Over the past twenty plus years, I sat on many different tribal boards and committees (and non-tribal boards as well), the College Board of Regents, the TERO Board of Commissioners, the Law and Order Committee, the District School Board, and many ad hoc committees. I also attended board meetings as a guest or I was placed on the agenda for some reason or another.
It is my opinion most tribal boards do not follow Robert's Rules of Order, or if they do, they follow it very loosely. This lack of structure allows, among other things, some meetings to run several hours. Unless a board/committee meeting is intended to last several hours, most board meetings should last 2 - 4 hours at the most. Meetings lasting several hours is a sign of a dysfunctional board.
Four years ago, I was elected to the state school board. New board members are not sworn in until all old business is taken care of. At my first meeting, I sat and waited for the "old" board to wrap up old business. Because there was only three items under old business, I thought, "this shouldn't take long." Boy, was I wrong! Five hours later, the board finally acted on the third item on the agenda. I was finally sworn in. The election for officers was held, and I was voted in as board president. The first words out of my mouth were something to the effect, "We are not going to sit here for 5 hours every time we have a meeting. Our meetings will last no longer than 1 - 2 hours."
For the past four years, I kept my word, in spite of fierce opposition from board members who appeared to be willing to talk as long as it took to get their way. At first, my approach to moving board meetings along was simple. If we spent more than 15 minutes on an item, I would suggest we wrap up the discussion and move on. This usually elicited a howl of protest from the board member (or members) who wanted to keep discussing the issue, and at times a verbal confrontation would ensue. A few times, I would end up asking the board to take a vote on whether or not we wanted to move on. Fortunately, the vote was always to "move on."
Then, at a National School Board Association (NSBA) conference, I attended a workshop conducted by Jim Slaughter, who is a Certified Professional & Professional Registered Parliamentarian (I can't remember the title of the workshop). His approach was to use Robert's Rules of Order to address the problem of a meeting lasting several hours. Probably the most important thing I learned from this workshop is no board member has the right to hold the others hostage by demanding to talk until he/she gets his/her way. Jim Slaughter had several hand outs, one of them titled, Parliamentary Motions Match-Up, that is based on Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (10th Edition). Assuming a board is willing to follow Robert's Rules of Order there are several motions a board member may make to move the meeting along:
1. Move to Amend, which will place a limit on the time or number of speakers.
2. Move for a Parliamentary Inquiry that allows a matter to be sent to a smaller group to consider and report.
3. Call for a Point of Order that will end the debate immediately.
4. Move to Recess that allows a member to ask a question relevant to business (but not procedure)
5. Move to Limit/Extend Debate that will allow modification to another motion by adding, deleting, or changing words.
There are always two sides to an issue. The next time I attended a NSBA conference, I went to a workshop titled, Effective Meetings: A Balance of Democracy vs. Efficiency. How a meeting is run depends on what you value. According to the presenter, efficiency is a value where time and tasks are driving factors. It enables the board to do a lot of work in the least amount of time. Democracy can guarantee that everyone has a say, but democracy does not guarantee you will get your way. I admit, when it comes to boards and committees, the majority of the time, I value efficiency over democracy. Listed below are concepts that support efficiency, democracy, and civility:
1. Concepts that support efficiency:
- Consent Agenda
- Call the Question
- Motion to Reconsider
- Postpone Indefinitely
- Motion to Adjourn
- Motion to Recess
2. Concepts that support democracy:
- Approving the Agenda
- Sequencing the Agenda
- Rearranging the Agenda
- Appealing the Decision of the Chair
3. Concepts that support efficiency civility:
- No one speaks a second time until everyone has had a chance to speak once
- Question of privilege (may we turn up the heat?)
- Point of Order (A request to enforce the rules)
- Dignifying, not demonizing, comments made by fellow board members and comments by the public
In my opinion, as a board member, regardless if you support the concept of efficiency or the concept of democracy, you should support the concept of civility and organization. You do not attend a board meeting representing yourself; instead, you attend meetings with the knowledge that you are representing the constituents. Insisting on getting your way, disrespecting and/or ignoring the opinions of fellow board members, pushing your personal agenda, advocating for your best friend and/or relatives, and not accepting the majority vote of the board are examples of board behaviors you do not want to exhibit. These actions as well as resorting to tactics such as talking out or talking down to other board members and creating chaos by ignoring Robert's Rules of Order does irreparable harm to the organization you are appointed to represent.
