Opinion ID: 2366253
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Approval of the Tentative Agreement

Text: [¶ 8] As a threshold matter, we address the contention of the Board of Education that its four to three vote in favor of the tentative agreement was insufficient to constitute the majority needed for ratification. Article Five, Section One of the Biddeford City Charter provides that the Board of Education is to consist of eight members including the mayor, who is the ex officio chair of the Board. The City Charter empowers the Board to meet for organization, which it did on December 13, 1993. At that meeting, the Board adopted Robert's Rules of Order with the modification that its chair could vote only to break a tie and had veto power over expenditures. [¶ 9] When the tentative agreement was presented for ratification, the Board voted four to three in favor of the agreement. Grattelo did not vote because he was not, pursuant to Board procedural rules, permitted to vote. Robert's Rules of Order, adopted by the Board, provides that when the term majority vote is used without qualificationas in the case of the basic requirementit means more than half of the votes cast by persons legally entitled to vote, excluding blanks or abstentions.... Robert's Rules of Order § 39 at 104 (1982). Grattelo was empowered to vote only in the event of a tie. The four to three vote of the Board was sufficient to approve the tentative agreement.