Join us for the Annual Conference!

RPFSS Brown Bag: Current Issues in Parliamentary Procedure for Homeowner Associations and Other Organizations That Use Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised
HSBA Co-sponsored
(RECORDED)

Summary: 

By statute, all condominium associations and planned community associations in Hawai‘i conduct their association membership and board meetings in accordance with the recent edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised.  Many other membership organizations, such as credit unions, also use Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised to conduct their membership and board meetings.  Thus, attorneys may encounter issues that require researching Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised.  

Since 1983, Steve Glanstein, Professional Registered Parliamentarian, has served professionally as a Parliamentarian and sometimes also as a Professional Presiding Officer at more than 1,800 meetings.  To prepare for his professional role at any meeting, Steve reads hundreds of pages of association bylaws and other governance documents that are usually written by attorneys.  He also issues about twenty-five or so written or verbal opinions each year on parliamentary procedure issues.  

In this program, Steve will discuss parliamentary procedure issues that intersect with legal issues, such as voting rights.  Topics will include issues he has recently encountered at condominium association meetings, direct and indirect voting in community associations, parliamentary procedure considerations for writing or amending bylaws, and top tips for handling difficult meetings.  Time permitting, he will also answer your questions on everything you always wanted to know about Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised, but were never given the chance to ask!

Steve Glanstein, Professional Registered Parliamentarian

Steve has lived in Hawai‘i continuously since 1963.  While serving on the board of directors at his condominium, Steve sought certification to be a ‘Registered Parliamentarian’ in 1983 and a ‘Professional Registered Parliamentarian’ in 1984.  The latter designation is the highest credential issued by the National Association of Parliamentarians® (NAP) – the largest association of parliamentarians in the United States and abroad, founded in June 1930.

Involvement with the NAP led Steve to serve as founder and first president of Hawai‘i's largest local parliamentary unit (the Aloha-Ohana Unit of Parliamentarians), then as president of the Hawai‘i State Association of Parliamentarians.  For the National Association of Parliamentarians, Steve advanced to serve as a District Director, and ultimately, on the Board of Directors, as Treasurer and as a director at large. He is a frequent sought-after speaker/trainer at the national conferences and conventions.

Since 1983, Steve has professionally served more than 1,700 meetings.  They include condominium associations, cooperatives, community associations, timesharing organizations, numerous professional organizations, as well as unincorporated associations, for-profit and not-for-profit corporations, unions, and churches.  He has served both as a Parliamentarian and Professional Presiding Officer.  Occasionally, he has assisted clients in an advocacy role in the audience at various meetings.

Steve is clear to inform clients that he is not a lawyer; he does provide testimony on much of the proposed condominium and community legislation in Hawai‘i.  He is frequently contacted to provide both verbal and written opinions regarding proper parliamentary procedure to the legislature. Generally, Steve issues about 5-7 written opinions and 20-30 verbal opinions per year.  He has assisted 42 attorneys in various aspects of parliamentary procedure during his career, also earning the designation of ‘expert witness’ when providing testimony for various Hawai‘i courts.

For advanced training, Steve facilitates the ‘Master’s Group’ of Hawai‘i- an intense training program for professional parliamentarians to improve their skills beyond those of most credentialed parliamentarians in the national organization.  In 2018, he organized a Professional Presiding Workshop for credentialed parliamentarians on a national basis to further improve their presiding skills.

During 2018, Steve served about 100 meetings as a parliamentarian or professional presiding officer. During that same period, he supervised parliamentarians for several other organizations, totaling about 50 meetings.

Though in high demand for his parliamentary skills, Steve believes knowledge should be shared. In order that more individuals become skilled with parliamentary procedure, he has been actively involved in training entry-level parliamentarians in the State of Hawai‘i.  He frequently instructs for the Hawai‘i Chapter of the Community Associations Institute (part of a national group of community associations) of which he is a past president.