Voting on a new organization leader

[Guest Jon Peat]

The executive committee of our Boys and Girls Club will recommend a new leader for our club at our next full board meeting. Our full board meetings usually include three key staff members, including the person recommended for promotion. When we get ready to vote for the new leader, should we excuse these staff members and invite them to rejoin the meeting after the vote or can we hold the vote with them in attendance?

[Bruce Lages]

Are these staff members also members of the full board?  If they are, then you can not exclude them from the voting portion of the meeting (or any other portion of a meeting). If they are not full board members, then their presence is at the discretion of the board, and they can be excluded from meetings whenever the board chooses. This assumes, however, that your Boys and Girls Club has no written rules governing staff attendance at board meetings.

[Richard Brown]

Nothing in RONR requires that they leave the room and if they are members who are otherwise entitled to vote, they may vote on their own nominations. In fact, if they are members of the board, they cannot be required to leave the room. You may ask, and they may refuse.  If they are not board members, and if nothing in the bylaws gives them the right to attend the meetings, then they may be asked to leave the room.

upon rereading your post, it appears these people are staff members and are not actual board members. If that is the case, they may be excluded from all or part of the meeting.

[George Mervosh]

If your board does invite staff members to attend, it may be worth considering going into executive session which will simply impose secrecy on the proceedings.  The staff will be honor-bound not to divulge anything that occurred.  RONR (12th ed.), 9:24-27