Guest Gary Karns Posted October 23, 2018 at 06:51 PM Report Share Posted October 23, 2018 at 06:51 PM We have a general membership where everyone can vote on all items but unless you live nearby, you can not hold office. The reason is available to the building/alarm. Several that live outside the area are present for events in most cases more than people that live near by. I guess the question is if if it is a general membership, shouldn't all members have the same choices to hold office as the same as others? I can't seem to find anything giving me guidance about this. THANK YOU! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Katz Posted October 23, 2018 at 06:57 PM Report Share Posted October 23, 2018 at 06:57 PM People should have the options to hold office provided in your bylaws. If your bylaws do not contain the "live nearby" qualification for office, then it does not exist, since any qualifications for office must be in the bylaws. What do your bylaws say on the matter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atul Kapur Posted October 23, 2018 at 07:02 PM Report Share Posted October 23, 2018 at 07:02 PM That is the general principle in RONR, that all members are equal and have the same rights to, for example, hold office. So this rule must be in your bylaws and must have been a decision made by your organization previously, presumably for what they thought at the time was a good reason. You are perfectly free to propose an amendment to your bylaws by following the procedures that they list to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Goodwiller, PRP Posted October 23, 2018 at 07:14 PM Report Share Posted October 23, 2018 at 07:14 PM Agreeing with my colleagues, I would that RONR contains a simple statement of the basic rights of members, which is as follows: "A member of an assembly, in the parliamentary sense, as mentioned above, is a person entitled to full participation in its proceedings, that is, as explained in 3 and 4, the right to attend meetings, to make motions, to speak in debate, and to vote. No member can be individually deprived of these basic rights of membership—or of any basic rights concomitant to them, such as the right to make nominations or to give previous notice of a motion—except through disciplinary proceedings" (RONR pg. 3, ll. 1-9) Note that the right to hold office is not among these - and in fact, the bylaws of assemblies quite often include requirements beyond "membership" as qualifications to hold an office, or a particular office. It's just a matter of clearly stating (in bylaws) what those are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted October 23, 2018 at 08:10 PM Report Share Posted October 23, 2018 at 08:10 PM Agreeing with all of my colleagues, if this "live nearby" provision is in your bylaws and you are unhappy with it, you are free to propose an amendment to the bylaws to remove that restriction. But, if it is indeed in your bylaws, you are bound by it for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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