(March 17, 2016) Of the five people attending a meeting of the Ocean Pines Association Comprehensive Planning Committee on March 2 at the administration building, only two were committee members, a circumstance that has led the question of whether a quorum was present and even if having a quorum is required.
The five at the meeting were Committee Chair Steve Cohen, Committee Member Mike Evans, OPA Board President Pat Renaud, Pines Facilities Manager Jerry Aveeta and Dr. Memo Diriker, from Salisbury University group BEACON.
The Ocean Pines Association website lists five members on that committee, including Frank Daly, Gail Blazer and Thomas Butler. Renaud is listed as the board liaison to the committee.
On Monday, the same committee met with the board of directors to discuss a survey that would guide a long-term comprehensive plan. During the public comments section of that session, resident Joe Reynolds held up an issue of the Bayside Gazette, showing Cohen, Evans, Renaud, Aveeta and Diriker together in a photo from the March 2 meeting.
“There’s two committee members there in the photograph,” he said. “Was there a quorum?”
“I believe there was,” Renaud said. “Yeah.”
Reached for comment later that day, Renaud admitted he was thinking of another meeting, and confirmed there was not a quorum present on March 2.
“I don’t think there was a quorum,” he said.
However, OPA Board Vice President Cheryl Jacobs, an attorney, said there was no wrongdoing, because committee meetings do not necessarily require a quorum.
In an email sent on Monday, Jacobs said she researched the community’s bylaws and its book of resolutions, specifically, Article X, Sect. 10.07, which reads, “When appropriate, Robert’s Rules of Order … shall be used as guidance for the conduct of committee meetings and advisory body meetings, to the extent they are not inconsistent with the Charter, By-laws, or Resolutions.”
She also highlighted C-01, Committee General Policy, in the book of resolutions, and Article IV, Sect. 4.06 in the bylaws.
“I can find nothing regarding the conduct of the meeting and C-07-Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee, [and it] also does not speak to the conduct of meetings. Therefore, I would conclude that a quorum is not required,” she wrote.
Director Tom Terry, the board parliamentarian, agreed.
“While various advisory committees have an objective of having four-to-nine members, there is no requirement that a committee have four members in order to function or to exist,” he said. “Since the advisory committees are advisory and cannot expend dollars or set binding commitments for the organization, a committee can function outside of the requirement for a quorum.”
The five at the meeting were Committee Chair Steve Cohen, Committee Member Mike Evans, OPA Board President Pat Renaud, Pines Facilities Manager Jerry Aveeta and Dr. Memo Diriker, from Salisbury University group BEACON.
The Ocean Pines Association website lists five members on that committee, including Frank Daly, Gail Blazer and Thomas Butler. Renaud is listed as the board liaison to the committee.
On Monday, the same committee met with the board of directors to discuss a survey that would guide a long-term comprehensive plan. During the public comments section of that session, resident Joe Reynolds held up an issue of the Bayside Gazette, showing Cohen, Evans, Renaud, Aveeta and Diriker together in a photo from the March 2 meeting.
“There’s two committee members there in the photograph,” he said. “Was there a quorum?”
“I believe there was,” Renaud said. “Yeah.”
Reached for comment later that day, Renaud admitted he was thinking of another meeting, and confirmed there was not a quorum present on March 2.
“I don’t think there was a quorum,” he said.
However, OPA Board Vice President Cheryl Jacobs, an attorney, said there was no wrongdoing, because committee meetings do not necessarily require a quorum.
In an email sent on Monday, Jacobs said she researched the community’s bylaws and its book of resolutions, specifically, Article X, Sect. 10.07, which reads, “When appropriate, Robert’s Rules of Order … shall be used as guidance for the conduct of committee meetings and advisory body meetings, to the extent they are not inconsistent with the Charter, By-laws, or Resolutions.”
She also highlighted C-01, Committee General Policy, in the book of resolutions, and Article IV, Sect. 4.06 in the bylaws.
“I can find nothing regarding the conduct of the meeting and C-07-Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee, [and it] also does not speak to the conduct of meetings. Therefore, I would conclude that a quorum is not required,” she wrote.
Director Tom Terry, the board parliamentarian, agreed.
“While various advisory committees have an objective of having four-to-nine members, there is no requirement that a committee have four members in order to function or to exist,” he said. “Since the advisory committees are advisory and cannot expend dollars or set binding commitments for the organization, a committee can function outside of the requirement for a quorum.”