Officers Terms

[R12181948]

In my organization the president has appointed members to positions that had elected members in them but they have been inactive for sometime. These members appointed atre in other administrative positions and I feel the following applies. The positions that members are not active in are elected positions. These people should resign if they haven't died. If they do not resign then anyone filling that position would only be acting. If they do resign then the person appointed to that position must resign from his first position so as not to hold two positions at one time. If that person does not resign then the person appointed to fulfill the duties would only be acting since the first person is elected. Our by laws do not address this issue. They only refer to Roberts Rules. 

[Richard Brown]

Your president has only such power to appoint people to positions that the bylaws grant  him.  Do they grant him the power to make the appointments he has been making?  If not, then he has no authority to make them.  Also, if those positions are elective positions and are currently filled by members elected to them, it is highly doubtful that anyone can be appointed to them, even temporarily, until there is an actual vacancy.

If you have officers who you believe are not properly fulfilling their duties, you might take a look at FAQ # 20 on the main website: http://robertsrules.com/faq.html#20

If you can provide us with more details, we might be able to help you more.

[Joshua Katz]

18 minutes ago, R12181948 said:

In my organization the president has appointed members to positions that had elected members in them but they have been inactive for sometime.

If a position is an elected position, the only time it would be proper to appoint someone would be if 1) the office was vacant and 2) the President has the power of appointment; OR if 3) the bylaws give the power to remove and appoint to the President.  We know 1 is not true.  We don't know about 2 (which doesn't really matter, anyway), but your statement that the bylaws are silent suggests 2 is not true, either.  That silence also suggests 3 is not true.  Of course,  I haven't checked your bylaws for all possible rules (and we don't interpret bylaws here, so I'm also not going to), but if they truly are silent (see below), that's where you are.  Therefore, not only is this improper, but it wasn't done.  People can drone on about things, but if they lack the power to do them, their words have no effect.  The elected people are in office, the appointed people aren't.

21 minutes ago, R12181948 said:

These members appointed atre in other administrative positions and I feel the following applies. The positions that members are not active in are elected positions. These people should resign if they haven't died.

Well, they can.  If they've died, the office is vacant, and you should do whatever your bylaws say (if anything) about vacancies.  If they are silent, then whatever body elected them can elect someone to fill the vacancy.  If they aren't dead, and choose not to resign, I don't know if they should or not.  I guess it's up to them.  If they choose not to, and your organization wishes to place someone else in that position, it can remove them via a disciplinary process (see chapter XX), and may have other options depending upon what the bylaws say about term of office.

 

23 minutes ago, R12181948 said:

If they do not resign then anyone filling that position would only be acting.

Well, no.  If they do not resign, then they hold the position, and no one else does.  If you've elected someone to office, you can't then appoint someone to "acting" that same office.  Of course, it may be possible, if they aren't doing the job and you don't remove them, for someone else to pick up the slack (or it may not be, it will depend on your bylaws), but that person won't be "acting treasurer," just someone helping keep the books while the treasurer is off golfing or whatever.

25 minutes ago, R12181948 said:

If they do resign then the person appointed to that position must resign from his first position so as not to hold two positions at one time.

RONR has no prohibitions on holding more than one position at once (although you do not gain an additional vote that way). Your rules might.  

 

25 minutes ago, R12181948 said:

Our by laws do not address this issue.

Are you sure?  Much depends on what they say, if anything, about filling vacancies, term of office, discipline, and the responsibilities of officers.