[18379] in APO-L
Re: WOMP
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (William B. Rugh)
Wed Feb 25 18:12:19 1998
Date: Wed, 25 Feb 1998 18:07:44 -0500
Reply-To: "William B. Rugh" <wbrugh@BRIGHT.NET>
From: "William B. Rugh" <wbrugh@BRIGHT.NET>
To: Multiple recipients of list APO-L <APO-L@VM.CC.PURDUE.EDU>
-----Original Message-----
From: Thomas W. Strong Jr. [SMTP:strong@DEMENTIA.ORG]
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 1998 10:20 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list APO-L
Subject: Re: WOMP
On Mon, 23 Feb 1998, Bret Webster wrote:
> I need some help on two issues ... the first:
> What is the proper procedure for reconcidering a vote on an issue ???
I saw Jason's reply handling most of the technical details, so I'll
answer in a more general form.
A motion to reconsider is a means to reconsider what may have been a
hasty decision (hence the name), perhaps one that was made before all the
facts were available.
The motion must be made by someone that voted on the prevailing side (if
the motion to be reconsidered passed, the person moving to reconsider
must have voted for the motion, and vice versa), thus guaranteeng that at
least one person has changed their mind on the issue.
Motions can only be reconsidered if they don't provide for their own
reversal (you probably wouldn't move to reconsider a vote to table a
motion, instead it would be much easier to move to take the issue from
the table). Also, motions can only be reconsidered within a very short
time after they were taken, and before action has been taken based upon
the outcome of the vote. (If you pass a motion to allocate $100 for a
non-refundable deposit on a van rental for a trip, once the $100 has been
given to the rental company, it's too late to reconsider)
There are some strange technical issues that arise from the short period
in which a motion to reconsider may be made, they are what make trying to
understand that section of Robert's Rules so difficult. In short, if
your meetings are held in a manner that would require it, a motion to
reconsider may be in order to be made but not in order to be acted upon at
the time. (Usually you won't have to worry about that in a chapter
meeting, but in a situation where meetings span several days (or a
semester, as is the case in many student governments) then you may be in
the middle of other business with no break coming in which the floor is
clear, in which case the above would apply)
> Second: What does it mean to be inactive in your chapter ? what causes a
> person to be declared inactive and what rights/honors does he/she loose?
The national bylaws do not define "Inactive" membership, only "Active".
Inactive can mean anything your chapter wishes it to (within reason, of
course). In some chapters, inactive members are considered about the
same as associate members, and may return with little or no difficulty.
In others, inactive members have left the chapter more or less
permanently, never being expected to return.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Thomas W. Strong Jr. strong@dementia.org
----------------- http://www.dementia.org/~strong -----------------
[William B. Rugh] It's not very important, but to be complete everyone
should know that there is a division of opinion on whether ot not a motion
to reconsider must be made, and seconded, by people on the prevailing side.
While the above is in comformance with Roberts' Rules, the US Courts have
tended to rule otherwise. Stugis's Rules incorporate the effects of recent
court rulings that accordingly permit anyone to make and second a motion to
reconsider. If your By-Laws explicitly state that you follow Roberts then
do so (it is not likely that a Court will review the action); otherwise
yuou might want to follow the courts.
