Nominating Committee

[Guest Nominating Committee Membe]

I am a member of our Nominating Committee whose members are appointed by BOD as outlined in constitution.

The Committee Chairperson came to our first meeting and as distributing his copies of what he wanted the slate of officers to be for our upcoming election he stated this would be an open and closed meeting since all board members would like to remain on the board for 2022.  Upon reviewing his proposed slate two of us reminded him that our vice president was at end of term and could not run for this same position again as per our constitution.  We brought names of potential nominees to this meeting and the chairperson also refused to allow discussion.  He did not follow the constitution nor Roberts Rules.  He became belligerent and left the meeting before even 10 minutes had passed.   He has sent nasty emails to our BOD....as a result 2 of our nominating committee members have resigned and 1 of our potential nominees withdrew their intent to run for a seat on the BOD

this chairperson is not objective and hostile.

Can the committee remove him?  How do we remove the chairperson of this committee, according to Roberts Rules.

We are now short 2, possibly 3, members on our nominating committee as it outlined in our constitution and need to go back to the BOD to have new members assigned to the vacancies.  The BOD is taking a hands off approach and telling us to work thru the issues.

If the BOD appoints members to this committee as outlined in our constitution, can they refuse to help this committee?

If yes, they can refuse, what do we do from here?

If no, they cannot refuse, do I go back on keep repeating our constitution as written?

 

[John Novack]

Does your constitution provide that the Board--in addition to appointing committee members--also names the chair of the committee? 

If not, how is the chair determined?  Is there language in the constitution regarding the determination of a chair (other than by the Board), or is the chair determined some other way (perhaps election by the committee members)?

Edited September 10, 2021 at 07:18 AM by John Novack

[Guest The constitution appoints]

The constitution states that they appoint the entire committee and the chair 

[Guest Nominating Committee Membe]

On 9/10/2021 at 3:10 AM, John Novack said:

Does your constitution provide that the Board--in addition to appointing committee members--also names the chair of the committee? 

If not, how is the chair determined?  Is there language in the constitution regarding the determination of a chair (other than by the Board), or is the chair determined some other way (perhaps election by the committee members)?

The BOD appoint the entire committee, including the chair.

[Guest Nominating Committee Membe]

On 9/10/2021 at 3:10 AM, John Novack said:

Does your constitution provide that the Board--in addition to appointing committee members--also names the chair of the committee? 

If not, how is the chair determined?  Is there language in the constitution regarding the determination of a chair (other than by the Board), or is the chair determined some other way (perhaps election by the committee members)?

Also, the remaining members of the committee have asked to meet without the chairperson to discuss having the chairperson removed. And to prepare a document to be presented to the BOD.

How do we go about doing that while remaining within Roberts Rules?

[J. J.]

Th committee does not have the power to remove the chair.  It may report the situation to the board and ask for a new chair, but the is not obliged to do so (50:14).

 

[Gary Novosielski]

On 9/10/2021 at 10:06 AM, Guest Nominating Committee Membe said:

Also, the remaining members of the committee have asked to meet without the chairperson to discuss having the chairperson removed. And to prepare a document to be presented to the BOD.

How do we go about doing that while remaining within Roberts Rules?

If the chair will not call a meeting "when necessary", any two members of the committee may do so.  It's going to be difficult to get support for removing the chair if members who would have been supportive have already resigned.  I'm not a fan of resigning as an effective problem-solving strategy.

And as @J. J. noted, all you can do is draft a report of the problem to the parent body and ask for action on their part.  If they try to tell you to solve it yourself, remind them that your power is limited, per RONR

[Guest Nominating Committee Membe]

On 9/10/2021 at 5:03 PM, Gary Novosielski said:

If the chair will not call a meeting "when necessary", any two members of the committee may do so.  It's going to be difficult to get support for removing the chair if members who would have been supportive have already resigned.  I'm not a fan of resigning as an effective problem-solving strategy.

And as @J. J. noted, all you can do is draft a report of the problem to the parent body and ask for action on their part.  If they try to tell you to solve it yourself, remind them that your power is limited, per RONR

The president sent a blanket email to alllll the nominating committee as well as BOD members, including those that resigned, asking the nominating committee members to state their position on remaining on the committee. In that email, the president explained that the BOD volunteers enough of their time and will not call a special meeting to deal with these issues.

One Nominating Committee that resigned already responded saying if the Chairperson is remaining as chairperson, the resignation still stands.

I am at my witts end

[Guest Zev]

I see nothing in this situation that is much different than if a committee was divided over what report to issue to its parent body.

If the chairman disallows debate then the remaining members could meet and issue a report detailing the event and requesting that the board make a determination in this regard.

If the chairman manhandles the minority then the minority could meet and issue its own report to the board as to its opinions and requesting that its report be substituted in place of the report issued by the committee chairman and however many other members decided to join him.

If, however, this was not a minority but was in fact the majority of the committee, then the majority can meet and issue its own report and inform the board of what has taken place. All that agree to the report should sign it and the report should emphasize that it represents the opinions of the majority apart from the chairman.

There is no reason to get overly excited or resigning since what has occurred is a difference of opinion. Yes, if the chairman has performed an act unsupported by the rules then there is reason to be upset, however, the ultimate party that must decide these questions is the board and if they refuse to do anything about it then that is their prerogative.

If there is a better method of dealing with this issue then I would be pleased to hear it.
 

[Josh Martin]

On 9/13/2021 at 9:42 PM, Guest Zev said:

If the chairman manhandles the minority then the minority could meet and issue its own report to the board as to its opinions and requesting that its report be substituted in place of the report issued by the committee chairman and however many other members decided to join him.

It's not clear to me that the procedures for a minority report are in order when handling a report of a nominating committee. Even if they are, they seem like more trouble than they're worth. The members of the committee in the minority can simply make their nominations from the floor.

On 9/13/2021 at 3:47 PM, Guest Nominating Committee Membe said:

The president sent a blanket email to alllll the nominating committee as well as BOD members, including those that resigned, asking the nominating committee members to state their position on remaining on the committee. In that email, the president explained that the BOD volunteers enough of their time and will not call a special meeting to deal with these issues.

One Nominating Committee that resigned already responded saying if the Chairperson is remaining as chairperson, the resignation still stands.

I am at my witts end

If the board is unwilling to intervene in this matter, then I guess you're stuck with this person as the chairperson of the nominating committee. Nonetheless, ultimately it is up to the committee, by majority vote, to determine the committee's nominees. As a result, people resigning from the committee because of the chairman makes no sense - that will just make it easier for the chairman to have his way.

If some members disagree with the nominees decided upon by the committee, the other members (and former members) of the Nominating Committee can make their own nominations from the floor, or in such other manner as is permitted under the organization's rules. As for any nominees which are made which conflict with the organization's constitution, a Point of Order may be raised from the floor on that matter, followed by an appeal if necessary.

Looks like you should all prepare for an interesting annual meeting.

Edited September 14, 2021 at 12:22 PM by Josh Martin