Camas resident Rick Vermeers was appalled at the lack of knowledge of basic parliamentary procedure by the C-TRAN Board members at the April 15 meeting

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the author alone and do not reflect the editorial position of ClarkCountyToday.com

During the April 15 C-TRAN Board Meeting, I was appalled at the lack of knowledge of basic parliamentary procedure by the Board members. It would seem that members who are responsible for billions of dollars of taxpayer money would take the individual responsibility to become so educated.

For those of you who do not like Robert’s Rules of Order, it is probably because someone used it in some improper fashion. Well, that is exactly what happened at the March 11th C-TRAN Board Meeting.

Following the March 14th labor round table, C-TRAN Chair Molly Coston spoke smugly about how Clark County Councilor Marshall used a supposed Robert’s Rules of Order motion “to Table” to shut down debate on the issue of the light rail extension into Vancouver.

I’ll give you a hint. There is no such thing as a Motion to Table in Robert’s Rules of Order. This is not the House of Representatives!

The following are quotes directly from Robert’s Rules of Order with my editorial comments intermixed.

“The motion to Lay on the Table enables the Assembly to lay the pending question aside temporarily, WHEN SOMETHING ELSE OF IMMEDIATE URGENCY HAS ARISEN.”

Editorial Comment: In this case, the matter of immediate urgency was to stop the vote on Councilor Belkot’s Motion to revert the I-5 bridge plan to that without light rail. Her intent was to honor the will of the people as expressed in multiple previous citizen votes on the subject..

BACK TO THE Robert’s Rules of Order quotes referring to Tabling:

“The motion is commonly misused in ordinary assemblies in place of the motion to postpone indefinitely, to postpone to a certain time, or other motions. Particularly in such misuses, it is also known as a motion to table”.

“By adopting the motion to lay on the table, a majority has the power to halt consideration of a question immediately without debate. Such an action VIOLATES THE RIGHTS OF THE MINORITY AND INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS if it is for any other reason.”

I will repeat the first sentence for clarity

“The motion To Lay on the Table enables the Assembly to lay the pending question aside temporarily, WHEN SOMETHING ELSE OF IMMEDIATE URGENCY HAS ARISEN.”

“In ordinary assemblies, the motion to Lay on the Table, is Out of Order, if the evident intent is to kill or avoid dealing with a measure.”

Editorial Comment:

The proper action in this case would have been to postpone or postpone indefinitely, which are debatable, and the intent to kill or delay this motion probably would have been readily apparent during debate.

The conclusion: Councilor Marshall used an improper motion to subvert the will of the people. The Chair, Molly Coston, failed to rule it out of order. This mistake will undoubtedly contribute to the evidence in the lawsuit that Councilor Belkot brought against the County Council and will cost the taxpayers of Clark County plenty in legal fees.

Rick Vermeers
Camas