Guest Fred Posted June 19, 2017 at 11:07 PM Report Share Posted June 19, 2017 at 11:07 PM Our voting council made changes to qualifications to run for board positions. As per our bylaws, these are effective immediately. 5 months have now passed and our next council meeting is coming up. Members have been notified of the board positions available and certain members have decided to run. One of the people running does not meet the mandatory criteria so now the Board wants to tell the council to let this person run and we will start this new qualification process at a future date versus what the bylaws say which was effective 5 months ago which they all passed. Can they do this? What options do they have allowing them to do this or are they not allowed to do this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexis Hunt Posted June 20, 2017 at 12:11 AM Report Share Posted June 20, 2017 at 12:11 AM 58 minutes ago, Guest Fred said: Our voting council made changes to qualifications to run for board positions. As per our bylaws, these are effective immediately. 5 months have now passed and our next council meeting is coming up. Members have been notified of the board positions available and certain members have decided to run. One of the people running does not meet the mandatory criteria so now the Board wants to tell the council to let this person run and we will start this new qualification process at a future date versus what the bylaws say which was effective 5 months ago which they all passed. Can they do this? What options do they have allowing them to do this or are they not allowed to do this? The only way they could do this is to change the qualifications again, through whatever process is required for that, presumably an amendment approved by your voting council. You cannot approve one-off exceptions (although you could write a one-off exception into the qualifications). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fred Posted June 20, 2017 at 03:25 AM Report Share Posted June 20, 2017 at 03:25 AM This seems shady to say the least to let someone run against someone when they just changed the qualifications and the person does not qualify!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted June 20, 2017 at 01:39 PM Report Share Posted June 20, 2017 at 01:39 PM 10 hours ago, Guest Fred said: This seems shady to say the least to let someone run against someone when they just changed the qualifications and the person does not qualify!! Let's back up a bit. You say that "Our voting council made changes to qualifications to run for board positions." Do your bylaws actually give the "voting council" the authority to do this? In the ordinary case, qualifications for office are specified in the bylaws, and they may only be changed by amending the bylaws. You later say that "the Board wants to tell the council to let this person run." Does the board have the authority to give these instructions? Is the "voting council" a committee of the board? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fred Posted June 21, 2017 at 03:57 AM Report Share Posted June 21, 2017 at 03:57 AM The voting council put these qualifications in place in February 2017 into the bylaws. They voted them in. We have rules that say that to put any motions to discuss since we only meet twice per year they must be sent in advance 45 days before the meetings to the IOG committee for consideration. The motions are then sent to the Council in advance of the upcoming meeting. The board does not have the authority to over turn bylaws. They can make decisions for the organization but most tell the council at the next meeting. They want to tell the voting members to let her run and if you think that we should stick to what we just passed then don't vote the person in. The voting council is not a committee of the board it consists of 20 voting members plus 5 board members and a chair that breaks ties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted June 21, 2017 at 02:01 PM Report Share Posted June 21, 2017 at 02:01 PM 10 hours ago, Guest Fred said: The voting council put these qualifications in place in February 2017 into the bylaws. They voted them in. We have rules that say that to put any motions to discuss since we only meet twice per year they must be sent in advance 45 days before the meetings to the IOG committee for consideration. The motions are then sent to the Council in advance of the upcoming meeting. The board does not have the authority to over turn bylaws. They can make decisions for the organization but most tell the council at the next meeting. They want to tell the voting members to let her run and if you think that we should stick to what we just passed then don't vote the person in. The voting council is not a committee of the board it consists of 20 voting members plus 5 board members and a chair that breaks ties. Thank you. Based on these facts, it would seem to me that the voting council may amend the bylaws again to change the qualifications (assuming there is enough time to do this), but the council may not leave the bylaws as is and simply allow this person to run in violation of the bylaws. Additionally, it seems this decision is up to the voting council, not the board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts