Guest John Stevenson Posted January 8, 2020 at 05:07 AM Report Share Posted January 8, 2020 at 05:07 AM Background - Our board president has resigned and the resignation has been accepted by the board. Our constitution & bylaws state that either the immediate past president or president elect can assume the vacated position. The board consulted with the immediate past president and president elect and unanimously voted to have the immediate past president assume the title of board president. Question - our constitution & bylaws have no language regarding what, if any, role a president who resigns should have on the executive council. It's the opinion of some members that the president who resigned should retain his position on the executive council as immediate past president. It's the opinion of other members that the president who resigned no longer has any position on the board or executive council. Absent any specific language in our constitution & bylaws, does RONR offer any guidance as to whether a president who resigns mid-term should retain a position on the executive council as immediate past president or should vacate all positions on the executive council. I hope I'm being clear. If not, I'll be glad to elaborate. I appreciate any guidance you're willing to share. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted January 8, 2020 at 08:09 AM Report Share Posted January 8, 2020 at 08:09 AM RONR contains no provisions regarding an immediate past president. Whether your president who resigned should remain on the board as immediate past president Is something your organization must decide based upon its bylaws. We cannot interpret your bylaws for you. That is outside the scope of this forum and is something only the members of your organization can do. However, I will tell you that most of us who post regularly on this message board are of the opinion that by definition the immediate past president of an organization is the person who most recently served as president, regardless of how long he served and regardless of why he is no longer president. The reason he is no longer president is of no consequence, even if he was caught stealing and resigned in disgrace. It is therefore my personal opinion that if your bylaws provide that the immediate past president shall be a member of the board, without any other qualification, then the instant his resignation was accepted he became the immediate past president and automatically replaced the previous immediate past president and took his place on the board. I have not seen your bylaws and am relying upon your characterization of what they say. However, keep in mind that only the members of your organization can interpret its bylaws. I will add that most of us on this message board are not fans of having an automatic board position for the immediate past president because of just this type problem that frequently arises. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Thanks! Posted January 8, 2020 at 07:31 PM Report Share Posted January 8, 2020 at 07:31 PM Thanks for your reply, Richard. Much appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted January 9, 2020 at 11:21 PM Report Share Posted January 9, 2020 at 11:21 PM On 1/8/2020 at 12:07 AM, Guest John Stevenson said: Background - Our board president has resigned and the resignation has been accepted by the board. Our constitution & bylaws state that either the immediate past president or president elect can assume the vacated position. The board consulted with the immediate past president and president elect and unanimously voted to have the immediate past president assume the title of board president. Question - our constitution & bylaws have no language regarding what, if any, role a president who resigns should have on the executive council. It's the opinion of some members that the president who resigned should retain his position on the executive council as immediate past president. It's the opinion of other members that the president who resigned no longer has any position on the board or executive council. Absent any specific language in our constitution & bylaws, does RONR offer any guidance as to whether a president who resigns mid-term should retain a position on the executive council as immediate past president or should vacate all positions on the executive council. I hope I'm being clear. If not, I'll be glad to elaborate. I appreciate any guidance you're willing to share. You are being clear, but I'm afraid your rules are not clearly thought out. Once the president's resignation was accepted, he became the immediate past president. Your unanimous vote to place the immediate past president in the role of president then restored him back to the office of president. I doubt that was the intent of the rule, but unless the rule is much more explicit than your paraphrase of it, that's what it appears to mean. If your bylaws do not specify that the role of immediate past president depends upon the method of departure from the presidency, then there is no difference if the president died, resigned, was expelled, or moved to King of Prussia, PA. Therefore we are left with the dictionary definitions of "immediate past president" which is the person who was most recently president. It seems clear that this was the person who recently resigned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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