Robert's Rules in Real Life

A friend and I were chatting recently about the challenges we encounter in gift exchanges. These customs, which seem like a friendly, easy way to engage members of a group and celebrate our togetherness, don’t always live up to their promise.

Whether it be a cluster of relatives, a book club, or a different social group, the possibility of disintegration and chaos can rear its ugly head. We thought our readers might enjoy a few simple guidelines, inspired by Robert’s Rules of Order and modified to suit this particular long-established holiday activity.

1)     Members shall read the instructions. When you send out an email saying that your family will hold a “white elephant” gift exchange on Christmas Eve, each person to provide one gift worth $10 or less, your brother-in-law shall not show up with $30 trinkets from Brookstone for the relatives he likes best. 

2)     If they didn’t read the instructions, members shall listen up when the rules of the game are explained. It’s hard to get everybody to settle down and concentrate on who is allowed to “steal” a book from whom, and how many times a gift can change hands, but if you don’t know the rules you can’t play the game.

3)     The organizer shall keep things moving.  A certain amount of energy and enthusiasm on the part of the organizer is critical to the enjoyment of all.

4)     Members shall not gab during the gift exchange. How can you tell whether you want to “steal” a book opened by someone with a lower number than yours, if everyone is talking at such high volume that nobody can hear what the book is? Self-restraint will improve the game for everyone.

5)     Members shall not take offense when the rules are followed. Since the option to “steal” a gift introduces an element of surprise (including, perhaps, suppressed hostility!) everyone has to take it all in the right spirit – or at least pretend to.

6)     Members shall not lecture other members on how much better it would be not to waste time and money on silly games, but instead make a donation to a mutually-agreed upon charity. Let your righteousness speak for itself, and don’t inflict it on your long-suffering friends and relations.

7)     The organizer shall display forbearance when these rules are broken. It’s a universal rule of human groups that we need an organizer, and it’s a universal tendency of group members to resent her for being bossy. When the milk of human kindness flows freely, everyone can enjoy the spirit of the season, despite the likelihood that the rules will not be followed to perfection.

What rules would you add to this list? All suggestions welcome...

Tuesday’s training session brought many questions. For example, if  an eager (not to say obnoxious) citizen gives his comment, and then raises his hand before the vote, does he have the right to speak again?

For members of the Association of California Water Agencies Joint Powers Insurance Authority, it is the Ralph M. Brown Act that determines the answer to this question. Section 54954.3(a) begins, “Every agenda for regular meetings shall provide an opportunity for members of the public to directly address the legislative body on any item of interest to the public, before or during the legislative body’s consideration of the item, that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body…” Reading this clause as a lay person and not an attorney, I would think that “an opportunity” means “one opportunity.” If the agenda includes a designated period, and a member of the public speaks, he’s had his chance. The council is not obliged to listen to him again before voting - although it may choose to do so, by majority vote, if it wishes.

The Brown Act further allows legislative bodies to adopt regulations limiting the total amount of time allocated for public testimony on particular issues and for each individual speaker. That’s a darn good thing. It is not easy to enlist capable and dedicated citizens to give their time to the special districts, commissions, councils and committees that make our web of governance hum. Providing for some kind of reasonable balance in time allotted to public input versus time spent in actual deliberation seems essential.

The key point that we urge on all elected and appointed officials is to distinguish between getting the public input necessary to make good decisions, and holding the council discussion that leads to making the decision itself. Public input is vital, but it is not the same as deliberation – when the members of the body discuss the question, weigh its different aspects, and then decide. Allowing the public to speak during the council discussion period confuses people about who has the actual authority, and makes it harder for the body to do its work. We say, let the gadfly have his full allotted time, but no more than that.

Our Tip Sheet “Running Successful Public Comment Sessions at Council Meetings” offers a host of suggestions for councils, commissions, committees and other bodies. It’s a great starting point – and do be sure to consult with your attorney, to make sure that the guidelines you adopt conform to your state’s law and regulations.

Ann G. Macfarlane, PRP

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