Adrian

Thanks for the reply Joshua. After talking to members including the one board member, it sounds like they were more than less upset as to me just doing it, instead of telling them first then doing it. All I did was add an electronic lock, and I didn’t change how they got into the building until I talked to the organization first. Here is what the bylaws read: Article III - Officers of the Organization The Executive Board shall be elected with a secret ballot by the Active membership in attendance and in good standing at the November General meeting of the organization and they shall hold office for a period of 1-year or until their successors are duly elected, or until such time as they are removed from office as specified by Paragraph D, Article IV. The newly elected officer’s terms of office shall begin following their installation in December. President The president shall preside at all meetings of the organization; call special meetings when necessary; appoint the chairpersons of the Rehab & Museum committees; appoint the chief mechanic/custodian of the organizations operated vehicles and properties; have general supervision over all matters pertaining to the organization; and to see that harmony is preserved and that the laws of the organization are enforced.” Then it goes on to read the following, after each position is listed: Article IV Committees and Directors B. Executive Board of Directors 1. The Executive Board consisting of: the immediate Past President; the President; Vice-President; Secretary; Treasurer; Chief Mechanic/Custodian; Rehab Chairperson; Museum Chairperson; Membership Chairperson, and Fundraising Chairperson. 2. When multiple Board seats are held by an individual, a special election will be called by the Secretary to ensure all Board seats specified in Paragraph B-1, Article IV are filled. The nomination of a member(s) in good standing will be called for to fill each opening with elections to such position to immediately follow such nominations. The individual(s) thus elected need not have a specific office or function other than that a member of the Board of Directors. Board members thus elected as specified above shall serve a 1-year period or until the next general election of officers is conducted. Filling of Board seats during the term due to death, resignation or removal of occupant shall be handled as specified above to fill the vacancy. All Active members in good standing within the organization are eligible for the above positions without restriction. 3. No contractual agreements shall be entered into on behalf of the organization unless such action has been previously approved by majority of the Active membership in good standing at a General Membershipmeeting. 4. Emergency expenditures of organization funds beyond approved annual budgets can be approved by the Board of Directors and must be reported to the members at the next scheduled General Membership meeting.”

Hello, I am President of my nonprofit. At our February executive board meeting, we had 5/10 members present and at that meeting, I informed the 5 Executive Board members present, that we would need to do security upgrades to our site including a new lock. No one had any objections at the board meeting. I then received an electronic lock as a donation, days after the meeting. I installed it at our site but have not issued key cards. I planned to issue them at our April general membership meeting, as well as explain what I did to enhance security (installed the lock system). A board member asked me at the April general meeting, “who gave you the authorization to install the device without bringing it to the general membership? What board meeting was this discussed at, as I never heard about it! (This member wasn’t present at the February Board meeting) Another non-board member chimed in and asked me, “Adrian, how did you get this item, did you buy it, did you steal it? You need to read our constitutions and bylaws!” Members present at the meeting were in shock how they teamed up and embarrassed me at the general meeting, where I have new members present. My apologies for the lengthy entry, but my questions are, (1) was I in the right to install this as long as my board knew about it and what can I do about the member asking if I stole the system, as I am insulted by both of his statements. Thank you for your input. Respectfully submitted, Adrian Machalik