Guest Jenny Posted March 28, 2021 at 04:18 PM Report Share Posted March 28, 2021 at 04:18 PM We have a board member, the Secretary, who has been consecutively absent for over 2 years. It is recorded in the minutes as "excused." We have not had any correspondence with her. The chairman wants to keep his "buddy" on the board so he just keeps excusing her. Our bylaws say that we can remove her after 3 unexcused absences. Are there any rules about who and how someone is excused? Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Puzzling Posted March 28, 2021 at 04:55 PM Report Share Posted March 28, 2021 at 04:55 PM 26 minutes ago, Guest Jenny said: We have a board member, the Secretary, who has been consecutively absent for over 2 years. It is recorded in the minutes as "excused." We have not had any correspondence with her. The chairman wants to keep his "buddy" on the board so he just keeps excusing her. Our bylaws say that we can remove her after 3 unexcused absences. Are there any rules about who and how someone is excused? Thank you Your post made me wonder as the secretary is absent for 2 years: Who makes the minutes? What are the terms of office in your organization ? (Or when are the next elections for officers and boardmembers) You say the minutes say that she was excused, this can only be in the minutes if there was a motion adopted that states so. If there was no such motion adopted it should not be in the minutes. Furthermore the board or the assembly can decide to start an investigation into the functioning of the secretary. ( notice I am very neutral here) And if they have been found insufficient the organization can decide to remove the secretary, see RONR section 20 (XX) this is assuming the organization has not made his own rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted March 28, 2021 at 04:59 PM Report Share Posted March 28, 2021 at 04:59 PM (edited) 44 minutes ago, Guest Jenny said: Are there any rules about who and how someone is excused? No, not in RONR. Further, RONR has no attendance requirement. Any attendance requirements and provisions for excusing absences are strictly up to your organization. You must interpret your own rules on that issue. You might take a look at FAQ #20 on the main website for information on how To remove officers before the terms are up. Scroll down to #20 https://robertsrules.com/frequently-asked-questions/ I do wonder, however, why the organization has continued to re-elect this person as secretary if he or she never attends meetings. Edited March 28, 2021 at 05:04 PM by Richard Brown Typographical and added link to FAQ’s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted March 28, 2021 at 05:16 PM Report Share Posted March 28, 2021 at 05:16 PM (edited) 22 minutes ago, Guest Puzzling said: You say the minutes say that she was excused, this can only be in the minutes if there was a motion adopted that states so. If there was no such motion adopted it should not be in the minutes. That’s not necessarily true, or at least not in the way you stated it. The organization is free to put anything in the minutes that it wants to. There might well be a rule about excused and unexcused absences and either a rule or a custom that the president notes for the record (the minutes) whether an absence is excused. In fact, the original poster said they do have a rule about excused and unexcused absences.We do not know enough to say that this should not be in the minutes. 22 minutes ago, Guest Puzzling said: the organization can decide to remove the secretary, see RONR section 20 (XX) this It’s actually CHAPTER XX not Section 20. It starts with Section 61. It is also referenced in FAQ #20 on the main website Edited March 28, 2021 at 05:21 PM by Richard Brown Added underlined sentence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jenny Posted March 28, 2021 at 05:44 PM Report Share Posted March 28, 2021 at 05:44 PM Thank you! The only time absences are mentioned in the bylaws is that 3 unexcused.... There is nothing on who decides whether it's excused or not. As far as the Secretary, an Executive board member , not only being absent, when she is there the executive director takes the minutes. I think we put who attended the meetings because someone thought it was procedure. Believe me, there are bigger problems with this group. Dissolution within 6 months is my guess. As chair of one of the programs, I'm going to make a motion for complete separation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jenny Posted March 28, 2021 at 05:50 PM Report Share Posted March 28, 2021 at 05:50 PM Oh and I already printed #20 and the one about proxy voting (which of course they allow but not in the bylaws). If they don't allow us to leave, it's going to get ugly. Fun ugly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted March 28, 2021 at 07:59 PM Report Share Posted March 28, 2021 at 07:59 PM 2 hours ago, Guest Jenny said: The only time absences are mentioned in the bylaws is that 3 unexcused.... There is nothing on who decides whether it's excused or not. Then it would seem prudent for the organization to adopt rules on that subject. 2 hours ago, Guest Jenny said: I think we put who attended the meetings because someone thought it was procedure. If an organization has a rule providing that board members are removed after three unexcused absences, then obviously attendance must be recorded somewhere in order to enforce this rule. That could be in the minutes or a separate document, at the board's discretion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Katz Posted March 29, 2021 at 03:24 AM Report Share Posted March 29, 2021 at 03:24 AM 11 hours ago, Guest Jenny said: Our bylaws say that we can remove her after 3 unexcused absences. What exactly do they say? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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