Parliamentary Procedure Q&A

Q: 1. I am a Texas Master Gardener and attended our Executive Board Meeting on Wednesday, September 30, 1998, to ask if the members could vote on whether we should expand and plant an iris bed in an area to include the front of the building where our demonstration garden is located. Specifically, I objected to this bed being planted until our members were allowed to decide the question at our meeting on October 6. The bed was planted on October 3, before the members were allowed to vote on it. Is this a violation of procedure?

2. Our President-elect for the 1999 year is also on the Board of Directors of the plant that donates the land for us to use as a demonstration garden. Is this a conflict of interest? - Anon., Oct. 4, 1998

A: 1. It is likely the board acted within its authority. A board's raison d'etre is to act for the association between the association's business meetings. Its authority is no more than that granted to it in the association's bylaws or granted to it by the association. (See RONR p. 472.)

2. RONR says that "no member should vote on a question in which he has a direct personal or pecuniary interest not common to other members of the organization." (RONR p. 402.) Your organization may want to decide whether this is the case with your President-elect.

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