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Many years ago, I attended my first school meeting. I had Robert's Rules with me. The moderator was a local real estate lawyer. About a half an hour into the meeting, the way he was running it didn't seem right.

It was obvious he was "winging it", making up the rules as he went. I stood up and asked him, "Mr. Moderator, what set of rules are you using to run this meeting"? He responded, "My rules". I said, "did you post these rules in all of the district town halls as per New Hampshire state law two weeks or more before the meeting so the public would know what the rules are"?. He responded, "no". I said, "well, you have two choices. You can either use Robert's Rules or end this meeting right now.

I will have to ask the State Trooper standing over there to end it if you don't, because this is an illegal meeting." The Trooper started walking towards the moderator. The moderator, visibly shaken, chose Robert's Rules.