Dyantis Posted January 30, 2017 at 02:28 PM Report Share Posted January 30, 2017 at 02:28 PM An issue has developed within our organization (about 270 members) and I haven't found any reference to how Robert's Rules might address it. Could you please read the following and give me your thoughts. History/Pertinent Facts 1). A nominating committee presented a slate of officers to be voted upon at the Jan. 25 meeting. These officers take their position on June 1. 2) The current president-elect (to move up automatically) to president on June 1 decided to resign (unexpectedly) prior to the election of the incoming officers (due to some disagreements about an ongoing fundraiser and its continuance in the coming club year, June 2017--May 2018). 3) The suggested president-elect from the slate of officers (to be elected at the Jan. meeting) agreed to move up to president on June 1 (bypassing her president-elect year) but did not agree to step into the president-elect position for Jan.-May 2017. That left that position open and per our bylaws the first vice-president has stepped in to complete the resigned president-elect's term (Jan.--May 2017). 4) The nominating committee has been charged with finding a new president-elect (2017-2018) and bringing that name to the general membership for election but this has not been done yet. Issues/Concerns 1) A good percentage of the membership was upset about the resigned president-elect's decision to discontinue the ongoing fundraiser (of 25 years) and felt they should have been involved in the decision. (and actually per our bylaws fundraisers are the decision of the Ways & Means elect). 2) There are a number of members who feel they weren't presented all the information before the resignation was announced and the election of the incoming officers was conducted. It's my understanding (although I did not receive any of them) there were several emails going around about both the discontinuation of the fundraiser and the resignation of the president-elect which didn't necessarily contain all the actual reasoning. 3) There are now members who want to reinstate the resigned president-elect (to rise to president on June 1 for 2017-2018) and thus move the member who has agreed to assume the presidency back to the position of president-elect for 2017-2018 and thus president for 2018-2019. Question 1) Does Robert's Rules address this possibility? There are those who feel that the first resigned her position and that's that. It does place the member who agreed to assume presidency in June in an awkward position as she has been assembling her board. Our bylaws do not address this possibility. 2) What would be a suggestion from your staff as to how to handle this? It's appears to be a lose-lose situation. I am the current club parliamentarian and, while I feel I have a reasonably good grasp of Robert's Rules, I would greatly appreciate any help you might be able to provide me looking at this strictly from Robert's Rules (which our bylaws say we follow). Many thanks, Doris Yantis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hieu H. Huynh Posted January 30, 2017 at 03:02 PM Report Share Posted January 30, 2017 at 03:02 PM Was the resignation accepted? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim Goldsworthy Posted January 30, 2017 at 06:27 PM Report Share Posted January 30, 2017 at 06:27 PM 3 hours ago, Dyantis said: Q1) Does Robert's Rules address this possibility? There are those who feel that the first resigned her position and that's that. It does place the member who agreed to assume presidency in June in an awkward position as she has been assembling her board. Our bylaws do not address this possibility. Q2) What would be a suggestion from your staff as to how to handle this? The current edition (11th ed., 2011) is rather light on the process of dealing with the rare office, "president-elect". So I fear that few posts will have citations from The Book which truly cover the issue in a satisfactory manner. *** My first impression: • Fill the vacancy. *** I am glossing over all this "lack of information" complaint from your members. Whether voting members know or don't know (whatever), does not change the immediate need -- to fill a vacancy. >> . . . upset . . . not involved . . . reasoning . . . fund-raiser . . . This set of adjectives and nouns are emotional baggage which distracts from the defined parliamentary problem to be solved. No text from RONR will solve problems like "upset" and "not involved." So, fill the vacancy. -- THAT you CAN do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted January 30, 2017 at 07:54 PM Report Share Posted January 30, 2017 at 07:54 PM 5 hours ago, Dyantis said: 1) Does Robert's Rules address this possibility? There are those who feel that the first resigned her position and that's that. It does place the member who agreed to assume presidency in June in an awkward position as she has been assembling her board. Our bylaws do not address this possibility. 2) What would be a suggestion from your staff as to how to handle this? It's appears to be a lose-lose situation. I concur with those who say the member resigned and that's that, at least with respect to the upcoming office of President. It is somewhat less clear whether the member's resignation is final with respect to his resignation from his unexpired term as President-Elect. That depends on whether the resignation has been accepted. Even if it has been accepted, however, he could certainly be elected to fill the vacancy in that office. 4 hours ago, Hieu H. Huynh said: Was the resignation accepted? In my view, society's election of someone else as President constitutes acceptance of the resignation from that position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dyantis Posted January 30, 2017 at 09:00 PM Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2017 at 09:00 PM 5 hours ago, Hieu H. Huynh said: Was the resignation accepted? It was presented to the general membership. No vote was taken on it. It has not been our club's policy to vote on resignations but to accept them as long as they're done "in good standing". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dyantis Posted January 31, 2017 at 03:03 AM Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2017 at 03:03 AM 11 hours ago, Hieu H. Huynh said: Was the resignation accepted? It was presented to the general membership. No vote was taken on it. It has not been our club's policy to vote on resignations but to accept them as long as they're done "in good standing". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted January 31, 2017 at 03:12 AM Report Share Posted January 31, 2017 at 03:12 AM 7 minutes ago, Dyantis said: It was presented to the general membership. No vote was taken on it. It has not been our club's policy to vote on resignations but to accept them as long as they're done "in good standing". Who does the "accepting"? How do you make your "acceptance...in good standing" known to your members? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Ed Posted January 31, 2017 at 05:54 AM Report Share Posted January 31, 2017 at 05:54 AM 2 hours ago, jstackpo said: Who does the "accepting"? How do you make your "acceptance...in good standing" known to your members? And you cannot 'accept' the resignation without a motion to accept the resignation! But to fix the issue in the long run (this could occur again), I'd suggest the By-laws be amended to make the following changes: 1) Remove the position of President-Elect. Just elect someone as President. 2) Place it into the By-laws that to be "nominated and elected" to the Presidency that an "individual must have served at least one year on the Board of Directors." This makes the President-Elect position redundant as the person will have had some experience on the Board prior to taking over as President. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dyantis Posted January 31, 2017 at 08:01 PM Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2017 at 08:01 PM On 1/30/2017 at 9:02 AM, Hieu H. Huynh said: Was the resignation accepted? It was presented to the general membership. No vote was taken on it. It has not been our club's policy to vote on resignations but to accept them as long as they're done "in good standing". In response to one of the comments, resignations in good standing are announced at a meeting and published in our monthly newsletter. So we must vote to accept a resignation before it is accepted? Does this mean that members who resign "in good standing" (meaning they have meant their requirements for that year and may return in the future upon written request) must be voted upon? And, if so, by whom--the Executive Committee (elected officers); the Board of Directors (Exec. Comm. and Standing Committee Chairs) or the general membership? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted January 31, 2017 at 08:32 PM Report Share Posted January 31, 2017 at 08:32 PM It seems that your custom is to consider resignations accepted by merely announcing them. But that's not the rule in RONR. In the future, a member could object and, if you are operating under RONR, you would have to put the motion on the floor for debate and a vote by the body which appointed the resigner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hieu H. Huynh Posted January 31, 2017 at 08:35 PM Report Share Posted January 31, 2017 at 08:35 PM A resignation should be accepted by the body that elected the person to the position. Perhaps your organization could adopt a rule regarding resignations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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