BC 1991 03 04 - Laserfiche WebLink

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68 The manager may for convenience maintain a mailing list of interested parties wishing to receive a copy of the agenda regularly. Rule 10. Informal Public Comments. The clerk to the board shall include on the agenda of the first regular meeting of the month at least fifteen (15) minutes for comments or questions from the public in attendance. The chair will first recognize individuals or groups having made appointments to be heard, and then may recognize others, subject to available time. The chair may specify the time allotted to each speaker. When the time set aside for informal public comments has expired, the chair will recognize further speakers only upon motion, duly made and adopted. Comment: The board may decide as a general policy to set aside part of each meeting for individuals or groups to address the board. The rule allows any individual or group to get on the agenda but lets the board decide whether there is time to hear its comments. Rule 11. Order of Business. At regular meetings, the board shall proceed to business in the following order: 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Invocation Approval of the minutes of the previous meetings. Unfinished Business New Business Consent New Business Informal Public Comments (First Regular Meeting of the Month) Reports Without objection, the chair may call items in any order most convenient for the dispatch of business. Comment: As a courtesy, by general consent, those items requiring participation of nonmembers such as administrative officials and the public, may be considered first. VI. Conduct of Debate Rule 12. Powers of the Chair. The chair shall preside at all board meetings. To address the board, a member must be recognized by the chair. The chair shall have the following powers: To rule on points of parliamentary procedure, including the right to rule out of order any motion offered for patently obstructive or dilatory purposes; To determine whether a speaker has gone beyond reasonable standards of courtesy in his or her remarks and to entertain and rule on objections from other members on this ground; 3. To call a brief recess at any time; 4. To adjourn in an emergency. Comment: This rule rePlaces the question of order and appeal in Robert's Rules of Order (hereinafter referred to as PRO and increases the chair's authority: his or her decisions regarding decorum in debate andrules of parliamentary procedure are final and cannot be appealed to the membership, and he or she has concurrent authority to declare a recess when necessary to "clear the air" and thus hold friction among the members to a minimum (in PRO, a recess can be taken only on a motion and vote by the members). Rule 13. Action by the Board. The board shall proceed by motion. Any member, including the chair, may make a motion. Comment: If the board prefers that the chair not make motions, the chair may invite another member to make a motion by saying, "The Chair will entertain a motion that .... "