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Members able to call special meeting?


Anne Ivy

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I belong to an organization the bylaws of which say if five members of the board of directors request a meeting, the president must call one.

Recently five members made such a request, but the president has not called a meeting.

The bylaws do not include a time frame for such a meeting to be called, so I thought perhaps RR's might include such a time frame, and the organization was deferring to it. However, I cannot locate anything about members being able to request the president or chair to call a meeting, much less a time frame.

Am I missing it or is it not part of recognized parliamentary procedure?

Thank you!

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First of all, I am assuming that when you say "members" in your second and third paragraphs, you mean members of the board of directors, and not simply members of the organization - since only members of the board appear to be authorized by your bylaws to request a special or called meeting.

The RONR provision on those meetings is covered on pages 91-92 of RONR 11th Ed. The only "time frame" mentioned there is the required time for notice of the meeting to the members. It is simply a requirement of the president to follow the organization's rules and call the meeting. If the president does not do so, then the other board members should remind the president of the requirement, and hope that he or she moves forward with the meeting. Ultimately, RONR also includes a process for the removal from office of elected officers who are unwilling to fulfill their responsibilities.

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Unfortunately, RONR does not provide the kinds of details you are looking for as to how to force the president to call a special meeting when one is requested by the required number of members.  The president SHOULD promptly call the special meeting, of course, but based on your bylaw wording (if you quoted it correctly) the five members cannot themselves call the meeting but must ask the president to call one.

If the president fails to carry out one of the responsibilities of his position, he may well be subject to censure and/or disciplinary procedures up to and including removal from office and expulsion from membership.   Those options are covered in the 26 pages of Chapter XX, Disciplinary Procedures, in RONR. 

You might also look at FAQ # 20 regarding removal from office.

Edited by Richard Brown
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