Open Forum

[Guest barbara]

What are the rules of open forum...particularly in regards to civil behavior? Does Robert's Rules spell out a code of conduct anywhere? Thank you.

[Kim Goldsworthy]

What are the rules of open forum, particularly in regards to civil behavior?

Does Robert's Rules spell out a code of conduct anywhere?

See page 351.

Good of the Order, General Good and Welfare, or Open

Forum.

This heading, included by some types of societies

in their order of business, refers to the general welfare of

the organization, and may vary in character. Under this

heading (in contrast to the general parliamentary rule that

allows discussion only with reference to a pending motion),

members who obtain the floor commonly are permitted to

offer informal observations regarding the work of the or-

ganization, the public reputation of the society or its mem-

bership, or the like. Certain types of announcements may

tend to fall here. Although the Good of the Order often in-

volves no business or motions, the practice of some organ-

izations would place motions or resolutions relating to

formal disciplinary procedures for offenses outside a meet-

ing (61) at this point. In some organizations, the program

(see below) is looked upon as a part of the Good of the

Order.

See page 93.

Public Session

This type of meeting is the opposite of an executive ses-

sion. Many public and semipublic bodies are governed by

sunshine laws--that is, they must be open to the public.

Normally, such laws have no application to private, non-

governmental bodies.

In meetings of many public bodies, such as school

boards, the public may attend. Similarly, in some private or-

ganizations such as church councils, parishioners may be

permitted to attend. These attendees are not members of

the meeting body and ordinarily have no right to partici-

pate. Some bodies, especially public ones, may invite non-

members to express their views, but this is done under the

control of the presiding officer subject to any relevant rules

adopted by the body and subject to appeal by a member.

Often, by rule or practice, time limits are placed on speak-

ers and relevance is closely monitored.

That's it.

[Gary c Tesser]

Man, he's good sometimes.

More often than he usually gets credit for.

[Josh Martin]

What are the rules of open forum...particularly in regards to civil behavior? Does Robert's Rules spell out a code of conduct anywhere? Thank you.

The rules of decorum apply to all parts of the meeting, including Open Forum. See RONR, 10th ed., pgs. 379-382.

[Guest barbara]

Thank you very much, Josh. I'll check the book.

[Guest board meeting]

In the past our board has always recorder the meetings. Recently several  employees presented the board with a complaint about the President of the organization. The board scheduled  a meeting asking the President to appear, however the Chairman  did not allow the employees who signed the complaint to participate in the meeting. Additionally the board chairman refused to have the meeting recorded. After an hour of discussion the board found not reason for the complaint. 

So my question is 1. can the board Chairman  turn off the recording machine. and second, should he not allowed those whose wrote the complaint  address the president directly with their issues. Additionally  the employees were not allowed to participate in any discussion.  

 

 

[Richard Brown]

Duplicate post.  Guest, in the future, please post your question as a new topic rather than piggybacking on an  old thread.

Edited December 2, 2019 at 04:15 PM by Richard Brown
Added second sentence

[Gary Novosielski]

On 11/15/2010 at 10:13 AM, Guest barbara said:

What are the rules of open forum...particularly in regards to civil behavior? Does Robert's Rules spell out a code of conduct anywhere? Thank you.

The same rules of decorum that apply to the rest of the meeting would apply to Open Forum as well.

See RONR 11th ed. pages xxxiv, 39, 295, 391–393, 450

[Richard Brown]

2 minutes ago, Gary Novosielski said:

The same rules of decorum that apply to the rest of the meeting would apply to Open Forum as well.

See RONR 11th ed. pages xxxiv, 39, 295, 391–393, 450

You do realize, don't you, that you are responding to Guest Barbara's question from 2010?  Did you read the rest of the thread before responding?  This thread was brought back to the top by Guest Board Meetings off topic duplicate post about the way his chairman conducted a meeting. 

[Gary Novosielski]

LOL, okay.  Time for a cup of coffee.  😛