(Dec. 24, 2015) Spurred by a particularly caustic board of directors meeting in November, Board President Pat Renaud sought to change the tone during a meeting in the Ocean Pines Community Center last Thursday.
Renaud said he received several complaints from citizens citing a lack of decorum during the previous meeting, held Nov. 19.
“When I became the president, it was with the goal that we directors would be more civil to one another, listen peacefully to each other’s concerns and finally vote upon which course of action we wish to take. This has not occurred, as both the rhetoric and rancor has increased at each meeting. If we truly wish to serve our constituents these practices will have to stop,” Renaud said, reading from a letter during the meeting.
In the future, Renaud said he intended to have shorter meeting agendas and shorter meetings – lasting no more than two hours.
“To accomplish that, we will have to stick to the topic and rid ourselves of uncomplimentary remarks about fellow members on the board,” he said. “Everyone can certainly have a say about any issue, but interrupting a fellow director and/or raising your voice is not acceptable behavior.
“I promise to do my best to better control our meetings in the future, but to do this I need your full cooperation,” Renaud added.
Renaud then read the “Decorum in Debate” section of Robert’s Rules of Order, which requires speakers to address each other using formal titles and speak only after being recognized.
The article also states. “It is not the man, but the measure, that is the subject of debate,” and includes a provision for members to “suitably apologize” for “disorderly words.”
“We’ll try to have better meetings and hopefully everyone here will be a little bit happier with the results,” Renaud said.
Following the meeting, Director Tom Terry said Renaud “did the right thing” in trying to “reset the environment.”
“As far as I’m concerned, what Pat Renaud did today was try to set the stage for the board of directors to get back on track and be working with each other as we have done in the past,” Terry said. “His comments that things have gotten even more rancorous over the last year and a half I think are dead right, and I think that he, simply, was trying to establish a means of setting an environment that we all can live up to.
“You’re still going to have disagreement, but you can disagree agreeably,” Terry continued. “I think Pat was simply trying to reestablishment the environment to where the board can find its way to work together. How people react to it – we’ll see how it goes. In my mind, Pat was doing his presidential job.”
Renaud said he received several complaints from citizens citing a lack of decorum during the previous meeting, held Nov. 19.
“When I became the president, it was with the goal that we directors would be more civil to one another, listen peacefully to each other’s concerns and finally vote upon which course of action we wish to take. This has not occurred, as both the rhetoric and rancor has increased at each meeting. If we truly wish to serve our constituents these practices will have to stop,” Renaud said, reading from a letter during the meeting.
In the future, Renaud said he intended to have shorter meeting agendas and shorter meetings – lasting no more than two hours.
“To accomplish that, we will have to stick to the topic and rid ourselves of uncomplimentary remarks about fellow members on the board,” he said. “Everyone can certainly have a say about any issue, but interrupting a fellow director and/or raising your voice is not acceptable behavior.
“I promise to do my best to better control our meetings in the future, but to do this I need your full cooperation,” Renaud added.
Renaud then read the “Decorum in Debate” section of Robert’s Rules of Order, which requires speakers to address each other using formal titles and speak only after being recognized.
The article also states. “It is not the man, but the measure, that is the subject of debate,” and includes a provision for members to “suitably apologize” for “disorderly words.”
“We’ll try to have better meetings and hopefully everyone here will be a little bit happier with the results,” Renaud said.
Following the meeting, Director Tom Terry said Renaud “did the right thing” in trying to “reset the environment.”
“As far as I’m concerned, what Pat Renaud did today was try to set the stage for the board of directors to get back on track and be working with each other as we have done in the past,” Terry said. “His comments that things have gotten even more rancorous over the last year and a half I think are dead right, and I think that he, simply, was trying to establish a means of setting an environment that we all can live up to.
“You’re still going to have disagreement, but you can disagree agreeably,” Terry continued. “I think Pat was simply trying to reestablishment the environment to where the board can find its way to work together. How people react to it – we’ll see how it goes. In my mind, Pat was doing his presidential job.”