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Board's Ability to Vote a Member off the Board


Guest laura

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We have a Board member who volunteered to serve a 2-year term. The member was accepted onto the Board; without the vote of the community. The member is at the end of the first year. His behavior is frequently unprofessional, including rude, sarcastic, condescending, overly-emotionally, explosive. When this occurs, the Board is reminded by the President to return to professional, civil behavior. This has occurred repeatedly throughout the year. He is dismissive of our Property Manager and her advice. His latest flame-o-gram (e-mail response) to a suggestion put forth by a fellow Board member has finally pushed me to ask: Can a majority of the Board vote this fellow off the Board? I do not want to saddle next year's Board -- that will have several new members -- of this man's boorish, counterproductive behavior. BTW: High maintenance; low return in that he has not contributed much else other than his bad behavior. Thanks for any guidance you can provide.

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The board has only the power given to it in the bylaws or by an act of the society's assembly.

It's often said here that the power to appoint is (generally?) the power to remove. But would this be true if a board properly fills a vacancy on the board? If the board is usually elected by the general membership, wouldn't all board members, whether elected by the membership or appointed by the board (to fill a vacancy), enjoy equal protection from removal?

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It's often said here that the power to appoint is (generally?) the power to remove. But would this be true if a board properly fills a vacancy on the board? If the board is usually elected by the general membership, wouldn't all board members, whether elected by the membership or appointed by the board (to fill a vacancy), enjoy equal protection from removal?

A board's authority to fill a vacancy would be the result of a particular rule or act of the organization, in which case the particular rule or adopted motion will determine the power the board receives.

I don't believe a rule that only mentions that the board is authorized to fill a vacancy in an office transfers to the board the additional authority to remove from that office.

I don't think appointing a person to a vacancy is the same as appointing a person to an office, for the purposes of removal. In other words, the power to fill a vacancy doesn't necessarily bring with it the power to create a vacancy.

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I don't believe a rule that only mentions that the board is authorized to fill a vacancy in an office transfers to the board the additional authority to remove from that office.

Thanks. That's my understanding as well.

My question was primarily hypothetical but the original question seemed to suggest that, since this particular board member had been appointed by the board to fill a vacancy, therefore his removal might not require the action of the general membership.

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It depends on the bylaws.

I know of an example where the a membership is required to remove someone elected to the board by the membership, but someone appointed by the board can be removed by a majority of the Board. State law in this example agrees with the bylaws in the matter.

If they Board fills a vacancy, that person is not elected by the membership, and therefore can be removed by the board, unless in this case, the bylaws or state law differ.

The other members should call to order, and the chair can have the person removed for being disruptive, by the police if necessary. The Chair has this authority.

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It depends on the bylaws.

I know of an example where the a membership is required to remove someone elected to the board by the membership, but someone appointed by the board can be removed by a majority of the Board. State law in this example agrees with the bylaws in the matter.

If they Board fills a vacancy, that person is not elected by the membership, and therefore can be removed by the board, unless in this case, the bylaws or state law differ.

The other members should call to order, and the chair can have the person removed for being disruptive, by the police if necessary. The Chair has this authority.

That authority only applies to the removal of disruptive non-members. Members can be removed only with the approval of the assembly (in this instance, the board).

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I have a similar situation with a club that a board member when the club was formed last year was appointed by the president and they are abusive in the way they treat other board members and other club members and we want to know how to vote them out if the annual election is not until next april

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If you have a similar (but different) question than the one in this thread, you should start a separate thread. The answers to the question can sometimes be very specific to the situation being discussed, and it's almost impossible to follow a discussion about parliamentary procedure that tries to address two situations at once. :blink:

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I have a similar situation with a club that a board member when the club was formed last year was appointed by the president and they are abusive in the way they treat other board members and other club members and we want to know how to vote them out if the annual election is not until next april

See FAQ #20.

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