treasurer and secretary recalictrant behavor

[stephanie g]

Our bylaws are not much so we defer to Roberts Rules.  The Club's treasurer is the wife and the  husband is secretary.  They have held this position for 1 - one year term and now 7 months each into the second term.

It's come to our attention that the treasurer is the only one to have her name on the club's checking account.  At the July meeting we made the motion and it was passed  to add the President to account. by July 31.  Our minutes will not be voted upon until August 27. Word is being passed along that the treasurer said she will not add the President to the account during the remainder of her term.  There is no financial concerns that justify the president should not be on the account.  It's a  point of contention between the president and treasurer.   We have instructions from the bank as to what they will accept to add her to the account.  The Treasurer and Secretary must sign papers ..  what they do is not part of this unless you all want to know.   My first question is  since the minutes from July won't be approved till August meeting,  are they official ?  Draft ? The motion to do this is valid - correct ?  What happens since this will not be done by July 31 as put forth in the motion.  Then if both the treasurer and secretary decide not to do what the bank requires them to do.  Is that enough to remove both of them from office , if so what are the specifics to follow in Roberts ?   Thank You.

I also wanted to add,  for the July meeting minutes.. when the secretary sent them out .. he put in Red ink at the top - DRAFT .. he has never done this before.   So if the bank needs to see the minutes it looks like they are not final .. which they aren't since they won't be voted on till next Month.

 

Edited July 31, 2018 at 03:33 PM by stephanie g

[Joshua Katz]

17 minutes ago, stephanie g said:

since the minutes from July won't be approved till August meeting,  are they official ?  Draft ?

If they have not been approved, they are draft minutes (or, more precisely, the Secretary's notes).

18 minutes ago, stephanie g said:

The motion to do this is valid - correct ? 

Yes, the motion is valid when adopted, not when the minutes are accepted.

 

18 minutes ago, stephanie g said:

What happens since this will not be done by July 31 as put forth in the motion.  Then if both the treasurer and secretary decide not to do what the bank requires them to do.  Is that enough to remove both of them from office , if so what are the specifics to follow in Roberts ? 

It is up to your organization whether it is cause for discipline, although ignoring motions passed by the assembly about the organization's financial matters seems like it might be. The specifics to follow are in Chapter XX if your bylaws do not contain custom rules for discipline. One thing you'll need to determine is whether the motion actually directed the secretary to do anything.

 

20 minutes ago, stephanie g said:

I also wanted to add,  for the July meeting minutes.. when the secretary sent them out .. he put in Red ink at the top - DRAFT .. he has never done this before.   So if the bank needs to see the minutes it looks like they are not final .. which they aren't since they won't be voted on till next Month.

 

Draft minutes should, in fact, be labeled as draft.

[stephanie g]

The secretary wrote in the draft minutes for this month -  

Director Taylor made a motion that the President's signature be added to the Club's checking account.

Only one signature required on checks not two ( .I think this is a comment by the secretary)

Also that this action should be done by the end of the month,  2nd by Smith . Motion carried.

I don't know if the above is the exact wording of the motion. But let's say it is.  So it's now the bank that is telling us,  these are the people needed to do this and this is how it's to be done.

If they refuse to meet  and do this ?   Reading chapter 20 presently.   Thank you.

 

[Joshua Katz]

Well, it would help if your secretary recorded the exact wording of motions as stated by the chair, and didn't insert commentary. That said, it might be challenging to discipline a secretary for not doing something required, not by your rules, but by the bank rules, to fulfill the motion. But that is for your organization to decide in the disciplinary process, should you choose to follow it.

By the way, one way to simplify disciplinary matters, if the situation is severe enough, is to look at the terms of office in the bylaws. If they say "or until their successors are elected" then officers may be removed without the full process.

[Josh Martin]

57 minutes ago, Joshua Katz said:

Well, it would help if your secretary recorded the exact wording of motions as stated by the chair, and didn't insert commentary. That said, it might be challenging to discipline a secretary for not doing something required, not by your rules, but by the bank rules, to fulfill the motion. But that is for your organization to decide in the disciplinary process, should you choose to follow it.

I don’t think it is unreasonable to expect the society’s officers to take actions necessary to carry out the society’s directives, whether or not they are specifically named in the motion.

If the society wishes, however, it is certainly free to first adopt a motion explicitly ordering the Treasurer and Secretary to sign the paperwork, and then pursue disciplinary action if the officers still refuse to do so.

[Richard Brown]

I find it odd that the bank is requiring the treasurer and the secretary to come in rather than the president and the treasurer. It has been my experience with this sort of thing that the bank wants all of the officers who are being added or removed to come in, possibly along with those who are presently on the account. However, I have never heard of A bank requiring the secretary to come in if the secretary’s name is not on the account or being added to it or being removed from it. This seems strange.

It is not unusual, however, to have to jump through hoops to make changes like this on the bank account, especially if the account is with a large national bank. A small local Community Bank will frequently proved to be much easier to work with.

Edited to add:  My apologies, folks. I just realized this is a three year old thread. I was researching a topic and forgot that this was an old thread as I read it and decided to add my comment.  

Edited April 1, 2022 at 07:02 PM by Richard Brown
Added last paragraph