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chair of board meeting in absence of president


Guest pat

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The president was absent from a board meeting and had the past president, an ex-officio member of the board chair the meeting in her absence. The position of VP is vacant and our rules only refer to the VP assuming this responsibility. Because the past president is ex officio, was this legal?

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What should have happened is the Secretary (I'm assuming present) calls the meeting to order and presides over the election of a chair pro tem. If the secretary was absent, any member calls to order, presides over election of chair pro tem, who then presides over election of secretary pro tem, and you get down to business. For next time.

At this point, if the meeting is done and over, and no one is having a fit about it or questioning the validity of any actions or votes that occurred, move on.

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What should have happened is the Secretary (I'm assuming present) calls the meeting to order and presides over the election of a chair pro tem. If the secretary was absent, any member calls to order, presides over election of chair pro tem, who then presides over election of secretary pro tem, and you get down to business. For next time.

At this point, if the meeting is done and over, and no one is having a fit about it or questioning the validity of any actions or votes that occurred, move on.

The fact that the assembly accepted a particular presiding officer (and didn't exercise their right to choose someone other than the person selected by the absent president) doesn't give any possible grounds for questioning the validity of actions or votes that occurred, does it?

The president was absent from a board meeting and had the past president, an ex-officio member of the board chair the meeting in her absence. The position of VP is vacant and our rules only refer to the VP assuming this responsibility. Because the past president is ex officio, was this legal?

An ex officio member has full rights of membership. Moreover, an assembly can even choose to have a non-member act as chair if it wishes to do so. In short, the error that was committed has nothing to do with the person chosen, nor does it have anything to do with that person's ex officio status. The error was that the president has no authority to decide who will preside in her absence.

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The fact that the assembly accepted a particular presiding officer (and didn't exercise their right to choose someone other than the person selected by the absent president) doesn't give any possible grounds for questioning the validity of actions or votes that occurred, does it?

Most likely not, but with only the barest of facts provided, I hedge my bets and wait for the follow up post that typically begins "Perhaps I should have been clearer......." :)

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