President's powers

[Guest Tasha]

Can a president request an elected member of a board who is also a chair of a committee to stand down (i.e. relinquish their role)?  Does a president have this power unilaterally or does it need to be approved by the board?

[Joshua Katz]

Anyone can ask anything, but the president has no power to remove the board member. Whether the president can remove someone as committee chair depends on your rules.

[Guest Tasha]

Thank you Joshua.  For clarity's sake, the president spoke to the the chair of a committee and another member of the same committee and asked them to stand down...relinquish their position on the committee which they did not wish to do.

[Atul Kapur]

As stated previously, no one can force a person to resign a position. Whether the president can remove that person from their position depends on your rules.

Who or what body has the authority to appoint/elect the chair and members of that committee?

[Gary Novosielski]

On 6/16/2023 at 9:32 PM, Guest Tasha said:

Thank you Joshua.  For clarity's sake, the president spoke to the the chair of a committee and another member of the same committee and asked them to stand down...relinquish their position on the committee which they did not wish to do.

Well, in some societies the president has the power to appoint people to committees.  So it might depend on how this committee chair was appointed or elected in the first place. If it wasn't by the president then he can suggest that the president take his helpful suggestions somewhere else.

[Guest Karen]

On 6/16/2023 at 9:11 PM, Joshua Katz said:

Anyone can ask anything, but the president has no power to remove the board member. Whether the president can remove someone as committee chair depends on your rules.

Our bylaws are silent as to the removal of board members but they do say that, in the absence of anything specific, Robert's Rules governs. So, my question is: can the president (on their own) remove a duly elected board member with no vote of the rest of the board or the general membership that elected that board member? If the president isn't allowed to do that but does it anyway, what would be the recommended next step? 

[Josh Martin]

On 6/26/2023 at 5:04 PM, Guest Karen said:

So, my question is: can the president (on their own) remove a duly elected board member with no vote of the rest of the board or the general membership that elected that board member?

No, certainly not.

If the bylaws are silent on removal, the exact procedures to remove a board member will vary depending on the precise wording of your bylaws used to define the term of office (see FAQ #20), but in any event, the procedures ultimately require a vote by the body which elects the board members in the first place.

On 6/26/2023 at 5:04 PM, Guest Karen said:

If the president isn't allowed to do that but does it anyway, what would be the recommended next step? 

The President didn't remove anyone. The President might have said that this person was removed, but that doesn't make it so.

So, for starters, the board member should show up to the next board meeting, and if the President attempts to prevent the board member from participating, be prepared to raise a Point of Order, followed by an Appeal if necessary.

Beyond that, I suppose it's up to the society how it wishes to proceed next, but I'd recommend removing the President from office. See FAQ #20.

Edited June 26, 2023 at 10:20 PM by Josh Martin