robert's Rules of Order, instead of what you got going now.

Can a motion come from the podium?

Motions come from MEMBERS.

Whether members are on a podium or not, is not parliamentarily significant.

So, yes, a motion can come from ANYWHERE INSIDE THE MEETING HALL.

A motion is not made automatically invalid because of the compass direction of the motion, or because of the position of one's feet.

[Guest Lou]

When the chair and a manager are on the podium, the manager explains the topic and goes right into a motion so no one else can speak. Can a motion come from the podium?

Thank you. Though in the past they have asked for the motion to come from the floor, I was hoping I had missed something in Robert's Rules of Order where it had to.

[STA]

When the chair and a manager are on the podium, the manager explains the topic and goes right into a motion so no one else can speak. Can a motion come from the podium?

As Mr. Goldsworthy said, motions must come from members. The Chair should be running the meeting, not someone else, which leads me to believe your organization has some special rules in place. Look there to be sure. And members always have a right to debate the motion before voting.

[David A Foulkes]

When the chair and a manager are on the podium, the manager explains the topic and goes right into a motion so no one else can speak. Can a motion come from the podium?

Not sure what the position of "manager" is in your organization, so you'll need to figure that out. But --- in a technical sense, if you're talking about "speaking" in the sense of debate on a motion, there can be no debate until the motion is in fact made. Whatever the manager is doing when he "explains the topic" is another questionable concept, but once he makes the motion, it should be seconded (for those motions requiring a second), the Chair "states" the question thereby giving the assembly ownership of it, and then debate among the members begins.

Generally speaking, the chair does not participate (making motions, debating, voting) to maintain the impression of impartiality. In meetings where the attendance is about no more than a dozen, the rules get relaxed in this regard. As for the manager, that is an unknown.

Is the manager an officer (or a trustee, or holding some such elected or appointed position as defined in your bylaws)? Is he even a member of the society? What exactly does he "manage?" why isn't the Chair managing the meeting?

Your description of the process is a little loose, and a bit vague, so it is hard to know exactly how your organization handles such things. It seems there is a lot more to what is going on than as stated simply in your question.