Elections at AGM

[Guest Johanna]

Our Board has 2 year terms. At present the President and Secretary are elected in odd years, and the Vice President and Treasurer in even years.

Our national organization is Skate Canada. There is a sample constitution sent from Skate Canada, for clubs to use as a template for updating our constitution. This sample has a bylaw specifying that the President and Vice President both be elected in the same year. Doesn't make sense to me. I wouldn't want the board to have a new president and vice president at the same time. Overlap makes for better continuity. Why would this structure be specified?

[hmtcastle]

Overlap makes for better continuity. Why would this structure be specified?

Well, you might ask those who have specified it but I would suggest that, since the vice-president fills in when the president is absent, and becomes the president if the president leaves mid-term, there's a natural connection.

You might also observe that here in the U.S. we elect the President and Vice-President as a pair (though, originally, it was the top two vote-getters so you could have a President from one party and a "hostile" vice-president from the other party).

I agree that staggered terms can be helpful in, say, a board where, for example, three members of a nine-member board are elected each year for a three-year term. But officers need to work together and it makes sense that they be elected concurrently.

You also need to distinguish between the terms of board members and the terms of officers. You could, for example, have board members serve three-year terms while officers (chosen from among the board members?) serve only one-year terms.

In any event, such considerations are beyond the scope of this forum.