Can two committee members meet private and discuss committee business?
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Is it proper for two committee members meeting privately at their own venue, and discussing Committee issues.
Does Roberts Rules cover this issue. If yes please inform me the paragraph number. At he Board Meeting it was offered to have the above issue called a "serial meeting", and want to make it illegal. At the Board Meeting, The member who did this, called it "casting libelous aspersions on him and slander". He said there is nothing wrong meeting privately away from the Board, and he may discuss anything he wants to with whoever he wants to.
Dear Anthony,
I suppose to people who want to work behind the scenes there is nothing wrong with this. Robert's does not address this issue. Of course it is not an official meeting, and of course an organization cannot prevent its members from getting together and then discussing things on an informal basis unless the bylaws prohibit this. When people in the same organization get together on an informal basis, it is likely that they will discuss things. And people even do this "privately" to get their side of the information together to push through their point of view. However, it is not a meeting or a "serial meeting" or an official meeting at all. It is just two people getting together and talking. If these two members want to do something official, then they need to call a meeting of all the committee members, present the idea as a motion, discuss it and take a vote.
Cheerio,
Little Ben
Question submitted by Anthony Longobardi on July 20, 2013