Rules of Order for Board and Committee Meetings (Policy)
General
Actions items shall be brought before and considered by the Board by motion in accordance with this Policy. These rules of order are intended to be informal and applied flexibly. The Board prefers a flexible form of meeting and, therefore, does not conduct its meetings under formalized rules such as Robert’s Rules of Order
- If a Director believes order is not being maintained or procedures are not adequate, then he/she should raise a “Point of Order” – not requiring a second – to the President. If the ruling of the President is not satisfactory to the Director, then it may be appealed to the Board. A majority of the Board will govern and determine the “Point of Order.”
Obtaining the Floor
Any Director desiring to speak should address the President and, upon recognition by the President, may address the subject under discussion.
Motions
Any Director, including the President, may make or second a motion. A motion shall be brought and considered as follows:
- A Director makes a motion; another Director seconds the motion; and the President states the motion.
Once the motion has been stated by the President, it is open to discussion and debate. After the matter has been fully debated, and after the public in attendance has had the opportunity to comment, the President will call for the vote.
- If the public in attendance has had an opportunity to comment on the proposed action, any Director may move to immediately bring the question being debated to a vote, suspending any further debate. The motion must be made, seconded, and approved by a majority vote by the Board.
Secondary Motions
Ordinarily, only one motion can be considered at a time and a motion must be disposed of before any other motion or business is considered. There are a few exceptions to this general rule, though, where a secondary motion concerning the main motion may be made and considered before voting on the main motion.
- Motion to Amend. A main motion may be amended before it is voted on, either by the consent of the Directors who moved or seconded, or by a new motion and second.
- Motion to Table. A main motion may be indefinitely tabled before it is voted on by motion made to table, which is then seconded and approved by a majority vote of the Board.
- Motion to Postpone. A main motion may be postponed to a certain time by a motion to postpone, which is then seconded and approved by a majority vote of the Board.
- Motion to Refer to Committee. A main motion may be referred to a Board committee for further study and recommendation by a motion to refer to committee, which is then seconded and approved by a majority vote of the Board.
- Motion to Close Debate and Vote Immediately. As provided above, any Director may move to close debate and immediately vote on a main motion.
- Motion to Adjourn. A meeting may be adjourned by motion made, seconded and approved by a majority vote of the Board before voting on a main motion.
Decorum
All persons in attendance will exercise professionalism, respect, courtesy, patience and civility toward each other and as between members of the Board, staff and the public.
The President shall take whatever actions are necessary and appropriate to preserve order and decorum during board meetings, including public hearings. The President may eject any person or persons making personal, impertinent or slanderous remarks, refusing to abide by a request from the President, or otherwise persistently disruption the meeting or hearing. Persons being ejected from the meeting will be escorted from the building.
The President may also declare a short recess during any time at any meeting.
Amendment of Rules of Order
By motion made, seconded and approved by a majority vote, the Board may, at its discretion and at any meeting:
- temporarily suspend these rules in whole or in part;
- amend these rules in whole or part; or
- both.