Guest Carri Posted February 24, 2013 at 01:23 AM Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 at 01:23 AM We put forward a vote to obtain council for our soccer league. The board voted it down. How can two members who are members of other organizations who have legal council even be able to vote on this and now what can we do. We have issues coming tour board that we need legal advice to vote on! We are being bullied! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted February 24, 2013 at 01:38 AM Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 at 01:38 AM We put forward a vote to obtain council for our soccer league. The board voted it down. How can two members who are members of other organizations who have legal council even be able to vote on this and now what can we do. We have issues coming tour board that we need legal advice to vote on! We are being bullied!Nothing in RONR would prohibit the two members from voting on the question. RONR suggests that members who have a personal or pecuniary interest not in common with other members should abstain, but they cannot be compelled to abstain.As for what to do now, I recommend trying to persuade more of the board members that the league needs council, or failing that, have the general membership adopt a motion to secure legal counsel. Unless your Bylaws or applicable law provide otherwise, the general membership is the highest authority in the organization. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Carri Posted February 24, 2013 at 01:43 AM Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 at 01:43 AM Could personal interest be that the program being voted on benefits the club he represents outside of our board? The club has a pecuniary benefit from the program, being they get paid for doing it. The program they are trying to pass negatively impacts our league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Soccer Fan Posted February 24, 2013 at 01:49 AM Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 at 01:49 AM There are a couple other possibilities for counsel--but you would need to solicit counsel to discuss these possibilities.1) Individual members could seek counsel representing them individually.2) Depending on what your bylaws state, the President may have the authority to engage counsel on behalf of the organization without full board approval -- it might be worth reading that carefully.May I suggest you make a list of options and then rank them according to which might have the largest payoff and least investment? Doing so may help you focus your energy and hone in on the most effective course of action whether it be proficient understanding and employment of RONR, newspaper and city council awareness, personal legal counsel, bylaws revisions, etc.Could personal interest be that the program being voted on benefits the club he represents outside of our board? The club has a pecuniary benefit from the program, being they get paid for doing it. The program they are trying to pass negatively impacts our league.Are you saying that as a result of the board member in question voting against a motion that would benefit your organization, it would in-turn benefit another organization he represents?What manner of representation does he provide for the other organization?Is the other organization similar in purpose such as another soccer club? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted February 24, 2013 at 02:06 AM Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 at 02:06 AM Could personal interest be that the program being voted on benefits the club he represents outside of our board? The club has a pecuniary benefit from the program, being they get paid for doing it. The program they are trying to pass negatively impacts our league.I could go either way on that. Even if we interpret it as a personal interest, however, all RONR says is that he should abstain. He still has a right to vote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Carri Posted February 24, 2013 at 02:44 AM Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 at 02:44 AM Yes it is another soccer club.He is the president.Yes the club he represents benefits hugely, especially monetarily.It hurts our organization. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Soccer Fan Posted February 24, 2013 at 02:49 AM Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 at 02:49 AM Yes it is another soccer club.He is the president.Yes the club he represents benefits hugely, especially monetarily.It hurts our organization.Just to be clear, is he the President of both clubs or just the other one and a member on yours?Does a majority of your board disagree with his actions? If so, do you count enough votes to remove him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Carri Posted February 24, 2013 at 02:55 AM Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 at 02:55 AM He is the president of the other club, not ours.There are only six board members, and one is a city employee who wants this program for the city so he doesn't care about our organization because of his employment with the city.The other board member is another soccer club president who abstains on everything and another member votes with city guy because she likes to please him. She doesn't do what's best for our organization ever.There are two of us who stand alone in favor of the league whose board we sit on.The other members hate us because we fight for what's right while they try to shove things down our throat to meet their own agendas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Carri Posted February 24, 2013 at 03:00 AM Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 at 03:00 AM We tried to retain council to help represent our league against these rogue actions but of course, they voted against it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Soccer Fan Posted February 24, 2013 at 03:06 AM Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 at 03:06 AM It sounds like (in addition to legal counsel) you might want to consider how to (i) remove the board member who serve interests other than this club, (ii) add more board members who would serve the interests of this club, (iii) take a look at this http://www.robertsru...com/faq.html#20, (iv) look very carefully at your bylaws - if you have a general membership (which I suspect you might) - it might be worth throwing the question to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Carri Posted February 24, 2013 at 03:09 AM Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 at 03:09 AM Is the general membership the players in our soccer league?Why wouldn't we be allowed to have legal council when their clubs do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted February 24, 2013 at 03:11 AM Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 at 03:11 AM Is the general membership the players in our soccer league?Maybe. Who elects the board?Ultimately, your Bylaws will define who the members of the organization are.Why wouldn't we be allowed to have legal council when their clubs do?That sounds like a question for the members who voted against the motion to retain counsel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Carri Posted February 24, 2013 at 03:14 AM Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 at 03:14 AM We have over 2000 general members....how do we ask them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted February 24, 2013 at 03:18 AM Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 at 03:18 AM We have over 2000 general members....how do we ask them?Do you ever have meetings of the general membership? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Carri Posted February 24, 2013 at 03:20 AM Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 at 03:20 AM No but our board meetings are open to the public. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted February 24, 2013 at 03:22 AM Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 at 03:22 AM No but our board meetings are open to the public.Hm. Do your Bylaws provide for any method for the general members to get involved? Mail voting on bylaw amendments or elections for board members or something? Or does the board have all the power? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Carri Posted February 24, 2013 at 03:25 AM Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 at 03:25 AM The general members elect us by online voting but other than that the board seems to have the power.Our by laws are a mess.Hence another reason for a lawyer.Sigh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted February 24, 2013 at 03:30 AM Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 at 03:30 AM The general members elect us by online voting but other than that the board seems to have the power.If that's the case, it looks to me that your only parliamentary option is to elect better board members when the next election comes around. I know that can be a challenge. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Soccer Fan Posted February 24, 2013 at 03:42 AM Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 at 03:42 AM The general members elect us by online voting but other than that the board seems to have the power.This is good news.Also, if the meetings are open to the public...I'd get on the horn and start inviting some concerned public/general membership to the meetings along with your prepared motion and justification (to be given during "debate") so that the public/general membership can hear for themselves.Perhaps a vote to remove the offending board members in front of the public as well.Our by laws are a mess.Hence another reason for a lawyer.A parliamentarian or parliamentarian/lawyer may serve you better with regards to re-drafting the bylaws.However, all is not lost: sometimes messy bylaws can work in your favor if you're the one on top of your game. Lastly, regarding your thought of giving up -- many good people do just that, and the bad guys win. Sometimes riding it out, chipping away, or "dividing and conquering" might be a better way to go. In it for the long haul for a win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sMargaret Posted February 25, 2013 at 12:59 AM Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 at 12:59 AM The general members elect us by online voting but other than that the board seems to have the power.Our by laws are a mess.Hence another reason for a lawyer.Sigh.Do take another look at those bylaws, and see if there's anything there you can work with. For example, do they specifically allow online voting? Do they refer to general meetings at all? You may have a case where a board slipped into the position of being in charge, but really are not the ones in charge according to bylaws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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