Removal of Board Member (Roberts Rules)

[Guest Jake]

I'm wondering if Roberts Rules of Order has specifics with regards to Removing Board Members from Office.  Here are my questions:

1.  Does the accused board member have a right to due process?  By this I mean, does he/she have the right to be presented with the evidence of the charges  prior to a hearing meeting?  If so, how much time is required/recommended for he/she to review the evidence prior to the hearing?  

2.  If the accused board member was elected to his/her seat by a majority vote of the membership, does the membership have the right to witness and attend the meeting/hearing even though they may not be allowed to voice an opinion?

 

 

[jstackpo]

See Chapter 20 in RONR.

[Hieu H. Huynh]

Also see FAQ #20.

[Guest Jake]

Jstackpo - Sorry I don't have a copy of RONR.  Can you paraphrase or provide summary of the referenced chapter?

[Joshua Katz]

1 hour ago, Guest Jake said:

Jstackpo - Sorry I don't have a copy of RONR.  Can you paraphrase or provide summary of the referenced chapter?

I don't think most of us would be willing to do that.  It's pretty complex, and trying to paraphrase runs the risk of giving you bad information.  Also, an organization should not attempt to use the procedure (if there's no overriding customized rule) without the book there for reference.  We can probably try your questions, but first, your second question suggests your organization has a customized rule which will interact with, or override, the RONR rule.  In particular, you write that the membership will not be allowed to voice an opinion.  Under the rules in RONR, though, disciplinary proceedings are held by the membership, and the membership can not only voice an opinion, but vote.  So do your organization have customized rules on this?

For that matter, backing up a little more, what do your bylaws say about the term of office of board members (give us the exact language, not a paraphrase, if you can).  There is certain language which, if present in the term of office, obviates the need for the full disciplinary procedure when removing an officer (and directors are, in RONR terminology, considered officers).

[Josh Martin]

9 hours ago, Guest Jake said:

I'm wondering if Roberts Rules of Order has specifics with regards to Removing Board Members from Office.  Here are my questions:

1.  Does the accused board member have a right to due process?  By this I mean, does he/she have the right to be presented with the evidence of the charges  prior to a hearing meeting?  If so, how much time is required/recommended for he/she to review the evidence prior to the hearing?  

2.  If the accused board member was elected to his/her seat by a majority vote of the membership, does the membership have the right to witness and attend the meeting/hearing even though they may not be allowed to voice an opinion?

Please answer whether your bylaws have any rules on disciplinary procedures and, if not, what the exact wording of the term of office is in your bylaws. This will determine whether formal disciplinary procedures are required.

1.) If formal disciplinary procedures are required, the member does have a right to due process and does have the right to a reasonable time to prepare his defense (RONR recommends 30 days). He does not, however, have a right to review the evidence against him.

If formal disciplinary procedures are not required, the member has no right to due process or a formal hearing. The motion to remove him is debated the same as any other motion. In this case, such a motion requires a 2/3 vote, a vote of a majority of the entire membership, or a majority vote with previous notice.

If your bylaws have their own rules on discipline, follow those rules.

2.) If the membership elected the board member, then it is the membership which conducts the trial (or votes on the motion to remove him), unless your bylaws provide otherwise.

8 hours ago, Guest Jake said:

Jstackpo - Sorry I don't have a copy of RONR.  Can you paraphrase or provide summary of the referenced chapter?

I do not advise proceeding with formal disciplinary procedures based on a mere summary or paraphrase. If formal disciplinary procedures are required, you need to get a copy of RONR and read Section 63 in its entirety.

Edited May 2, 2018 at 10:58 AM by Josh Martin

[Guest Chairperson]

If a member of the Board is appointed by another Board, can the chairman of the board the member serves ask him/ her to resign due to unlawful statements made by the member.

[Nathan Zook]

This really is a different question, and should be posted to its own thread.

Having said that, freedom of speech applies, and the chairman, like anyone else, can ask anyone to do almost anything.  They have no power, however, to compel any action.

If a member's conduct during a meeting is sufficiently outrageous, chapter XX of RONR does provide for disciplinary procedures "on the spot", as it were.  Still, it requires a vote of the assembly to discipline a member.  If the member's actions are outside a meeting, then a formal and detailed process is required.  You will need to study the process in the current edition of RONR (the 12th) in either case.

[Joshua Katz]

I'm not sure I'm reading the question the same as Mr. Zook. It looked to me like the question was, if Board A appoints a member, M, to Board C, can the chair of Board A ask M to resign. I agree, of course, that he can ask anything. As for the rest, though, it depends on the means by which Board A appoints this member. Does the chair choose him? Is he elected by Board A? Does he have a term of office? And where are these rules found?

