Guest val w. Posted January 10, 2011 at 06:47 PM Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 at 06:47 PM Our small club is revising our by-laws. At the moment our by-laws state: Twenty -five percent of the members in good standing shall constitute a quorum at any meeting. It has been suggested we add: If a quorum is not attained the meeting shall adjourn and reconvene 15 minutes later. Those then attending the meeting will constitue a quorum. Is this addition in keeping with Roberts Rules of Order? Is it "legal"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tctheatc Posted January 10, 2011 at 06:57 PM Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 at 06:57 PM wow. think that over. suppose 2 people show up (maybe there's a storm). You have no quorum. the 2 folks decide it's best to go home. But one lays back and 15 minutes later decides to call a meeting of one to order, and votes himself king-for-a-day entitled to use all your club funds for booze and lottery tickets.I'm no expert for sure, but I suppose you can have your bylaws say whatever you'd like. But IMHO I think you'd be better served by sticking with what RONR says you may do as an inquorate meeting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted January 10, 2011 at 06:58 PM Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 at 06:58 PM Our small club is revising our by-laws. At the moment our by-laws state: Twenty -five percent of the members in good standing shall constitute a quorum at any meeting. It has been suggested we add: If a quorum is not attained the meeting shall adjourn and reconvene 15 minutes later. Those then attending the meeting will constitue a quorum. Is this addition in keeping with Roberts Rules of Order? Is it "legal"?The word "adjourn" should probably be "recess". Once you adjourn, people go home, which is the opposite of what you want.Legal? Well, RONR is not a law book, so it's not against the law to do what you want.If you pass such a bylaw, it would supersede RONR, so the fact that it's not in keeping with the rules in RONR would not matter.Therefore, procedurally there is nothing wrong with it except for the fact that it would be an absolutely horrible idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Harrison Posted January 10, 2011 at 07:00 PM Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 at 07:00 PM Our small club is revising our by-laws. At the moment our by-laws state: Twenty -five percent of the members in good standing shall constitute a quorum at any meeting. It has been suggested we add: If a quorum is not attained the meeting shall adjourn and reconvene 15 minutes later. Those then attending the meeting will constitue a quorum. OK.Is this addition in keeping with Roberts Rules of Order? No.Is it "legal"?Absent some superior rule or law saying otherwise whatever is in the bylaws is proper as far as RONR is concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Foulkes Posted January 10, 2011 at 08:16 PM Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 at 08:16 PM Our small club is revising our by-laws. At the moment our by-laws state: Twenty -five percent of the members in good standing shall constitute a quorum at any meeting. It has been suggested we add: If a quorum is not attained the meeting shall adjourn and reconvene 15 minutes later. Those then attending the meeting will constitue a quorum. Is this addition in keeping with Roberts Rules of Order? Is it "legal"?Whoever suggested this should be watched verrrrrrrry carefully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Mervosh Posted January 10, 2011 at 08:19 PM Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 at 08:19 PM Our small club is revising our by-laws. At the moment our by-laws state: Twenty -five percent of the members in good standing shall constitute a quorum at any meeting. It has been suggested we add: If a quorum is not attained the meeting shall adjourn and reconvene 15 minutes later. Those then attending the meeting will constitue a quorum. Is this addition in keeping with Roberts Rules of Order? Is it "legal"?RONR offers this advice:"In an ordinary society, therefore, a provision of the bylaws should specify the number of members that shall constitute a quorum, which should approximate the largest number that can be depended on to attend any meeting except in very bad weather or other extremely unfavorable conditions." RONR, p. 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted January 10, 2011 at 10:07 PM Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 at 10:07 PM Is this addition in keeping with Roberts Rules of Order?It is not in keeping with RONR, but that's fine because your Bylaws supersede RONR.Is it "legal"?I don't know, ask a lawyer. I will say, however, that it seems like a very bad idea. Assemblies often come up with tricks like this to "get around" the quorum requirement as if it was the enemy. Presumably this is because the assembly had difficulty getting a quorum at an important meeting. Keep in mind, however, that the quorum requirement is intended to protect the assembly. It's what stops the three members who show up to the meeting in the middle of a blizzard from draining the treasury and running off to Tahiti. If your assembly feels that the quorum requirement is too high, the answer is to lower it, not find ways around it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jerri Posted January 11, 2011 at 03:54 AM Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 at 03:54 AM Our small club is revising our by-laws. At the moment our by-laws state: Twenty -five percent of the members in good standing shall constitute a quorum at any meeting. It has been suggested we add: If a quorum is not attained the meeting shall adjourn and reconvene 15 minutes later. Those then attending the meeting will constitue a quorum. Is this addition in keeping with Roberts Rules of Order? Is it "legal"?If you adopt this suggestion, you have eliminated the requirement for a quorum to conduct business and have taken away certain protections of members.What I have seen in some organizations with which I am very familiar is that the Bylaws state that a quorum for the annual shall be X members in attendance. If a quorumis not attained at the regularly scheduled annual meeting of members, then within y days, a notice shall be sent to ALL members of a new annual meeting schedule. Than, at that meeting, for which all members have been notified, a quorum shall consist of whoever shows up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Wynn Posted January 11, 2011 at 04:06 AM Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 at 04:06 AM Our small club is revising our by-laws. At the moment our by-laws state: Twenty -five percent of the members in good standing shall constitute a quorum at any meeting. It has been suggested we add: If a quorum is not attained the meeting shall adjourn and reconvene 15 minutes later. Those then attending the meeting will constitue a quorum. Is this addition in keeping with Roberts Rules of Order? Is it "legal"?It's not in keeping with logic. Take a look at RONR(10th ed.), p. 336-337 to see what can be done at a meeting that fails to obtain a quorum and suggestions on what to do in such a situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted January 11, 2011 at 04:49 AM Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 at 04:49 AM What I have seen in some organizations with which I am very familiar is that the Bylaws state that a quorum for the annual shall be X members in attendance. If a quorumis not attained at the regularly scheduled annual meeting of members, then within y days, a notice shall be sent to ALL members of a new annual meeting schedule. Than, at that meeting, for which all members have been notified, a quorum shall consist of whoever shows up.I still think the wisest course of action is simply to lower the quorum requirement to whatever is reasonable for the organization. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Foulkes Posted January 11, 2011 at 11:56 AM Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 at 11:56 AM If you adopt this suggestion, you have eliminated the requirement for a quorum to conduct business and have taken away certain protections of members.What I have seen in some organizations with which I am very familiar is that the Bylaws state that a quorum for the annual shall be X members in attendance. If a quorumis not attained at the regularly scheduled annual meeting of members, then within y days, a notice shall be sent to ALL members of a new annual meeting schedule. Than, at that meeting, for which all members have been notified, a quorum shall consist of whoever shows up.I trust you're not advocating this solution, which is perhaps only slightly better than the original poster's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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