Berkeley Heights BOE BOE Agendas and Meeting Summaries

Ignorance of Parliamentary Procedure Is Creating Chaos & Harming Our District

Jan 6, 20242 Comments

Edmund Tom Maciejewski

For those of you following Thursday’s Super Chaotic Board of Education Meeting. One thing, regardless of where you stand on Angela Penna forcing this chaotic situation, is that nobody on the board, nor the lawyer nor the administrator understands Robert’s Rules of Order which is what governs the rules of the meeting.

Case in point, Sai made a motion to have the board attorney present for all meetings. Pam wanted that question struck. Then more chaos ensued.

For some clarification here are some points from Roberts Rules on what should have happened.

According to Robert’s Rules of Order, when a member of a board makes a motion, another member cannot directly make a motion to strike that motion. Instead, there are a few different ways that members can effectively oppose or modify the motion:

Amendment: A member can propose an amendment to the original motion. This is a motion to modify the original motion, and it must be voted on before the original motion. If the amendment passes, the original motion is modified accordingly and then voted on in its amended form. If the amendment fails, the original motion is voted on in its original form.

Postponement or Tabling the Motion: A member can make a motion to postpone the motion to a certain time or table it indefinitely. This motion needs to be voted on before the original motion. If it passes, the original motion is set aside for the time being.

Voting Against the Motion: The most straightforward way to oppose a motion is simply to vote against it when it comes to a vote.

Objection to Consideration: Immediately after a motion is made and before any debate has begun, a member can raise an “objection to consideration.” This is a motion to prevent the motion from even being considered. It requires a 2/3 vote against consideration for the motion to be dismissed without debate.

Refer to a Committee: A motion can be made to refer the issue to a committee. This must be voted on before the original motion.

The order of votes typically follows this pattern: any amendments or subsidiary motions (like postponement, tabling, or referring to a committee) are voted on first. After all subsidiary motions are resolved, the final form of the main motion is then voted on.

Regarding the Objection by Pam, there should have been no debate or discussion after her objection was made:

Here’s the procedure:

Raising the Objection: Immediately after a motion is made and before debate starts, a member can object to the consideration of the motion. This is a special type of motion that challenges the appropriateness or relevance of the main motion.

No Second Required: Unlike most other motions, an objection to consideration does not require a second. This is because its purpose is to test the will of the assembly quickly.

Immediate Vote Without Debate: The chair then puts the objection to an immediate vote without debate. The question put to the assembly is whether they wish to consider the main motion.

2/3 Vote Required to Sustain the Objection: For the objection to succeed and thus squash the main motion, a 2/3 majority must vote in favor of the objection. This means that 2/3 of the members present and voting must agree not to consider the main motion.

Outcome: If the objection gets a 2/3 affirmative vote, the main motion is dismissed and not considered further.

If the objection does not receive a 2/3 affirmative vote, it fails, and the assembly proceeds to consider the main motion as normal.

This process effectively allows the Board to decide whether a motion is even worthy of consideration and debate, and it’s used to quickly dispose of motions that are deemed inappropriate, irrelevant, or outside the scope of the assembly’s business. Remember, this is a rather unique motion in parliamentary procedure and is distinct from other motions that do require a second and often allow for debate.