Chairing an impeachment meeting

[Guest Dawn]

If we are holding a special Board of Director's meeting to impeach a President for misappropriation of funds and conflict of interest, who can chair the meeting without losing their vote?

[Rob Elsman]

If we are holding a special Board of Director's meeting to impeach a President for misappropriation of funds and conflict of interest, who can chair the meeting without losing their vote?

As far as the rules in RONR are concerned, the trial of an officer is held in a meeting of the superior assembly of an organization, unless this is impossible or impractical, in which case the bylaws should establish a committee on discipline directly subordinate to the superior assembly. See RONR (10th ed.), §61, pp. 624ff.

[Robert B Fish]

The chair of a meeting does not lose his/her vote by virtue of being chair. Any member is entitled to vote on the question. However, in meetings of more than about a dozen, the chairman maintains the appearance of impartiality by not making motions, not speaking in debate, and not voting unless his vote would affect the outcome. If you hold the vote by ballot, the chairman votes along wiht the other members.

-Bob

[Kim Goldsworthy]

If we are holding a special Board of Director's meeting to impeach a President for misappropriation of funds and conflict of interest,

who can chair the meeting without losing their vote?

Anyone. -- If that chairman pro tem is a voting member of the body which is meeting, then he never loses his rights of membership, like voting, by acting as the temporary presiding officer.

Q. Do you (collectively) have a rule in place which says that the chairman cannot vote?

You won't find such a rule in Robert's Rules of Order, which has a much lighter restriction (namely, the chair may vote when his single vote will change the outcome; else, the chair refrains from voting where his single vote won't make a difference in outcome).

[Josh Martin]

If we are holding a special Board of Director's meeting to impeach a President for misappropriation of funds and conflict of interest, who can chair the meeting without losing their vote?

Unless your rules provide otherwise, disciplinary authority is reserved for the general membership. If your board does have the authority to discipline its own members, then since the President has a personal interest not in common with other members on the motion, the Vice President should preside. He will retain his right to vote.

[Gary Novosielski]

If we are holding a special Board of Director's meeting to impeach a President for misappropriation of funds and conflict of interest, who can chair the meeting without losing their vote?

Presuming that your bylaws actually empower the board to impeach the president at all (a leap of faith)...

The vice president would preside when the president is the subject of discipline.

And it's a common misconception, but this concern over "losing their vote" is misplaced. The chair does not lose the right to vote, according to RONR.

Even in the most stringent conditions of large assemblies and their heightened need for impartiality--where the chair should not vote on most motions--he may always vote freely at any time that his single vote could affect the outcome, or whenever the vote is by ballot and nobody will know how he voted.

So, the only time the chair "should" refrain from voting are times when his vote would not make any difference. Effectively, the presiding officer never loses any voting power by presiding.