Jump to content
The Official RONR Q & A Forums

quorum of an executive board with unfilled positions


Guest misty

Recommended Posts

Where the organization's bylaws state "the executive board shall be comprised of the president, vice president, 2nd vice president, secretary/treasurer, immediate past president, newsletter edito,. public relations officer and 6 directors" and "a majority of the members of the executive board shall constitute a quorum", due  vacant  positions on this executive board count when establishing a quorum? Two of the positions on the executive board are not filled. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Would you use the same logic if a board member was suspended from the board?

 

Well, there's no such thing as suspending a member from the board in RONR. So you should probably check the disciplinary procedures in your bylaws to see if it exists there.

 

Assuming such a thing exists, yes, I'd say the same principle applies. A board member whose rights as a board member are under suspension would not be considered a member of the board for the purposes of determining whether a quorum is present.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, there's no such thing as suspending a member from the board in RONR. So you should probably check the disciplinary procedures in your bylaws to see if it exists there.

 

Assuming such a thing exists, yes, I'd say the same principle applies. A board member whose rights as a board member are under suspension would not be considered a member of the board for the purposes of determining whether a quorum is present.

 

 

Ah, there is the possibility of a suspended member of the Board in RONR, p. 662, ll. 25-31.  It is fairly new. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The board has not adopted any parliamentary rules to date, although some of us are pushing for "Roberts Rules Of Order". There is nothing in our bylaws regarding suspending a board member. The board consists of eight members under normal circumstances therefore I feel any vote of the board that does not include a minimum of five members is illegitimate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The board consists of eight members under normal circumstances therefore I feel any vote of the board that does not include a minimum of five members is illegitimate.

 

Unfortunately, RONR does not support your feeling. Vacancies on boards occur all the time. As long as a quorum is present the board can continue to function. Further, once a quorum is present, a vote of 1-0 (with all other present members abstaining) could adopt a motion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The board has not adopted any parliamentary rules to date, although some of us are pushing for "Roberts Rules Of Order". There is nothing in our bylaws regarding suspending a board member. The board consists of eight members under normal circumstances therefore I feel any vote of the board that does not include a minimum of five members is illegitimate.

 

I would agree that a quorum of the board is five (assuming there are currently eight members of the board, notwithstanding that some of them are "suspended,"), but this is not quite the same thing as saying that "any vote of the board that does not include a minimum of five members is illegitimate." A quorum is the number of members who must be present at a meeting. It has nothing to do with how many members vote on a given question.

 

Additionally, as J. J. has pointed out, there are some limited circumstances in RONR where a board member may be temporarily suspended. Specifically, this refers to how a board member may be suspended from the time charges are preferred until the time the trial is completed, but I quite doubt this is applicable to your situation. Suspending a board member does not exist as one of the actual penalties. While members may be suspended from the society, it doesn't really that work that way for the board. Generally, you're either a board member or you're not.

 

Unfortunately, RONR does not support your feeling. Vacancies on boards occur all the time. As long as a quorum is present the board can continue to function. Further, once a quorum is present, a vote of 1-0 (with all other present members abstaining) could adopt a motion.

 

Yes, vacancies occur all the time, but the problem in jd94's association seems to be that board members are being "suspended." Based on the facts presented, this is likely not proper.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The board has not adopted any parliamentary rules to date, although some of us are pushing for "Roberts Rules Of Order". There is nothing in our bylaws regarding suspending a board member. The board consists of eight members under normal circumstances therefore I feel any vote of the board that does not include a minimum of five members is illegitimate.

Since there is nothing in your bylaws about this, and probably about countless other things you haven't anticipated, I'd say that adopting RONR as your parliamentary authority is something you should move to the top of your priorities.

 

See here for the correct language.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

What happens in an organization if the President (who is entitled to a second 2-year term) runs against an opponent and loses to the opponent, but there are other positions for the approaching 2016-2018 term that no one ran for. Currently I am the VP of the chapter and decided not to run again, but no one else ran so that position will be vacant as of 1/1/16. So the current President (who is extremely angry that she lost the election) is trying to make appointments to my position and another one for the 2016-2018 term even though she will no longer be the President at that time. Is this appropriate? Shouldn't the newly elected President make that decision? And where can I find this out in Roberts Rules?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What happens in an organization if the President (who is entitled to a second 2-year term) runs against an opponent and loses to the opponent, but there are other positions for the approaching 2016-2018 term that no one ran for. Currently I am the VP of the chapter and decided not to run again, but no one else ran so that position will be vacant as of 1/1/16. So the current President (who is extremely angry that she lost the election) is trying to make appointments to my position and another one for the 2016-2018 term even though she will no longer be the President at that time. Is this appropriate? Shouldn't the newly elected President make that decision? And where can I find this out in Roberts Rules?

 

As Mr. Gerber notes here http://robertsrules.forumflash.com/index.php?/topic/25416-important-read-this-first-information-for-new-members-and-guests/   please post this as a new topic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...