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No Candidate Term limits


Guest Seery52

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My society bylaws state:  

  1. The elected officers shall be elected by ballot at the convention to serve a term of four (4) years, and shall not be eligible for re-election to the same office. 

There is no rule for when the nominating committee cannot fill the slate for election.  Our society can change bylaws but the changes have to go through the national organization and there isn't time to make changes before the June elections.  I hold the current office that needs a candidate.  My term will be up in June.  I suspect there will be nominations from the floor because this is a difficult position: reading and approving bylaws for 66 societies in our district.  I would like to continue in this office but there doesn't seem to be an option.  Are there some that I am not aware of?

 

Thank you!

 

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Your society will have to be the ultimate arbiter of what your bylaws mean, but, taking the quoted statement at face value, there doesn't appear to be any options for you to continue in your current position. Plus, if you end up with no nominees and no one is elected, that office would appear to become vacant based on the bylaws description of the term of office, i.e., there is no "until their successors are elected" language that would allow you to remain in the position until someone else is elected to fill it.

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1 hour ago, Guest Seery52 said:

My society bylaws state:  

  1. The elected officers shall be elected by ballot at the convention to serve a term of four (4) years, and shall not be eligible for re-election to the same office. 

There is no rule for when the nominating committee cannot fill the slate for election.  Our society can change bylaws but the changes have to go through the national organization and there isn't time to make changes before the June elections.  I hold the current office that needs a candidate.  My term will be up in June.  I suspect there will be nominations from the floor because this is a difficult position: reading and approving bylaws for 66 societies in our district.  I would like to continue in this office but there doesn't seem to be an option.  Are there some that I am not aware of? 

Perhaps the society could elect someone else to the position with the understanding that you will advise and assist him in his duties. Members may be more willing to serve if they know that they can expect help. This would seem to be a viable workaround until the bylaws can be amended.

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19 minutes ago, Joshua Katz said:

Or, I suppose, shutting down the organization if the position is vital and no one who meets the bylaw qualifications wants to do it.

But shutting down the organization would require the same procedures as amending the bylaws, and the entire problem is that there isn’t sufficient time to do that. 

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13 minutes ago, Joshua Katz said:

Presumably the shutting down can be done even if this position is vacant.

Sure, but if we go into the longer view, where the bylaws can be amended, there are also much less drastic options, such as amending the bylaws to remove the term limits, or perhaps replacing this position with a committee if it’s too much work for one person.

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Thank you for all your comments.  As this is a religious organization, I will have to trust that God has the right person in mind and I'm worrying about nothing.

 We really can't shut the organization down - it's a part of a whole and an important part.  I would love to break my job down into several committees and spread the load.  However, we have trouble filling the committees we already have.  I'm an overacheiver and I think i'm the only one who thinks this job is too hard for just one person.  However, I like this position, and I would be happy to do it one more term.

I hestitate to be the advocate of "until a successor" in the wording.  By having the term limit, we do seem to spread the load a bit more equally and each position does not become a "life sentence." However, I can see the advantage that the position is still filled until another election can be held or the person who holds the position resigns.

I sort of like the petition aspect of being able to run for the office again if a petition is approved.  That again needs a bylaw change and we don't have time to do that.  I will talk to my national structure committee and see if I can rush a bylaw change through if we can't find a candidate.  

Again, thank you for taking time for this.  The organization is very worthy and it makes me sad that others won't step up and support it in leadership positions.  I think more organizations are facing the same dilemma.

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I agree Rev Ed.  We will be talking about that, too.  A thought occurred to me.  Our district has bylaws that cannot conflict with National bylaws.  Looking at the National bylaws they do state the phrase "or until a successor can be elected."  Is it possible to operate under the national bylaws in this case?   I have asked this same questions of the national structure committee.  They will get back to me.

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1 hour ago, Guest Seery52 said:

I agree Rev Ed.  We will be talking about that, too.  A thought occurred to me.  Our district has bylaws that cannot conflict with National bylaws.  Looking at the National bylaws they do state the phrase "or until a successor can be elected."  Is it possible to operate under the national bylaws in this case?   I have asked this same questions of the national structure committee.  They will get back to me.

Most likely not. I strongly suspect that the “or until a successor is elected” language in the national bylaws only applies to officers of the national association.

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The Natioanal structure committee have responded!  They will rush through their approval of the changes after the board meets Feb. 10.  We have to present bylaw changes 90 in advance of the convention and we have time to do that.  Because of my questions and diligence, they suggested I should my name in for the National Structure Committee.  Maybe someday, not now. I have to clean up this mess first!

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