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Do the minutes of a board meeting have to say who moved and seconded every motion?

Started by RobertS17 • 8 replies • 1265 views

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RobertS17 (Florida)
Posts: 52
Posted:
Do the minutes of a board meeting have to say who moved and seconded every motion?
If quorum is established with three directors, it seems silly to keep saying: member X moved to (fill in the blank), member Y seconded the motion…

Couldn't the minutes just read something like:
A Motion Was made and seconded to (fill in the blank). After careful debate, the motion passed (or failed) with X votes in favor, Y votes against, and Z abstained?

PaininyourA
Posts: 215
Posted:
simple minutes are acceptable

unless

a director wants his motion / vote specifically recorded
TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059
Posted:
Does it have to say who motioned and seconded? No.
Should it? Depends on how controversial the issue might be.
Does Roberts Rules require it? Yes, but that is only relevant if your Association is required to follow RRO

Can't minutes read something like . . . ? Yes.

Ours often simply say, "The Board unanimously approved xyz"

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276
Posted:
Quote:
Posted By RobertS17 on 10/24/2017 7:19 PM
Do the minutes of a board meeting have to say who moved and seconded every motion?
If quorum is established with three directors, it seems silly to keep saying: member X moved to (fill in the blank), member Y seconded the motion…

Couldn't the minutes just read something like:
A Motion Was made and seconded to (fill in the blank). After careful debate, the motion passed (or failed) with X votes in favor, Y votes against, and Z abstained?

FS 720.303(3) MINUTES.—Minutes of all meetings of the members of an association and of the board of directors of an association must be maintained in written form or in another form that can be converted into written form within a reasonable time. A vote or abstention from voting on each matter voted upon for each director present at a board meeting must be recorded in the minutes.

FS 718 (condo statute) is similar.

The statute is silent on recording who made or seconded a motion, but Robert's Rules says the name of whoever made the main motion should be in the minutes. The name of the seconder can probably be omitted. Also, if the meeting attendees are noted at the top of the minutes and a vote is unanimous, it can be reasonable inferred that all present voted to approve/reject the motion. If there is even a single dissenting vote, however, we note the names individually and how each voted.
JanetB2 (Colorado)
Posts: 4,219
Posted:
If you want a potential example of minutes look at your local City or County government minutes which are public information. Generally they just state X number for and Y number against the stated motion. If it is a very controversial issue sometimes it is best for those voting against to state a reason why. We had to do this in local Planning Commission meetings on controversial issues and especially in City Board of Adjustment meetings to protect in case of future legal litigation. The City Council could not overturn the Board of Adjustment decisions, so we had to be careful and take precautions.
SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,964
Posted:
The way you describe how we do ours and it hasn't been a problem. As long as the motion was properly made and seconded, it really doesn't matter who did what.
If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius
FredS7 (Arizona)
Posts: 927
Posted:
If the action was controversial and there was not a unanimous* vote, then recording the individual votes becomes useful.

If decisions are unanimous I can see no value to recording who motioned or seconded.

It is much more important to carefully record what was IN the motion. Sometimes this can be unclear and later recollections can differ.

* If the vote was not unanimous, does that make it animous?
PaininyourA
Posts: 215
Posted:
Simply follow Florida state law as per Geno's post.

FS 720.303(3) MINUTES.—Minutes of all meetings of the members of an association and of the board of directors of an association must be maintained in written form or in another form that can be converted into written form within a reasonable time. A vote or abstention from voting on each matter voted upon for each director present at a board meeting must be recorded in the minutes.

FS 718 (condo statute) is similar.

The statute is silent on recording who made or seconded a motion, but Robert's Rules says the name of whoever made the main motion should be in the minutes. The name of the seconder can probably be omitted. Also, if the meeting attendees are noted at the top of the minutes and a vote is unanimous, it can be reasonable inferred that all present voted to approve/reject the motion. If there is even a single dissenting vote, however, we note the names individually and how each voted.
RobertS17 (Florida)
Posts: 52
Posted:
Thank you all for the replies. They were useful.

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