Presidential Authority

[Guest EMS Volunteer]

My volunteer organization operates off of a written constitution and bylaw book. I have a question which breaks down into several parts, all around the authority of the President. 

Our books clearly outline the responsibilities and duties of all officers and members. We have stipulations for membership which directly relate to benefits after a certain time period, basically if you do your duties for the required amount of time you’ll have less requirements after 7 years and then again after 10 years. Should you not perform your required duties, you suffer a loss of credited time which will need to be made up before being able to have less responsibilities. 

At our last meeting, our President basically wiped the time clean for those members who owe time going back to 2014. There is nothing in our books that state this is permissible. 

I’m looking for some specifics from RROR that I can cite at our next meeting and not simply “They can’t do that” answers. 

Any and all help is greatly appreciated. 

[Chris Harrison]

The President only has the authority the bylaws give him (RONR p. 456 ll. 22-28).  If a member believes he exceeded his authority they should raise a Point of Order at a meeting and be prepared to Appeal an adverse ruling (RONR pp. 247-260).

[Richard Brown]

I agree with Chris Harrison's post. However, I'm curious as to what is meant by the bylaw provision which says the president "will have none but a casting vote"?

Edited March 7, 2018 at 01:41 PM by Richard Brown

[Josh Martin]

5 hours ago, Richard Brown said:

I agree with Chris Harrison's post. However, I'm curious as to what is meant by the bylaw provision which says the president "will have none but a casting vote"?

Based on a quick Google search for “casting vote,” it appears that this unusual expression means that the President may only vote in the case of a tie.

Edited March 7, 2018 at 07:01 PM by Josh Martin

[jstackpo]

Which, of course (?), prevents the pres from creating a tie in order to make a motion fail.

[Atul Kapur]

From the Glossary of Bourinot's Rules of Order, a Canadian authority:

Quote

Casting Vote A single vote (usually the prerogative of the chair) that
determines an issue when a vote on the motion has resulted in a tie.

 

[Gary Novosielski]

While apparently not true under the language quoted above, a casting vote can be an additional vote, so that the chair can vote a second time in case of a tie.  This is never the case under the rules in RONR.