officer resignation

[Guest Elle]

Hi, Our club officers and board members have accepted the verbal resignation of an officer(Bylaws state written or verbal) and the President is now in the position, as stated in the Bylaws.

The officer then wanted to take back this positon and the President accepted his request without presenting it to the rest of the officers and board members for a majority vote. The officer refuses to pay his club dues(reason for his resignation), which is a requirement to hold an officer or board member position.

Where can I find what to do with this situation.

Thanks for help

[jstackpo]

Once a resignation is accepted (good thing you did that!) that person is OUT. p. 308 The only way he could get back is run for election, next time around, or get appointed to (his own!) vacancy.

Does the president have the sole authority to fill vacancies? If so, then he is back in again.

With respect to your dues requirement for holding office, that is a matter for your bylaws -- it is not an RONR rule.

[Chris Harrison]

A resignation cannot be Rescinded after it has already been accepted (RONR p. 308 ll. 24-30) so he is out of office and it was improper for the President to have allowed it to be Rescinded in the first place.

[Guest Elle]

Per the Bylaws: The officers and board members are to recommend a member, by majority vote of the officers and board, to fill a vacancy to the members at a member meeting and a majority member vote determines if the member recommended takes the position. The President didn't present,to the other officers and board members, this request to take back his position but made an executive decision and told the officer that he could have his position back. So I would say that the President didn't follow the Club Bylaws in this situation, correct.??? This person hasn't paid his dues and as of this date, so he isn't a member of the club.

How would/could he be appointed???

[jstackpo]

Correct, in part (maybe entirely correct).

Next meeting raise the (valid) point of order that the president violated the bylaws and the officer in question is NOT back in his old position. The president's action is null and void. p. 251.

Nonpayment of dues alone does NOT remove someone from membership, per RONR, p. 571. But if your bylaws say it does, then your rule supersedes RONR's rule.

Also nothing in RONR requires one to be a member to be an officer, p. 447.

[Trina]

Per the Bylaws: The officers and board members are to recommend a member, by majority vote of the officers and board, to fill a vacancy to the members at a member meeting and a majority member vote determines if the member recommended takes the position. The President didn't present,to the other officers and board members, this request to take back his position but made an executive decision and told the officer that he could have his position back. So I would say that the President didn't follow the Club Bylaws in this situation, correct.??? This person hasn't paid his dues and as of this date, so he isn't a member of the club.

How would/could he be appointed???

Regarding 'executive decision', there simply is no such thing... unless such authority is specifically given to the President in the bylaws.

You said in the initial post that paying dues is a requirement for holding an officer or board member position -- if that's accurate, then, even if the President had sole appointment authority, he still wouldn't be able to appoint an ineligible person to the vacant position.

It appears that the President does not have sole appointment authority, so more than one major error has been committed here.

At the next meeting someone should raise a point of order that the appointment of the former member is null and void. If the President rules against the point of order, be prepared to appeal from the decision of the chair (assuming someone seconds the motion to appeal, the assembly will then decide the matter).

Keep in mind that RONR has no rule saying that a member loses membership as a result of not paying dues. Nor does RONR have a rule saying that a person must be a member of the organization in order to serve as an officer. Such rules would have to be found in your own governing documents.

[jstackpo]

Gee, T., sounds as though we have been reading the same book!

[Guest Terri]

A chair resigns or abandons months into a two year term. Resignation is accepted. Is that person allowed to serve as immediate past chair when the current immediate past chair served two full terms and this person resigned eight months into the position?

[Guest Terri]

A chair resigns or abandons months into a two year term. Resignation is accepted. Is that person allowed to serve as immediate past chair when the current immediate past chair served two full terms and this person resigned eight months into the position?

[Guest Guest]

The club Bylaws state: All Officers and Board of Directors must pay their membership dues by May 31st of the current year or they will forfeit their votes for the purpose of Club business until the fee is paid and if the dues are left unpaid by June 30th of the current year, the Officer or Board member will be asked to relinquish their position by the majority vote of the members present at a Member Meeting or a Speciall called meeting.

Given that this is in the Bylaws, should the officer be given until June 30th to pay his dues and then any action, such as a a point of order, be done at the July meeting of the officers & board?

Thanks for everyones answers.

[Guest Edgar]

A chair resigns or abandons months into a two year term. Resignation is accepted. Is that person allowed to serve as immediate past chair when the current immediate past chair served two full terms and this person resigned eight months into the position?

A chair resigns or abandons months into a two year term. Resignation is accepted. Is that person allowed to serve as immediate past chair when the current immediate past chair served two full terms and this person resigned eight months into the position?

Please post your new question (just once!) as a new topic.

By the way, we love past-president questions on this forum.

[Trina]

The club Bylaws state: All Officers and Board of Directors must pay their membership dues by May 31st of the current year or they will forfeit their votes for the purpose of Club business until the fee is paid and if the dues are left unpaid by June 30th of the current year, the Officer or Board member will be asked to relinquish their position by the majority vote of the members present at a Member Meeting or a Speciall called meeting.

Given that this is in the Bylaws, should the officer be given until June 30th to pay his dues and then any action, such as a a point of order, be done at the July meeting of the officers & board?

Thanks for everyones answers.

Assuming you are the original poster in this thread...

So, review of the bylaws seems to show that the former officer was/is not actually ineligible to hold the office (although apparently not allowed to vote after May 31). Despite that change in the story, the fact remains that the officer resigned, and that his resignation was accepted. As previously noted (by Mr. Stackpole and Chris H.) a resignation, once accepted, cannot be undone or rescinded. Further, in post #4 you made it clear that the President does not have unilateral authority to fill the vacant position, no matter what his delusions about making an 'executive decision' on the matter. Thus, the position is vacant, and will remain vacant until properly filled. If you have a meeting coming up in June, you shouldn't just pretend that the person who resigned is still a member of the board, because he isn't. You should follow the procedure in your bylaws and start the process of recommending someone to fill the vacancy, for eventual approval by the general membership -- if I understood the process you described in post #4. If the board wants to recommend the person who just resigned, that's your decision.

Incidentally, the new information you quoted from the bylaws seems quite indeterminate in its application -- it doesn't actually say a person who doesn't pay dues is no longer eligible to serve; only that such a person will be 'asked to relinquish their position' and even that request seems to be at the discretion of the membership -- why else require a majority vote on the matter? And what happens if the person just says 'no' when asked to relinquish their position? It also doesn't, in itself, prevent a non-member (or a delinquent-in-dues member) from being chosen to fill a vacancy. Perhaps there is other language elsewhere in the bylaws that plays into this also. My point is, the organization may wish to clarify some of the bylaws language, if it is as vague as it appears to be.

[Guest Guest]

I will be sure to ask the Bylaws Committee to look at this bylaw to have it be more clear and submit an amendment it at the next Bylaws Committee meeting. Thanks for all help and input.