[Atul Kapur]

Let's ask Guest Chairperson to give us a more clear question in a new thread.

[Guest rstimmel]

can a member of a board or commission vote on there own idea or project

 

[J. J.]

2 hours ago, Guest rstimmel said:

can a member of a board or commission vote on there own idea or project

 

Please start a new thread. 

[Guest Need advice please!!!]

PLEASE HELP US!!! Good morning to all. I am a homeowner that lives in a HOA in Kentucky in which our HOA adopted RONR “aka” Robert’s Rules of Order.  I’m new to all this and my first time ever purchasing a home in a HOA. So please forgive me if I type something out of concept. I’m just trying to better understand how things are done in an HOA community. 
 

Our prior community Board Officers both President & Vice President (Husband & Wife), as well as the treasurer recently resigned from the board & sold all their properties “rentals” in the association to an individual who filled the vacancy by majority vote without a meeting or vote. Him purchasing in total 65 homes gave him a Majority vote. He then filled the 2 remaining vacancies with his immediate family, namely his wife & his brother. I am gonna list below just a few of the behaviors/violation's that he’s done that we have proof of. 
 

1.) Since he has took his position in office without meeting the requirements as listed in our documents we govern to run for presidential election, he has made all decisions without involving other members nor has he ever made what he planned to do available to other homeowners in our community. Everything that requires a vote prior to being done, he does without including homeowners/members in on. All decisions are done at his will and is never discussed with other homeowners in our community not is it voted on. He never holds meetings as scheduled. He told homeowners that there will not be anymore meeting held.  Abuse of power as well as Conflict of Interest. 
 

2.) Our HOA President owns & operates a management company in Kentucky in which  he hired his personal business without a vote & pays himself $42,000 a year to manage our HOA. RONR reads all board officers are to serve on the board without compensation. 
 

3.) He has hired a lady to work in the onsite office which is intended strictly for the use of running our HOA. Since he has been serving on our board, he has combined his rental business in with our HOA. He is also using the HOA’s paid employee to run and care for his properties using our onsite office. He also has changed the contact number for our HOA to his personal management business number. This proves that he is profiting off our association in the amount of $42,000 a year!! 
 

4.) He is calling other homeowners in our community in which own multiple properties asking them to sell their properties to him. He is monopolizing!! 
 

5.) He allows his renters to take part in the HOA where he provided them with keys to our common areas, but doesn’t allow homeowners to possess a key to our common areas. He allows his renters to tag vehicles parked on road but makes it acceptable for himself and his personal business to park on the road for extended amounts of time without given a violation.

 

He has multiple properties that isn’t being upkept, overgrown grass, broken window's which puts children in danger, he goes against our rules on pets and allows his renters to house large dogs that is against our rules on the size of dog allowed to be in our community. 

Anyone who can direct me or tell me the proper procedures to remove him from office per our governing documents RONR our point me in the right direction to get him removed from office would be greatly appreciated. We’ve sent him cease and desist letters certified mail in which he ignored. We have also presented him with a letter at a board meeting demanding that he resign and had homeowners signatures on it and when given the paper he set it aside and replied with, “I respectfully decline” please help me with what I’m suppose to do following Robert’s rules of order. He has also removed the only 2 board members we had on the board that lived in our community.  God bless all and thanks for taking the time to read my post begging for recommendations to remove President and his family from our board. 

[Josh Martin]

On 8/10/2024 at 11:06 AM, Guest Need advice please!!! said:

Anyone who can direct me or tell me the proper procedures to remove him from office per our governing documents RONR our point me in the right direction to get him removed from office would be greatly appreciated. We’ve sent him cease and desist letters certified mail in which he ignored. We have also presented him with a letter at a board meeting demanding that he resign and had homeowners signatures on it and when given the paper he set it aside and replied with, “I respectfully decline” please help me with what I’m suppose to do following Robert’s rules of order. He has also removed the only 2 board members we had on the board that lived in our community.  God bless all and thanks for taking the time to read my post begging for recommendations to remove President and his family from our board. 

Please post your question as a new topic. This forum works best when a new question is posted as a new topic, even if there is an existing topic on the same subject. This topic now includes differing facts from four different situations in four different organizations occurring over the course of six years, which makes matters rather confusing.

When you post your question as a new topic, please provide the following information, as this will assist us in answering your question:

• What, if anything, do your bylaws say on the subject of removing officers? Please provide an exact quote, not a paraphrase.
• If your bylaws are silent concerning removal of officers, what do your bylaws say concerning the term of office for officers? Again, please provide an exact quote, not a paraphrase.