Alaina Pierret

I am hoping to pick the brains of parliamentary authorities on a very specific issue that has come up in my club. First, we are a very small member based national club. We hold an annual election that begins with a slate compiled by a nominating committee. The slate is mailed to all members and nominations from the floor are opened. Our board serves two year terms with half elected in even years and the other half elected in odd years. We have an issue that has come about for the second time in three years. We have a current board member whose term is not expired (has one year left on his term) that wants to be nominated for an open officer position. When this issue arose before, the board member was told they must resign the seat they held in order to be included on the slate by the nominating committee. Our basis for this is our bylaws state, Article III, Section 1“They shall hold office for a terms of two (2) years and shall serve until their successors have been elected.” Further, our bylaws state Article III, Section 5 “Any vacancies occurring on the Board or among the Officers during the year shall be filled, until the next annual election, by a majority vote of the remaining members of the Board…” Since this is our annual election, by not forcing the resignation of the director at the time the slate is created, a person will serve an entire year without member input or involvement since the remaining board members fill the vacancy that has been created. Is this the correct way to handle this issue or have we misinterpreted our bylaws by forcing the board member to resign? Have we created a precedent or custom by doing this in the past? A complete copy of our bylaws is attached. Thank you all in advance. 2017 USNMC ByLaws.pdf

Thank you again to everyone for your time. Our bylaws so state that our board may conduct business via email. I will review all responses and forward to our board.

Thank you all for your input. One other question, if I may. There has now been an amendment to the original motion and second. The chair has stated the amendment. It not the second. If the second is recognized by the chair and a vote is called, would the vote be for the amendment as it supersedes the original motion or for the motion as stated in its’ original form? Again, thank you.

My question is in regards to a motion that has been made via email, seconded and recognized by the chair. The motion violates our bylaws, in my opinion. We are setting up a nomination committee and our by laws state that the board shall nominate three members and two alternates. The board shall also name the chair. The motion that has been made names the chair and states that the chair choose from a long list of names. The president, who is also the chair named in the motion, states that she cannot ignore the motion and it’s okay because it has been done wrong before and no one complained. Is this proper or does it in fact violate our bylaws? Should the motion be considered null and void? Thank you all in advance.