Four Score and Eleven Weeks to Go!

Welcome to week four where we are still discussing bylaws (😨), but we have also moved into another topic, voting and debate (😁). This is exciting news, because this means that we are one step closer to my all-time favorite topic, motions (😂)!!!!  Here's what happened this week!

Bylaws:

Amending Bylaws; A Surprisingly Simple Saga
1. Notice is Given
           ⤔ At any regular business meeting before the chairman declares the meeting adjourned
           ⤔ Typically under "New Business"
           ⤔ Bylaws committee can give notice under "Reports of Committees"
2. The Motion to Amend the Bylaws is Handled
           ⤔ This is an Incidental Main Motion
           ⤔ If presented under "New Business," requires a second, is debatable, and requires a 2/3 vote
           ⤔ If presented under "Reports of Committees," is debatable and requires a 2/3 vote
3. The Motion Goes Into Effect.....
           ⤔ Immediately
           ⤔ Unless specified in the motion to amend the bylaws
           ⤔ Or if the assembly specifies another time, votes upon it, and passes it with a majority vote

Revising the Bylaws: A Complicated Saga
          ⟿ This involves re-writing bylaws in their entirety
          ⟿ A committee is appointed to write these new bylaws
          ⟿ The revision is discussed, seriatim (Describe what this means in the comments for a prize!)
            ⟿ Each part is opened for debate and amendment
          ⟿ The entire document is then put forth to a vote
          ⟿ Adoption requires a 2/3 affirmative vote

Bylaws: The End

Debate:

Debate Decorum: 

         ⭃ Remarks must be germane to the question at hand

         ⭃ Remarks may not attack the motives of another member

         ⭃ All remarks must go through the chair - cannot call other members out 

         ⭃ Must avoid the use of member's names

         ⭃ Refrain from speaking adversely on a prior matter

         ⭃ Refrain from speaking against one's own motion

         ⭃ Refrain from disturbing the assembly

         ⭃ If the chair interrupts, be seated

Chair's Debate:

         ⭃ Should remain impartial

         ⭃ During debate, must relinquish position

         ⭃ Cannot return to chair until question has been disposed of

               *None of the above pertain to the motion to appeal*

Voting:

Types of Votes:

         ⤳ Majority 

         ⤳ Two-Thirds 

         ⤳ Plurality

         ⤳ Unanimity 

         ⤳ Absentee Voting ⤳ Prohibited unless Bylaws allow

Methods of Voting: 

         ⤿ Voice Vote - (Viva Voce Vote)

         ⤿ Show of Hands

         ⤿ Ballot - Requires Tellers

         ⤿ Rising

Voting Rights: 

        ⤨ Right of the chair to vote 

        ⤨ Right for a member to abstain

        ⤨ No right to explain the vote

        ⤨ Right for a member to change their vote

That's all folks! Thank you for sticking with us this far! This blog has a lot of dense material, so if there are questions or words you would like to see defined, drop them below ⬇! Stay tuned for motions next week! 

Assemblies. The basics.

A group of people that come together to conduct business is what is known as a deliberative assembly. It is important to realize that there are different kinds of assembly that can be established in order to conduct business. Mass meetings, organizations, legislative assemblies, boards, and conventions. All of these have some form of members and every member has four rights these are:
1.)The right to attend
2.) The right to vote
3.) The right to debate
4.) The right to make motions
When a group is established they have to choose a parliamentary authority which will be recorded within their by laws. There are many types of parliamentary authorities to choose from, the most popular one being Roberts Rules of order newly revised (RONR).

The rules of whatever authority the assembly chooses is what they will base their rules off of. This can be changed however if they choose to have special rules of order which is usually something adopted from a different authority rather than the one being used. You can find what authority is being used in the by laws of the assembly.

When a meeting is being conducted there are four main principles that keep the meeting orderly and increases efficiency.
1.) focus on one item at a time

• It’s important to keep conversations germane, so that what you are trying to accomplish does not get confused in the mix with other items of business.

