Serving on Both Executive Board and Board of Trustees

[bob 82]

     Our American Legion Post is governed by the Commander and an Executive Committee and the Real Estate Assets governed by a 7 person board of Trustees. The 7th Trustee member is the Commander by election to his post on the Executive Committee . We have established that if a Trustee is elected to the Post of Commander that he has to vacate his position on the Board of Trustees and another person  must be elected for the balance of his vacated Trustee Term.

      We have a new situation that is coming up for vote. The President of the Trustees is also running for the Position of Finance Officer on the Executive Committee. Can he legally hold both positions?  As the President of the Trustees he has check signing authority for Trustee purchases. As the Finance officer he would also have check signing authority for the Post checking account for operating expenses of the Post. Wouldn't this be a conflict of Interest? If elected as Financial officer would he have to vacate the position of Trustee??

[Gary c Tesser]

Do you have an organizational chart that you can upload, so as to spare me a few hours of constructing my own?

More fundamentally:  Robert's Rules considers an executive committee to be "a board within a board" of the board of directors (equivalently called a board of trustees &c).  It looks as if your organization uses these terms differently.  Also, your topic title asks about the executive board and the board of trustees, but the text of your post doesn't mention the executive board.  So maybe I really do need to see the organizational chart, or a glossary.

But, you ask:

42 minutes ago, bob 82 said:

Can he legally hold both positions?

and:

42 minutes ago, bob 82 said:

Wouldn't this be a conflict of Interest?

and:

43 minutes ago, bob 82 said:

If elected as Financial officer would he have to vacate the position of Trustee??

So where in your rules do you think he couldn't legally hold both positions; and what would be the conflict of interest; and why would he have to vacate the position of trustee?  Is he somehow also the commander?

Also, and perhaps even more fundamentally, maybe abusing my fundament, you say:

48 minutes ago, bob 82 said:

We have established that if a Trustee is elected to the Post of Commander that he has to vacate his position on the Board of Trustees

... so I ask, how have you established this?  A bylaws provision?  custom?  precedent from a ruling derived from some trial by combat?

(I grope for a connection with Robert's Rules in all this, which gives me some kind of sinking feeling....)

[Guest Who's Coming to Dinner]

"Is it legal?" That's a question for a lawyer, not a parliamentarian.

Nothing in Robert's Rules prevents your board president from holding office on your executive committee, nor does RONR address what may or may not constitute a conflict of interest in holding these two offices.