Annual meeting voting to fill directors vacancies

[Guest Golfer]

Our bylaws have a process for board of directors to apply for nomination.  It states essentially any member in good standing may submit a written request to be a board member and must apply by the second Friday in September.  The list of nominees are then posted on the club bulletin board 30 days prior to the annual meeting.  At the Annual meeting only one person applied for two positions.   With an open position, nominations were taken from members attending the annual meeting and two additional members were nominated and ultimately voted on by the members in attendance to fill the two vacancies.   Can nominees be called from the floor to fill empty board of directors positions at the annual meeting even if they did not apply through nomination process.   Bylaws do not specify process for unapplied position procedure, just states in the order of business, "the election of directors".

[Richard Brown]

Yes, unless your bylaws prohibit it, nominations should always be permitted from the floor.  Members can also write in the names of people on their ballots who have not been nominated.  RONR pp 430-435

[Edgar Guest]

It states essentially any member in good standing may submit a written request to be a board member and must apply by the second Friday in September.

Essentially?

 

Bylaws can only be properly interpreted by reading them in their entirety (something that's beyond the scope of this forum). Excerpts and (worse) paraphrases won't do.

[Guest golfer]

official bylaw clause

"Nomination for Director.  A nominating committee of at least three general members in good standing shall be appointed by the president and approved by the board of directors no less than 90 days prior to the annual meeting.  The nominating committee will accept any general member in good standing.  Written applications must be returned to the nominating committee by the second Friday in September.  The committee shall deliver, to the secretary of the board, the list of nominees prior to the September board of directors meeting.  The list of nominees shall be published in the October newsletter, and posted on the official club bulleting board at least 30 days prior to the annual meeting.

[Richard Brown]

The nominating committee isn't to screen the proposed nominees and make recommendations?   The committee only collects names and submits them to the Secretary?  Strange.

 

The quoted bylaws provision doesn't strike me as making that the only method of making nominations and I think nominations from the floor would also be in order....as would write in candidates.

 

Edited to add:  However, they are your bylaws and you (your organization) must interpret them.

[Edgar Guest]

"A nominating committee of at least three general members in good standing shall be appointed by the president . . . "

 

You might want to know that RONR advises against the president having anything to do with the nominating committee.

 

"The nominating committee will accept any general member in good standing."

Then why have a nominating committee at all? Typically, the nominating committee selects what it thinks is the best candidate for each open office. Then nominations from the floor are accepted.

[jstackpo]

 

Then why have a nominating committee at all?

 

Well... perhaps the association has complex objective qualification requirements that require some sort of research to check that the various candidates meet them.

 

But I'll bet they don't.

[Guest golfere]

This is a private golf course and anybody breathing qualifies even if they don't talk.     I believe the only reason for the committee is to allow current board members a sure thing for another term on the board when their term expires.   The nomination process needs to be updated and simplified.