From: Sam Bohler
To: LNC Board <lncboard@lp.org>; lnc-public_forward <lnc-public_forward@lp.org>
Subject: Let’s Refocus the Board on Party Business
The infighting needs to stop. It is actively harming not only this board, but the party itself. I understand that some members may have strong feelings and motions to censure, however they are premature at best, and merely extenuating the corrosion happening to this board.
It is for that reason that I am declaring my intent to amend the agenda to remove both motions to censure so that we can use our valuable scarce time to actually address party business. Should the movers seek cosponsors to make them an email ballot, that is their prerogative and well within their rights. That would be a more efficient and appropriate avenue, even if I still believe that is distracting us from more important matters. My motion to amend is debatable and could result in more time lost, so I would appreciate any debate that you may have be sent in reply to this email so we can more quickly prosecute the motion during the meeting.
I plead that you join me in refusing to enable this self-destructive behavior this board seems unable to escape. It really is a waste of our time. I initially planned to give this as a public comment at the start of the meeting, but even those 2 minutes would be more time than these issues deserve.
In Liberty, Sam Bohler
I noticed the following motion for this evening’s meeting:
Motion to amend the policy manual §1.02.1 to replace it in its entirety:
§1.02.1 — Previous Notice.
Previous notice is satisfied if given as required either by this Policy Manual or by the parliamentary authority, provided such notice is circulated to the LNC at least five (5) days before the session.
Attached [Editor: Sent to LNC Members] is a letter I received from Jonathan Jacobs, RP, CPP, who was a recent appellant for this very issue. He affirms that aligning our Previous Notice with RONR will eliminate confusion.
I hope you will vote in favor of this motion, and am happy to answer any questions or debate in this thread to save us time at the meeting.
It indeed does simplify notice:
10:44 The term previous notice (or notice), as applied to necessary conditions for the adoption of certain motions, has a particular meaning in parliamentary law. A requirement of previous notice means that announcement that the motion will be introduced—indicating its exact content as described below—must be included in the call of the meeting (1:7, 9:2–5) at which the motion will be brought up, or, as a permissible alternative, if no more than a quarterly time interval (see 9:7) will have elapsed since the preceding meeting, the announcement must be made at the preceding meeting.
The revision removes the original main motion limitation from the Policy Manual and rather than focusing on a specific type of motion, instead focuses on timing of notice for all types of motions.
Note also “exact content” in 10:44 does not mean “exact wording.” See also 10:47: Unless the rules require the full text of the motion, resolution, or bylaw amendment to be submitted in the notice, only the purport need be indicated; but such a statement of purport must be accurate and complete—as in “to raise the annual dues to $20”—since it will determine what amendments are in order when the motion is considered. The notice becomes invalid if the motion is amended beyond the scope of the notice (see also 35, 57).
For years the LP has focused in the process by using RROR and getting down in the muck instead of focusing on the outcome. The whole process needs to be simplified. This isn’t high school.
This does simplify notice. The former rule is: “An LNC Member may satisfy the requirement of giving previous notice of their intention to
introduce an original main motion at the next session by:
• announcing this intention at the previous session in the presence of a quorum,
providing an accurate and complete statement of purport, with such notice to be taken
note of in the minutes; or
• sending the complete language of the motion to the entire LNC by e-mail at least five
(5) days prior to the session.”