President wants to chair annual meeting, resign if meeting passes budget with which he disagrees, and immediately re-run for office

[Guest Bill K]

Our non-profit organization has a 14 member board that passed a proposed annual budget for the upcoming year by a vote of 10 to 4.  The president voted against the budget, and wants instead to pass a budget eliminating the salary for the Executive Director of the organization, whom he does not like, and thereby achieve a balanced budget proposed.  For the second month in a row, the board again approved the budget containing the salary for the Executive Director, for presentation and vote by the entire membership at its upcoming annual meeting.  The president intends to chair the annual meeting, lobby for his desired budget (eliminating the Executive Director salary), and tell the assembly that he intends to resign the presidency at the end of the fiscal year (end of the first year of his two-year term) if he doesn't get the budget he wants (claiming that he can't lead an organization that allows its Board to propose an unbalanced budget -- even though we have a line of credit that we have been steadily paying down over the past several years).  It is clear to most of the board that the president's true motive is simply to get rid of an Executive Director with whom he does not get along.

My question -- is it legitimate for a president to chair a meeting at which he intends to take an active part in debating the budget to be put forward to the membership for a vote?  Particularly when he intends to tell the assembly that if the budget as proposed is approved, he will resign, but then put his name on the ballot for re-election to the remainder of his two-year term (perhaps running unopposed?)

[Guest Zev]

I know one thing: If the president intends to debate the question on the budget then he must relinquish the chair to the vice-president, if one exists, or a president pro tempore must be elected until the budget question is resolved. As to the rest, this sounds like an internal political struggle over the direction of the society and the existence of the Executive Director in particular. The president may do as he pleases in this regard and the other board members may take any particular position regarding him or the possible consequences of their budget.

[jstackpo]

But check this in your bylaws:  If the presidential office goes vacant (he resigns, or anything else happens), then there may be provisions in the bylaws for filling that vacancy, and it's likely the provision defaults to the RONR standard of the vice-president taking the office and BECOMING the president automatically.  If true that would prevent the president from "running" for some election to "finish his term".  Let the president beware that he is not hoist by his own petard.

[Josh Martin]

9 hours ago, Guest Bill K said:

My question -- is it legitimate for a president to chair a meeting at which he intends to take an active part in debating the budget to be put forward to the membership for a vote?

No. The President must relinquish the chair if he wishes to speak in debate. If he refuses to do so, the rules may be suspended to remove him from the chair.

9 hours ago, Guest Bill K said:

Particularly when he intends to tell the assembly that if the budget as proposed is approved, he will resign, but then put his name on the ballot for re-election to the remainder of his two-year term (perhaps running unopposed?)

There is a slight flaw in this plan. When the office of President is vacant, the Vice President automatically becomes President, unless the bylaws specifically provide otherwise. So he might have to run for Vice President, and perhaps the members should elect someone else if they are fed up with this behavior.

Edited April 16, 2019 at 01:36 PM by Josh Martin

[Gary Novosielski]

15 hours ago, Guest Bill K said:

Our non-profit organization has a 14 member board that passed a proposed annual budget for the upcoming year by a vote of 10 to 4.  The president voted against the budget, and wants instead to pass a budget eliminating the salary for the Executive Director of the organization, whom he does not like, and thereby achieve a balanced budget proposed.  For the second month in a row, the board again approved the budget containing the salary for the Executive Director, for presentation and vote by the entire membership at its upcoming annual meeting.  The president intends to chair the annual meeting, lobby for his desired budget (eliminating the Executive Director salary), and tell the assembly that he intends to resign the presidency at the end of the fiscal year (end of the first year of his two-year term) if he doesn't get the budget he wants (claiming that he can't lead an organization that allows its Board to propose an unbalanced budget -- even though we have a line of credit that we have been steadily paying down over the past several years).  It is clear to most of the board that the president's true motive is simply to get rid of an Executive Director with whom he does not get along.

My question -- is it legitimate for a president to chair a meeting at which he intends to take an active part in debating the budget to be put forward to the membership for a vote?  Particularly when he intends to tell the assembly that if the budget as proposed is approved, he will resign, but then put his name on the ballot for re-election to the remainder of his two-year term (perhaps running unopposed?)

If the rules in RONR apply:

When and If he resigns, there will be no vacancy in the presidency as he is instantly and automatically succeeded by the Vice President for the remainder of the two-year term.  So there will be a vacancy in the office of Vice President.  Whether he can run for that depends on whether you have rules in your bylaws on filling mid-term vacancies other than president, which many organizations do, and possibly other factors such as the length of the VP's term and whether it is contemporaneous with that of the President.

I would advise him not to tell the assembly things that turn out not to be true.