appointed Removing Appointed Parlimentarian

[Guest L.A. Davis]

The President of the National Alumni Association of my University has identified a substantive conflict of interest concerning the appointed Parliamentarian who is a member of the association.  Since the Parliamentarian is appointed by the President requiring not approval by the Executive Board the President assert that she can unilaterally remove the person from that position.  The bylaws are silent on this issue of removing a person from this particular position.  Additionally although the position is recognized while in that position the person cannot vote. The position is also not recognized with any specificity of duties in the section of the bylaws for Officers of the Association.  The question here then is, can the President who appointed the person then also dismiss or remove the person without conferring with or obtain any additional input, concurrence, or parliamentary action of the Executive Board or association members a a body.

[Richard Brown]

Guest L.A. Davis, this particular part of the RONR forums is limited to questions and administrator posts about the operation of the forum, not  for questions about parliamentary procedure.  please post your question in the general  forum per the guidance in this pinned post:  https://robertsrules.forumflash.com/topic/25416-important-read-this-first-faq-and-information-for-new-members-and-guests/

 

[J. J.]

11 hours ago, Guest L.A. Davis said:

The President of the National Alumni Association of my University has identified a substantive conflict of interest concerning the appointed Parliamentarian who is a member of the association.  Since the Parliamentarian is appointed by the President requiring not approval by the Executive Board the President assert that she can unilaterally remove the person from that position.  The bylaws are silent on this issue of removing a person from this particular position.  Additionally although the position is recognized while in that position the person cannot vote. The position is also not recognized with any specificity of duties in the section of the bylaws for Officers of the Association.  The question here then is, can the President who appointed the person then also dismiss or remove the person without conferring with or obtain any additional input, concurrence, or parliamentary action of the Executive Board or association members a a body.

The answer in general is that the president can unilaterally remove the parliamentarian (p. 465, ll. 30-33).  It is the president's  call on the appointing, though either the board or society would approve any payment when a professional is employed.  The exception would be if the assembly has a rule or bylaw modifying this. You have indicated that you have no rule related to this.

[Josh Martin]

12 hours ago, Guest L.A. Davis said:

The President of the National Alumni Association of my University has identified a substantive conflict of interest concerning the appointed Parliamentarian who is a member of the association.  Since the Parliamentarian is appointed by the President requiring not approval by the Executive Board the President assert that she can unilaterally remove the person from that position.  The bylaws are silent on this issue of removing a person from this particular position.  Additionally although the position is recognized while in that position the person cannot vote. The position is also not recognized with any specificity of duties in the section of the bylaws for Officers of the Association.  The question here then is, can the President who appointed the person then also dismiss or remove the person without conferring with or obtain any additional input, concurrence, or parliamentary action of the Executive Board or association members a a body.

Yes, the President is correct. The power to appoint carries with it the power to remove, unless the organization's rules provide otherwise. If the President has the unilateral power to appoint the Parliamentarian, she also has the unilateral power to remove the Parliamentarian.

Additionally, RONR strongly recommends that the President should be free to choose a parliamentarian she has confidence in, since the Parliamentarian's primary job is to advise the chair on parliamentary procedure.

"If a parliamentarian is needed by an organization, the president should be free to appoint one in whom he has confidence." (RONR, 11th ed., pg. 465)

[Joshua Katz]

I am puzzled, in practice, by what would be achieved by requiring the President to have a parliamentarian she does not want. She'd just not listen and ask questions.

[Atul Kapur]

15 hours ago, Guest L.A. Davis said:

The position is also not recognized with any specificity of duties in the section of the bylaws for Officers of the Association. 

If the bylaws are silent, then you can look to the description of the position in RONR for the duties of the parliamentarian.