election positions

[Guest Sharon]

We are having elections next week in our park. The person who currently holds the position of president is up for election along with two other positions . When they go into the closed meeting to elect who will hold the presidents position going forward some are saying that all executive positions are up for renewal as well. I do not believe this to be the case as they are still on for another two years and I believe they hold their position until they are up for election then. Could you please advise how this should all happen when they go into closed meeting as some of us think that it is only the presidents position that  needs to be re-elected. Also the president think that she just assumes the presidents position for another three years if re-elected but we believe that her position becomes vacant on the day of election and the new board will decide who will fill that position.

[Joshua Katz]

This will depend on the way terms and positions are defined in your bylaws.  

[Guest Sharon]

There is nothing in our by-laws that cover this issue

[Joshua Katz]

29 minutes ago, Guest Sharon said:

There is nothing in our by-laws that cover this issue

That can't be right.  Your bylaws say nothing about your officers, how they're elected, and their term of office?  For instance, what is the election process for your officers?  Who are they elected by?  What is the term of office of these people?

[Kim Goldsworthy]

3 hours ago, Guest Sharon said:

 When they [board?] go into the closed meeting to elect who will hold the presidents position going forward,

some are saying that all executive positions are up for renewal as well.

I do not believe this to be the case as they are still on for another two years and I believe they hold their position until they are up for election then.

Q. Could you please advise how this should all happen when they go into closed meeting,

as some of us think that it is only the presidents position that  needs to be re-elected.

Also the president think that she just assumes the presidents position for another three years if re-elected,

but we believe that her position becomes vacant on the day of election and the new board will decide who will fill that position.

I think you are leaving a gap in your information.

It appears that your organization is one where the structure is:

(a.) the general membership elects its board directors;

(b.) the board directors elect its officers.

If that is the case, then, short of a rule saying otherwise, the annual meeting of the board will indeed elect 100% of all officer positions. Every position is up for grabs.  -- Except for those positions where the general membership did the putting-in.

With that said, I have a hunch that your bylaws do contain hints and implications about how this all truly is meant to be played out.

Seek the keyword, "term of office" (or its "start" or its "end").

[Guest Sharon]

Here is what our by-laws state----terms of Directors: The term of the Board of Directors shall be for a period of three years,however at the first election 1/3 of the Directors shall be elected for three years,1/3 for two years  and the balance for one year. Then there is a paragraph for the Organizational Meeting which states---the organizational meeting of the Board of Directors shall be held immediately after their election at the annual meeting. The only order of business at the meeting shall be the election of officers. Notice of such meeting shall be given to the membership with the notice of the annual meeting of the membership. Does this mean all of the executive  positions will need to be re-filled this year?? Seems strange that every time we have elections we have to shuffle  all of the executive positions. Wouldn't this be a disruptive way to seat the board if they are up every year????

[Joshua Katz]

So it seems your board, which has staggered terms, elects the officers.  It is up to your organization to interpret its bylaws, but it seems to me that an annual meeting is held each year, and that at the annual meeting officers are elected.  Is there a separate provision for term of office for officers?  If not, it would seem to me that, if they are elected each year, that is how often they are vacated.

I don't think it sounds strange or disruptive.  After all, why shouldn't the new directors be able to both seek office and have input on the officers, all else being equal?  It would strike me as odd if a person's term of office as, say, secretary, could be 1, 2, or 3 years, depending solely on at what point in their term as a director they were elected to the position - which, in turn, would depend on when it became vacant.

[Guest Sharon]

So at elections last year one person who ran was elected to the secretary position (three year term) and one as treasurer(three year term) at the organizational meeting after the elections. Does this mean that they have to give up those positions this year????And then hope that  they are asked once again to fill those positions??? As they were elected by the membership but appointed to those positions by the board do they not hold those positions until their term expires (which would be two years hence)???

[Bruce Lages]

From what you've posted, it seems that it is the director positions that have three-year terms, not the officer positions. If there is an organizational meeting of the board which occurs every year, at which the only order of business is the election of officers, the term of office for the officers must be one year.

[Kim Goldsworthy]

4 hours ago, Guest Sharon said:

So at elections last year one person who ran was elected to the secretary position (three year term) and one as treasurer(three year term) at the organizational meeting after the elections. Does this mean that they have to give up those positions this year?

And then hope that  they are asked once again to fill those positions?

As they were elected by the membership but appointed to those positions by the board do they not hold those positions until their term expires (which would be two years hence)?

>> The term of the Board of Directors shall be for a period of three years . . .

***

You are confounding:

(a.) directors

with

(b.) officers

   • Directors have a 3-year term of office.

   • Officers have a 1-year term of office.

There is no staggering of officer terms. -- All positions are 100% annual term-of-office.

***

>> . . . but appointed to those positions by the board . . .

Exactly! Annually!

[Joshua Katz]

10 hours ago, Guest Sharon said:

So at elections last year one person who ran was elected to the secretary position (three year term) and one as treasurer(three year term) at the organizational meeting after the elections.

Where do the words in parenthesis come from?  If there's something in your rules that makes those 3 year terms, that might change my opinion.  From what you've presented so far, though, my opinion would be that they were not elected to three year terms in those positions, but rather one year terms.  

[Gary Novosielski]

13 hours ago, Guest Sharon said:

So at elections last year one person who ran was elected to the secretary position (three year term) and one as treasurer(three year term) at the organizational meeting after the elections. Does this mean that they have to give up those positions this year????And then hope that  they are asked once again to fill those positions??? As they were elected by the membership but appointed to those positions by the board do they not hold those positions until their term expires (which would be two years hence)???

They were elected by the membership to three year terms as directors.    Nobody was elected secretary by the membership, because the board elects the officers.  The membership just decides who will be on he board, and the board decides who will do what job.  There is nothing at all unusual about this.  It is an extremely common way of doing things.

Each year at the organizational meeting, officers are elected by the board.  That means all officers, unless your bylaws say otherwise.  They do not necessarily have to "give up" those positions.  If they have done a good job, it is quite likely that they will be reëlected to do them again.  But although they hold their positions as directors for a three year term, they might serve in up to three different other positions during that time--or two, or one; or none.