Elected member to executive committee's voting rights is being questioned

[Guest Ruth C.]

The by-laws of our NFP organization state that the executive committee of the board of trustees shall consist of the president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and one other trustee who volunteers to serve and is approved by the board. At this last month's executive board meeting, a guest remarked that this 5th person  (the volunteer trustee) is not allowed to vote. A discussion ensued about this issue after addressing this section of the by-laws.

 

Does it have to be spelled out that the volunteer (BoT member) has voting rights? I maintain that if the volunteer is approved by the board to be on the Executive Committee then they are automatically given the right to a vote.

[jstackpo]

If you are a member (of any group) no matter how you got there, you ae entitled to vote.

 

Feel free to ignore "guests", anyway.  Or if you must, ask him/her where he gets such nonsense.

[Edgar Guest]

I maintain that if the volunteer is approved by the board to be on the Executive Committee then they are automatically given the right to a vote.

 

You might want to amend those bylaws to not refer to the "non-officer" executive committee member as a "volunteer". (I assume all the officers are "volunteers". And If more than one person "volunteers" for the same office you have an election.)

 

The important thing, as Mr. Stackpole noted, is that this person is a member of the executive committee.

[Guest Ruth C.]

Thank you for your response.
I just want to add that for 30 years , since our establishment has been founded, we have had a volunteer approved by our BOT who has voted on the executive board..never a question until this "guest" complained.
The Exec board is only these 5 people..as specified in our by-laws..
The rest of the  board members do not attend this exec.board meeting..only the monthly meeting for all board members....
 

[Guest Ruth C]

Yes, they are all volunteers, but they are all the officers except for the other volunteer elected from the board of trustees.

[Richard Brown]

If they are all five members of the executive board, then all five have the right to vote unless the bylaws provide otherwise.  As Dr. Stackpole said, if you are a member of a group, you are entitled to vote no matter how you got there.

[Edgar Guest]

The Exec board is only these 5 people..as specified in our by-laws..

The rest of the  board members do not attend this exec.board meeting..only the monthly meeting for all board members....

 

When you say "executive board" you mean "executive committee", right?

 

It's confusing if you have two "boards".

[Guest Ruth C.]

Thank you to all....I appreciate your timely response ..

[Guest Ruth C]

Yes, I do mean Executive Committee , which they sometimes refer to as a board within a board.

[Edgar Guest]

Yes, I do mean Executive Committee , which they sometimes refer to as a board within a board.

 

Yes, RONR does describe the executive committee as "a board within a board" but I think it's helpful to avoid referring to both of them as boards.

[Guest Ruth C.]

I agree.. Sometimes they overstep their bounds as it is..  Thank you.