Lauriemcg Posted January 9, 2015 at 12:37 PM Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 at 12:37 PM Our annual HOA meeting is next week. We will be electing officers for the next year (1 year terms). What happens if no one steps up to accept a position, specifically President? Does the current officer continue to preside? The officers are elected by and from the board. And the board is 5 members. Thanks Laurie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted January 9, 2015 at 12:39 PM Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 at 12:39 PM First check the bylaws. Officers (current ones) may be in office "until the election of their successors" - if no election, they STAY in (at least until they quit or you finally do complete the election).Or....Announce that because of a lack of leadership interest, the organization will dissolve itself and go out of business. Really. Organizations don't last forever, and it is much better to close up shop formally than just drift along, and then wonder what happened to the bank account, far too long after the fact to do anything about it.Often enough a threat like this one will shake some people out of the woodwork who will be willing to serve after all. But if it doesn't, there is a message there...You might also consider WHY no one wants to be president. Perhaps you're asking too much of that position. Perhaps the past presidents have made the job appear more difficult than it has to be. Perhaps the members are making it harder on the president than they should.Perhaps the board should be doing more. After all, the only essential role of the president is to preside at meetings. Some or all administrative responsibilities could be delegated to, or distributed among, the board members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauriemcg Posted January 9, 2015 at 12:51 PM Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 at 12:51 PM First check the bylaws. Officers (current ones) may be in office "until the election of their successors" - if no election, they STAY in (at least until they quit or you finally do complete the election).Or....Announce that because of a lack of leadership interest, the organization will dissolve itself and go out of business. Really. Organizations don't last forever, and it is much better to close up shop formally than just drift along, and then wonder what happened to the bank account, far too long after the fact to do anything about it.Often enough a threat like this one will shake some people out of the woodwork who will be willing to serve after all. But if it doesn't, there is a message there...You might also consider WHY no one wants to be president. Perhaps you're asking too much of that position. Perhaps the past presidents have made the job appear more difficult than it has to be. Perhaps the members are making it harder on the president than they should.Perhaps the board should be doing more. After all, the only essential role of the president is to preside at meetings. Some or all administrative responsibilities could be delegated to, or distributed among, the board members. Ah... sure enough our bylaws do state that "...Each officer shall hold office until his or her successor has been duly elected the following year, until death, resignation, or removal as hereinafter provided." And good points regarding the rest. I will share that with the Board. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted January 9, 2015 at 02:13 PM Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 at 02:13 PM If no one "steps forward" you still are required by your bylaws to have the election. Pass out blank ballots, and have people write in names. A majority is required to elect. Re-vote until the election is complete. Someone will often accept if elected, although they did not volunteer earlier. If not, consider disbanding the organization. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Lages Posted January 9, 2015 at 05:56 PM Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 at 05:56 PM I'm a litle confused by what you have posted. You said "Our annual HOA meeting is next week. We will be electing officers for the next year." But then you say "The officers are elected by and from the board." Is this an annual meeting of all the HOA members or just the board? I assumed it was a meeting of all HOA members, which is typically what such an annual meeting is. If that's the case are you actually electing board members? If so, then you're not really electing a president specifically. Can you clarify please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauriemcg Posted January 10, 2015 at 01:42 PM Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 at 01:42 PM I'm a litle confused by what you have posted. You said "Our annual HOA meeting is next week. We will be electing officers for the next year." But then you say "The officers are elected by and from the board." Is this an annual meeting of all the HOA members or just the board? I assumed it was a meeting of all HOA members, which is typically what such an annual meeting is. If that's the case are you actually electing board members? If so, then you're not really electing a president specifically. Can you clarify please? It is the annual meeting of the membership. The bylaws state the board is elected by and from the Board members. New board members will be elected at the meeting. At the end of the meeting, because there will be at least a quorum of board members present, it was determined to go ahead with electing the officers rather then waiting until the next board meeting (although this was an option that was floated). Because the term ends in Jan (1 yr) there would be a gap between the members meeting and the next board meeting when new officers are elected. This is a new HOA, we are just finishing our first full year since turnover by the declarant, and the first meetings didn't have bylaws to go by, and once they were created, not fully followed. (In fact there are many issues with them and we have a committee working on revision this past few months). Does that make sense? I can see where it would make sense that the term be from board meeting in Feb following the HOA annual meeting so as to accommodate not having the election of officers during the annual meeting. Sorry, a rather long rambling answer to a direct question. Laurie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Guest Posted January 10, 2015 at 02:55 PM Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 at 02:55 PM It is the annual meeting of the membership. The bylaws state the board is elected by and from the Board members. New board members will be elected at the meeting. Does that make sense? Not to me. If it's an annual meeting of the (general) membership and new board members will be elected at the meeting (presumably by the general membership), why do you say that the board is elected by the board members? A more typical situation is where the general membership elects the board members and then the board meets to elect officers from among the board members. Your rules can certainly vary but, at this point, I'm not sure they do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted January 10, 2015 at 04:20 PM Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 at 04:20 PM It is the annual meeting of the membership. The bylaws state the board is elected by and from the Board members. New board members will be elected at the meeting.. . . . . . .Does that make sense? Laurie Not to me. Not even a little bit. The board members are elected BY AND FROM THE BOARD MEMBERS??? If new board members have to be elected by and from the existing board members, how on earth do you ever elect anyone new