Robert's Rules primer for July 27 meeting now available

[Christopher Beland]

Robert’s Rules Basics for DSNC Bylaw Amendments is now available for your reference. Most of the July 27 meeting will be discussion and votes on DSNC bylaw amendments, which relies more on Robert's Rules procedures than our meetings normally do. As previously announced, the first bylaws-related vote will be on time limits for debate.

DSNC Board and Bylaws Committee members have collaborated to produce this quick reference sheet. I hope it will help everyone feel informed about what's going on and empowered to exercise the rights given to us by the rules. It highlights some of the technical phrases you may hear other members use, and outlines common procedures.

There will be printouts of the first two pages available at the in-person meeting (feel free to bring your own or load it on your phone), and I recommend having it handy if you are participating via Zoom. I have also added a link to the primer and the meeting agenda from the banner at the top of the DSNC homepage.

This link will be repeated on the full announcement list with our meeting reminder, but now would be a good time to raise any questions or concerns here on the discussion list.

Thanks for reading,

Chris
DSNC VP

[Edward Woll]

Hi Chris,

I just want to comment on time limits for debate.  Is there a proposal that someone is going to make, and, if so, what is it?

The proponent should be given, I think, 4 minutes, and be available and called upon to answer questions posed.  A good length for other comments is 3 minutes, which is normally what Massachusetts legislative committees set.  That has at time sbeen shortened to 2 minutes if many want to speak on the matter. 

I will respond to other issues as needed in a later email.

Ed Woll

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[Colin McMillen]

Hi Ed,

As stated in the email with subject: "[DSNC] July Meeting: Monday July 27th 6:00 - 8:00 pm"

To help ensure there is adequate time to move through all of the votes on our agenda, we will be introducing a motion during the meeting to limit debate. The membership will vote on whether to pass this motion. Our intention is not to limit or discourage discussion overall, but we strongly emphasize the need for more extensive debate to occur in advance of the meeting. The proposed limits are for debate to be limited to:

12 minutes of debate per amendment (6 minutes per side); 2 minutes speaking time per person, and speaking once per amendment; alternating sides for each speaker. 

Best, Colin

[Christopher Beland]

Sharing this update in case there are any questions or concerns to resolve before Monday's meeting...

The DSNC Board consulted Jack Perenick, a registered parliamentarian, about whether or not amendments to proposed amendments are allowed from the floor, given the requirement to present the text of amendments at the previous month's general meeting. I've updated the Robert's Rules primer with what I hope is an accurate summary of the reply, with an example:

• The change must be on-topic and within the scope of the text presented at the last general meeting. Say Amendment X adds a must-bring-flowers rule to the bylaws and changes an existing bylaw that requires 5% of flowers to be roses to 20%. It would be in scope to drop the must-bring-flowers rule from Amendment X, or only change 5% roses to 15% roses. Changing to 30% roses or adding a new rule about clowns would require proposing a new amendment or getting majority approval to delay the vote one month, to give required notice.

Jack will reportedly be at our meeting to answer any questions that arise. During the meeting itself, members can use a Point of Information to ask for clarification on anything.

Thanks,

Chris