On Mon May 19, 2008, Mitchel Cohen wrote: >I am proposing the following change, to be discussed and voted upon >at the upcoming LSB meeting on Wednesday, May 21, 7 pm. > >The purpose of the following proposal to change procedure at Local >Station Board meetings is to allow members of WBAI, and not only >delegates to the Board, to participate in an organized, disciplined >way in discussions of Reports and other matters brought to the LSB. <snip> I would caution against calling this procedure simply a "Quasi Committee of the Whole," because the Parliamentary Authority already defines that body and its rules differently, and it is a already a useful method as it stands that would be surrendered upon such substitution. Rather than modify the rules of a Quasi Committee of the Whole, the WBAI LSB could establish a permanent LSB Advisory Committee of the Whole, define its purpose as informal consideration within committee of the single topic under discussion at the LSB meeting for which the committee meeting was called, its membership as being all who are present at the LSB meeting in question, including LSB Members and all other attendees (unless the LSB cares to restrict to Foundation members in the original motion), it's notice requirement as satisfied by notice of the LSB meeting at which the committee meeting occurs,* and its chair as the then presiding LSB Chair or Chair Pro-Tem. By default, this committee would operate under the same rules as any other committee, but if the motion establishing the committee includes the special rules outlined in your proposal, then those rules rather than the default committee rules thereby suspended would then apply to this LSB Advisory Committee of the Whole. Where not specifically suspended, the regular rules of order for committees would still apply. Among the special rules I'd suggest for this committee, it would have no quorum requirement and it would be automatically adjourned when the Chair calls for the LSB meeting to re-convene. The "informal consideration" phrase allows a person to speak more than once, or some back-and-forth consultation to occur. The "advisory" and "in committee" terms underscore that the decisions of the committee are not binding on the LSB. Your proposal to authorize the Chair discretion to "declare" an LSB meeting recess for a fixed-duration meeting of the Advisory Quasi Committee of the Whole could be separately proposed as an LSB special rule of order, but I don't think it really necessary. Once the mechanism of all present automatically being members of an instantly available permanent committee is recognized, the Chair could entertain a motion to use the mechanism at any time and any LSB Member could similarly move to recess for this purpose. Discussions in this committee would naturally inform the discussion of any pending question before the LSB when it re-convenes, and individual LSB members are free to make and second related motions, perhaps to amend the motion on the floor from another committee; but it should be made very clear whether or not the committee will be allowed to vote on motions and whether or not any motions approved in this committee are to obtain immediate consideration rather than await a different time on the agenda. --Terry Goodman *For strict compliance with notice requirements, it might be best if, once this committee was established, all future LSB meeting notices include mention that a meeting of the LSB Advisory Committee of the Whole may occur during the meeting. This might not strictly be necessary because the bylaws say that notice at an LSB meeting is deemed adequate notice for LSB committees.