from the board? All you can do, with that language, is keep the same board members, or some of them, in perpetuity, never ever being able to elect anyone new. Are you sure you quoted that provision correctly? Edited to add: I would suspect, as Mr. Guest suggested, that the board members are elected by the general membership, as is almost always the case. The officers (president, VP, Sec, Treas, etc) are sometimes elected by the general membership and sometimes by the board from among its members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauriemcg Posted January 10, 2015 at 11:47 PM Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 at 11:47 PM Not to me. If it's an annual meeting of the (general) membership and new board members will be elected at the meeting (presumably by the general membership), why do you say that the board is elected by the board members? A more typical situation is where the general membership elects the board members and then the board meets to elect officers from among the board members. Your rules can certainly vary but, at this point, I'm not sure they do. THe Board is elected by the general membership. The Officers are elected by the board... my mistype... sorry. Laurie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Lages Posted January 11, 2015 at 01:33 AM Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 at 01:33 AM OK, good - now we have that straightened out. So, going back to your original question: not having anyone willing to take on the presidency will not be a membership concern, at least not initially if you can find a sufficient number of members to nominate - and accept if elected - for board positions. Once the election of board members is complete, it will be the board's job to select who will serve as president. If no board member is willing to accept the office of president, the board can still function, with the vice president presiding at board meetings. However, if your bylaws confer certain responsibilities or authority on the president specifically, then those things can not be transferred to another officer. The board will have an incomplete election, and should continue to try to fill the office. If this becomes a prolonged issue, then it is probably time to examine the bylaws to see if too much is being expected of the president, and to amend the bylaws if necessary to spread those duties more equitably among the other officers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Guest Posted January 11, 2015 at 01:47 AM Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 at 01:47 AM If no board member is willing to accept the office of president, the board can still function, with the vice president presiding at board meetings. And, presumably, at meetings of the general membership (thought there may be none other than the annual meeting). I understand that it's not uncommon for a board to elect the officers of the organization but I also think it's a good idea to differentiate between the "president" of the organization and the "chair" of the board, even if the same person "automatically" holds both offices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauriemcg Posted January 11, 2015 at 11:11 AM Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 at 11:11 AM And, presumably, at meetings of the general membership (thought there may be none other than the annual meeting). I understand that it's not uncommon for a board to elect the officers of the organization but I also think it's a good idea to differentiate between the "president" of the organization and the "chair" of the board, even if the same person "automatically" holds both offices. I hadn't thought about the differentiation between president and chair. Will have to look into that. Yes, they would hold both offices. All good info. Thanks Laurie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Honemann Posted January 11, 2015 at 12:14 PM Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 at 12:14 PM If no board member is willing to accept the office of president, the board can still function, with the vice president presiding at board meetings. However, if your bylaws confer certain responsibilities or authority on the president specifically, then those things can not be transferred to another officer. The board will have an incomplete election, and should continue to try to fill the office. Why is there a vacancy in the office of president? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauriemcg Posted January 11, 2015 at 01:00 PM Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 at 01:00 PM Why is there a vacancy in the office of president? There isn't yet. The elections are next week. If no one steps up to accept being nominated there could be. But as I now understand the bylaws, the current president would continue if a new one was not elected. So there would only be a vacancy if the president chose to resign as I see it now. Laurie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Guest Posted January 11, 2015 at 02:11 PM Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 at 02:11 PM So there would only be a vacancy if the president chose to resign as I see it now. I think what Mr. Honemann was getting at is that there's almost never a vacancy in the office of president since, the moment one exists, it's instantly and automatically filled by the vice-president. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Lages Posted January 11, 2015 at 06:00 PM Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 at 06:00 PM Yes, but haven't we differentiated previously between a vacancy and an incomplete election? Or have I missed an exception to that distinction when it involves the office of president? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Honemann Posted January 11, 2015 at 06:06 PM Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 at 06:06 PM Yes, but haven't we differentiated previously between a vacancy and an incomplete election? Or have I missed an exception to that distinction when it involves the office of president? We're getting off track here. In this instance, there is no vacancy and there won't be any. The president's term does not end until his successor is elected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Guest Posted January 11, 2015 at 06:08 PM Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 at 06:08 PM Yes, but haven't we differentiated previously between a vacancy and an incomplete election? Yes, but in the case of an incomplete election, if the president who is continuing to serve until his successor is elected resigns, wouldn't the current vice-president become president (until the election is complete?). Edited to add: Apologies to Mr. Honemann for presuming to know what he was "getting at". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted January 11, 2015 at 06:52 PM Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 at 06:52 PM Yes, but in the case of an incomplete election, if the president who is continuing to serve until his successor is elected resigns, wouldn't the current vice-president become president (until the election is complete?). Edited to add: Apologies to Mr. Honemann for presuming to know what he was "getting at". Laurie's original question was answered by Dr. Stackpole in Post #2. If the board fails to complete the election for President (which should not be presumed in advance), the current President will continue to serve until the board completes the election. If the President subsequently resigns before the election is completed, that's a new problem, and one which probably deserves its own thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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