2.) extend courtesy to everyone
3.)observe the rule of majority
4.) protect the rights of the minority.

There are also 10 basic rules of parliamentary procedure these are:

1.  The rights of an organizations supersede the rights of an individual members
2.  All members are equal and their rates are equal 
3.  A quorum must be present to do business 
4.  The majority rules 
5.  Silence is consent 
6.  2/3rds vote rule
7.  One question at a time; one speaker at a time 
8.  Debatable motions must receive full debate
9.  Once a question is decided, it is not in order to bring up the same motion or one essentially like it at the same meeting 
10.  Personal remarks in debate are always out of order 

  There is a lot to learn about Conducting business, however  if you learn this basic content you have a good foundation to further your exploration in the wonderful world we know as parliamentary procedure .

Session 1 - Anatomy of an Organization - January 15th

Responses to your Tickets Out from Session 1!

What are you curious about?

• Whatever is being taught next week!
•  See the Syllabus!
• Anything/everything Parli Pro
• It will be great!
• What’s involved in running our own sessions
• You will chair a mock meeting in class! It will be fun and you will have a support network
•  Standard set of most common motions every member of an organization should know
•  See the Syllabus! We will be teaching 24 motions: 7 Subsidiary, 8 Incidental, 5 Privileged, 3 MTBBABA and Main motions
•  Bylaws
•   Yay for April 9^th!
•   How to word a specific motion
• Next Week!
• Do all meetings use Parli Pro? What if not all members know standard procedures?
•   It depends on the organization. 
  Educating your fellow members is key (we’ll address this in our 2^nd class)
• Rights of an organization
•    Laid out in the Special Rules Documents discussed
• Other events to help with Parli Pro
•  Just jump in and participate :)
• Special rules of order
•   See p. 15-17 in RONR
• Silence is consent – I’ve been in meetings where non-votes are considered no votes for personnel issues
• Depends on Bylaws and Special Rules of the organization
•  The legal importance of Parli Pro
•   You must follow what you governing documents say
• Deliberative Assembly
• See p. 1-2 in RONR
•  Optimal ways to run a meeting
•  We will learn by practice!

What did you learn?

1. Special orders
2. Unfinished vs. old business
3. Types of rules
4. Types of Assemblies/Meetings
5. Members’ rights
6.  Standard order of business (RRRSUN)
7. Purpose and deeper understanding of Parli Pro
8. 4 principles of Parlia Pro
1.  The majority rules
2. Protect Rights of Minority
3. Extend Courtesy to Everyone
4. One Item at a Time
9. Meetings must start on time, have a plan, and use a standard order of business
10. Definition of quorum

What do you want to learn more about?

•  Special orders/Rules
• See pp. 364-365, 369, 270 in RONR
• Why are different sections of a convention called sessions? It seems that they are all just multiple meetings of the same session
• See p. 625-630 in RONR
• Standing rules
• See p. 18 in RONR
• What does each motion do and when do you use them?
• We will learn in the upcoming session!
• How to teach Parli Pro easily and quickly to a large group of people?
• Will try to role model ideas.
• Everything there is to know about Parli Pro
• That’s a lot! ;)
• Standard order of business and how to apply it to real meetings
• You apply by simply setting up your agendas that way; See p. 353 in RONR
•  Bylaws – how do you go about creating and making your Bylaws?
• We will cover on April 9^th, but you could read ahead on p. 565–583  in RONR
• Powers of the Chair
• See p. 448-450 in RONR
• More about procedures and motions
• Keep coming to class!
•  2/3rds vote vs. majority vote
• We will talk more on March 26^th
• What votes required 2/3rds and how do I determine this quickly?
• See upcoming class sessions
• What are common quorum numbers?
• Just depends on organization, Read more on Quorum here;
• How is a township meeting run?
• Visit one :)
• What kind of motions can be made?
• See upcoming classes
• Elections
• Session 10 on April 2^nd!