consent agenda

[Guest clark elftman]

Item was on the agenda. An increase in wages, 2 or 3 of the board was going to be missing so it was voted to place the item on the agena of the next meeting. At the next meeting the item appeared on the consent agenda. I did not get it dropped down for discussion. I then made a motion to discuss it which died for a lack of support. Consent agenda was then passed with my vote the only opposition. Should that original motion have been on the consent agenda?????OR, placed on the agenda in the form it was voted on in the first place?

Thanks Clark Elftman

[Josh Martin]

Should that original motion have been on the consent agenda?????OR, placed on the agenda in the form it was voted on in the first place?

You really need to look to the special rules of order in your assembly governing the consent agenda to answer these questions. But as far as RONR is concerned, a motion which is postponed to the next meeting comes up under Unfinished Business and General Orders unless the motion to Postpone Definitely specifies otherwise.

[Gary Novosielski]

Item was on the agenda. An increase in wages, 2 or 3 of the board was going to be missing so it was voted to place the item on the agena of the next meeting. At the next meeting the item appeared on the consent agenda. I did not get it dropped down for discussion. I then made a motion to discuss it which died for a lack of support. Consent agenda was then passed with my vote the only opposition. Should that original motion have been on the consent agenda?????OR, placed on the agenda in the form it was voted on in the first place?

Thanks Clark Elftman

A Consent agenda requires unanimous consent to pass. That's what "consent" means. You should buy your presiding officer a vowel.

You do not need a motion, or a majority, to discuss any item, or to get it moved for discussion. All you need is a single voice raised in objection.

If one person objects to an item being on the consent agenda then--bang--that item is no longer on the consent agenda. End of story.

And the consent agenda (or what's left on it) cannot pass if there is ANY vote or voice in opposition.

It doesn't matter how the item got on there, what's important is that it only takes one word to get it off of there.

[Guest Nancy N.]

I may be missing it, but based on what RONR says about a consent calendar, on p. 349 - 350, that's not so....

[tctheatc]

Nancy, I think you're missing line 10 on p 350 where it says "unless objected to" and then the ordinary process applies, as Gary points out.

[Gary Novosielski]

Okay, I would "consent" to amend my remarks by striking the first line. (Which I will do presently.)

I had said, incorrectly, that the consent agenda itself must pass by unanimous consent, which is not so. Although it virtually always does pass by unanimous consent, only a majority is actually required, presuming no item on the list requires more than that.

In fact, in legislative bodies, the use of voting methods other than a roll-call for substantive (main) motions is sometimes prohibited by statute, which would make the use of unanimous consent unavailable for passing the consent agenda. Of course, given the nature of a consent calendar/agenda, it is easy to see why it typically receives a unanimous approval. As most commonly used, it is designed so as to take all the items likely to be readily adopted without dissent, and place them together so that they can be quickly passed en block--by unanimous consent, or a single vote. Where the Yeas and Nays are the rule or custom, this avoids the dreaded Death of a Thousand Roll Calls

What remains true is that any item must be removed from the consent agenda and restored to its proper place in the mainstream order of business upon the raising of a single objection. The OP's chair was incorrect in ruling that a majority vote was required.

Because it is so easy to remove an item from the consent agenda, anything that requires debate or amendment but which has somehow found its way onto the consent agenda can be quickly removed to the regular agenda without debate on the issue of moving it, saving the time for debate on the actual question. The worst that can happen is that the rules are fully obeyed. The best that can happen is that a lot of time is saved.

That's an excellent deal.