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chairman's decision


Guest Robert Tarsin

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If two or three members make a proposal which the president knows is not in the best interest of the Assn, may he remove the motion until the Assn is notified or polled? A director wishes to establish a fund (reserve) to supplement payment of insurance deductibles in case of hurricane. This is contrary to the opinion of our reserve analyst, treasurer, finance committee, and management agency. He has encouraged another director to go along (friends). May I, as chairman, put this issue aside pending approval by the Association. Bob

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If two or three members make a proposal which the president knows is not in the best interest of the Assn, may he remove the motion until the Assn is notified or polled? A director wishes to establish a fund (reserve) to supplement payment of insurance deductibles in case of hurricane. This is contrary to the opinion of our reserve analyst, treasurer, finance committee, and management agency. He has encouraged another director to go along (friends). May I, as chairman, put this issue aside pending approval by the Association. Bob

I assume you're talking about finding the motion out of order? On what basis would you rule it out of order? Believing that it's a bad idea is not, in and of itself, suitable grounds. The president doesn't have unilateral authority to find motions out of order just because he thinks they are a bad idea. All members have a right to offer such opinions (and supporting information) during debate, of course, to encourage the other members to vote 'no' on the motion. Similarly, if you're talking about a motion to postpone, the chair doesn't have unilateral authority to do that either.

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If two or three members make a proposal which the president knows is not in the best interest of the Assn, may he remove the motion until the Assn is notified or polled?

When a motion is made and seconded, the chair must place it before the assembly. See RONR(10th ed.), p. 37, l. 17-20.

I find myself unable to guess what you mean by, "until the Assn is notified or polled." Motions are made, debated, and put to a vote inside a meeting.

A director wishes to establish a fund (reserve) to supplement payment of insurance deductibles in case of hurricane. This is contrary to the opinion of our reserve analyst, treasurer, finance committee, and management agency.

The director still has a right to make a motion, even if it doesn't have unanimous support ahead of time... even if it's a bad idea.

He has encouraged another director to go along (friends).

It sounds like there's adequate guidance that it should be place before the assembly.

May I, as chairman, put this issue aside pending approval by the Association. Bob

No, if the motion is in order, you have a duty to state it as pending. It sounds like you're against the motion, but, believe it or not, it's not the chair's place to decide each question before it goes to a vote. Just do your job, and let the assembly decide.

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Thank you all for your replies on "Chairman put aside motion". I am calling members to attend the meeting. Let them see for themselves what is going on. A director threatens to vote down a zero increase budget because he cannot get funding for an item the Association knows nothing about, and he will encourage other members (friends) to do so as well. I wanted to put motion aside until the Association becomes informed and indicates approval or disapproval.

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A director threatens to vote down a zero increase budget because he cannot get funding for an item the Association knows nothing about, and he will encourage other members (friends) to do so as well. I wanted to put motion aside until the Association becomes informed and indicates approval or disapproval.

There are at least two things to keep in mind.

1. This director has only one vote so he can't "threaten to vote down" anything on his own.

2. At a meeting of the association (i.e. the general membership), the fact that this person is a director is immaterial.

Additionally, if the association thinks it needs more information, it can adopt a motion to commit (i.e. send the matter to a committee for further investigation).

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Thank you all for your replies on "Chairman put aside motion". I am calling members to attend the meeting. Let them see for themselves what is going on. A director threatens to vote down a zero increase budget because he cannot get funding for an item the Association knows nothing about, and he will encourage other members (friends) to do so as well. I wanted to put motion aside until the Association becomes informed and indicates approval or disapproval.

I'm unclear on which meeting you're talking about. It sounds like this is a meeting of the board, and you're concerned about what the general membership thinks. If the organization has empowered the board to act for the society, it is well within its authority to do so, whether or not the general membership is informed. However, the general membership can countermand any such action of the board, absent a bylaw provision to the contrary.

It's good that you're thinking of the general membership, because you were elected to act on behalf of the organization. However, the others on the board were elected for the same purpose, and their votes will count.

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If two or three members make a proposal which the president knows is not in the best interest of the Assn, may he remove the motion until the Assn is notified or polled? A director wishes to establish a fund (reserve) to supplement payment of insurance deductibles in case of hurricane. This is contrary to the opinion of our reserve analyst, treasurer, finance committee, and management agency. He has encouraged another director to go along (friends). May I, as chairman, put this issue aside pending approval by the Association. Bob

Well, he can pretty much make whatever motion he wants, but isn't he going to have to get it approved by the membership anyway, or does the board have the power (in the bylaws) to do whatever it feels like?

And how large is this board? Are these two members a majority? Can't you just defeat this motion by voting it down, if so many others are against it?

But as others have answered already, no, you can't rule it out of order because you disagree with it.

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