Can a mayor declare himself ex officio?

[firesign]

I volunteer for a non-profit that currently has a very contentious relationship with our municipal government.  Our Board of Directors includes one member of Town Council, as per our bylaws.  At the last Board meeting, the aforementioned Council member sent an email to the Board just prior to the meeting announcing that the Mayor would be attending by virtue of the fact that he is "ex officio".  He has never been a member of the non-profit, much less served on the Board, but the Town does contribute to our funding.  Despite the fact that the Chairman replied to the email stating that it was not appropriate for the Mayor to attend, he chose to anyway.  When the Board moved to go In-Camera, he did not excuse himself and participated in the discussion.

I have reviewed our bylaws, and the only mention of who is considered ex officio is in reference to the Chairman of the Board being an ex officio member of all of our Committees.

Was the Mayor in the wrong here, or he is he correct in stating that he is ex officio simply because of his position?

[George Mervosh]

There's no way for anyone here to know if he's wrong, but under the rules in RONR no one can claim to be an ex officio member of anything unless the governing documents say so.  But since this is a town, there may be other applicable rules that do provide for this.  You should check with the town's attorney (or as we say in PA and in some parts of the Free State of Maryland, the town's solicitor) to be sure.

[firesign]

Thank you for your reply!  I will pass this information on and hopefully get some clarity on this.