Apparently I Are A Ninja
Jan. 23rd, 2015 07:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
davidschrothIn a totally fanciful post at streets.mn, someone named John Edwards wrote the following:
"There were quite a few people at last week’s meeting who were eager to suggest amendments. Unfortunately, the first person called on by Board Chair Erica Christ was a Robert’s Rules ninja, and the new bylaws were adopted without a single amendment having the chance to be heard. One older woman explained her support of the new restrictions by alluding to an unspecified neighborhood that had its bank account drained by some unspecified people."
I am the person in question, and I was (and am) totally unaware that I am a Robert's Rules ninja. (Personally, I'd assume that one would have had to have read Robert's Rules to qualify as a Robert's Rules ninja.
And what deep ninja arts did I employ to frustrate the righteous?
Well, I employed those obscure techniques know as Making A Motion, as well as the even more obscure technique of Voting On Motions.
At the end of a tedious hour of going over the proposed changes to the by-laws, I raised my hand after the chair said the meeting had reached the end of going over the proposed changes. When the chair recognized me, I made the motion that we approve the proposed changes as written. This received an immediate second, and prompted a bit of squabbling from the non-ninjas at the meeting. After a short while, someone else made a motion to call the question, which was also seconded.
So now we were facing two votes, and the people who wanted to amend the proposed changes to the by-laws needed to defeat only one of the motions in order to propose their amendments. And the task in front of them was even easier than that - my motion required a vote of two-thirds in favor to pass - all they had to do was persuade one-third plus 1 of the voters in attendance to vote against my motion.
Which they failed to do. Twice.
And now I are a Robert's Rules ninja.
"There were quite a few people at last week’s meeting who were eager to suggest amendments. Unfortunately, the first person called on by Board Chair Erica Christ was a Robert’s Rules ninja, and the new bylaws were adopted without a single amendment having the chance to be heard. One older woman explained her support of the new restrictions by alluding to an unspecified neighborhood that had its bank account drained by some unspecified people."
I am the person in question, and I was (and am) totally unaware that I am a Robert's Rules ninja. (Personally, I'd assume that one would have had to have read Robert's Rules to qualify as a Robert's Rules ninja.
And what deep ninja arts did I employ to frustrate the righteous?
Well, I employed those obscure techniques know as Making A Motion, as well as the even more obscure technique of Voting On Motions.
At the end of a tedious hour of going over the proposed changes to the by-laws, I raised my hand after the chair said the meeting had reached the end of going over the proposed changes. When the chair recognized me, I made the motion that we approve the proposed changes as written. This received an immediate second, and prompted a bit of squabbling from the non-ninjas at the meeting. After a short while, someone else made a motion to call the question, which was also seconded.
So now we were facing two votes, and the people who wanted to amend the proposed changes to the by-laws needed to defeat only one of the motions in order to propose their amendments. And the task in front of them was even easier than that - my motion required a vote of two-thirds in favor to pass - all they had to do was persuade one-third plus 1 of the voters in attendance to vote against my motion.
Which they failed to do. Twice.
And now I are a Robert's Rules ninja.
