Lack of Attendance at Elections Meeting

[Guest Heather Tharpe]

Hi. I am the Secretary for a baseball league. We have had for many years (before I became associated with the league) a trouble with lack of attendance at Auxiliary meetings. We are holding our elections meeting tonight and have a feeling that hardly anyone will show. We have sent the notifications as required by our by-laws and actually have gone above and beyond what was expectd. I have also heard from the grapevine that some of the individuals that were nominated for new board positions that were just created due to expansion will not be there. These individuals did not have the courtesy to even call. Our current bylaws state:

"This board will be responsible for enforcing the by-laws and make league decisions concerning immanent decisions concerning actions deemed detrimental to the overall functionality of the league. These members must be capable, conscientious and willing to accept their assigned duties." and "Elections will be held annually at the September Auxiliary meeting. Officers will be elected and shall take office immediately following Elections meeting. The following officers will be elected and shall serve for a five-year term unless not reelected. A person shall not be eligible to serve more than five consecutive terms in the same office."

The Board that is currently in place were nominated again for the same positions and had no outside nominations for these positions so essentially the current board was nominated again. My questions are:

1. Do we need to reschedule the elections meeting if no one else besides the board attend and no one else has ran against the current board?

2. Due to expansion the board created new board positions outside of current positions. Due to lack of participation and commitment to the new positions can we hold off on these to a later date?

Thanks!

[Gary c Tesser]

Let me start by mentioning that I don't see where the quotation from the bylaws about the board comes in. The problem is with the upcoming membership meeting, not a board meeting, isn't it?

Also I think the bylaws' statement about 5-year terms and re-election is either poorly phrased, or might make no sense.

Ms Tharpe didn't mention the auxiliary's quorum. I suspect that the major, if not only, real problem rests there.

To her questions:

1. No, you do not need to reschedule the meeting if a quorum is present (even if only the board attends, if that fulfills the quorum requirement). If the meeting does not have a quorum, then those in attendance should try to get enough other members to show up. If a quorum just doesn't happen, those present should schedule an adjourned (continuation) meeting, and in the interim, do everything possible (or even not possible, if you can manage it) to get enough members to show up.

1(a). From what has been posted, nothing forbids the current board members from running unopposed.

2. Be sure that the bylaws authorize the board to create new board positions. If the bylaws do not give the board that authority, then the board cannot create new board positions -- and it did not.

Ms Tharpe, what do you mean, hold off to a later date?

[Guest Heather Tharpe]

Mr. Tesser,

Thank you for responding to my post. It really means a lot. To answer your questions...

The Auxiliary are members who have paid membership dues to have voting rights which is renewed annually. The board members are also a part of the Auxiliary. Anyone associated with the league can attend meetings. Anyone can become an Auxiliary member anytime through the year (which is considered September to August 31st). All the meetings are publicized well in advance of the meetings.

The meeting tonight is our annual elections meeting. Auxiliary dues will need to be collected tonight in order to vote because it begins a new year.

Per our by-laws a quorum is 2/3 vote.

In terms of holding off to a later date... The new positions created were created due to an expansion to our league. We will have a new division this season which would required more help. We have had several Auxiliary meetings at the beginning of the year discussing these new positions. These positions are not a part of the Executive Board. I was thinking that since there is a lack of commitment to these roles then we would not move forward with them until there is an interest. At that time we could hold a special meeting for them.

[tctheatc]

Per our by-laws a quorum is 2/3 vote

That doesn't make sense. A quorum and a vote are two different things. Do you mean that a quorum is 2/3 of the membership?