ex-officio member

[Harriett]

I, as president of an organization, will be an ex-officio member of the board after the election of new board members by the membership. This is stated in our by-laws. The board has 13 members. Am I still counted in the 13 board members, or am I replaced by another new board member to retain 13 board members? Unusual circumstances have prevented previous presidents from becoming ex-officio members of the standing board.

[Dan Honemann]

I, as president of an organization, will be an ex-officio member of the board after the election of new board members by the membership. This is stated in our by-laws. The board has 13 members. Am I still counted in the 13 board members, or am I replaced by another new board member to retain 13 board members? Unusual circumstances have prevented previous presidents from becoming ex-officio members of the standing board.

This question cannot be answered without reading your bylaws.

[Guest Hattie]

This question cannot be answered without reading your bylaws.

Newly revised by-laws do not state this. I was on committee that revised constitution/by-laws and simply said "The immediate past president shall be an ex-officio member of the Board of Directors for one year." and "The Board of Directors shall consist of not more than 15 (fifteen) and not less than 7 (seven) officers and directors. Only members of the Society in good standing shall serve on the Board of Directors." Does RRONR clarify this further?

[Dan Honemann]

Newly revised by-laws do not state this. I was on committee that revised constitution/by-laws and simply said "The immediate past president shall be an ex-officio member of the Board of Directors for one year." and "The Board of Directors shall consist of not more than 15 (fifteen) and not less than 7 (seven) officers and directors. Only members of the Society in good standing shall serve on the Board of Directors." Does RRONR clarify this further?

No, but it would seem that your board is to consist of not more than 15 and not less than 7 members, one of whom will be the

immediate past president.

Since you helped to write it you should know what you meant to say.

[Kim Goldsworthy]

I, as president of an organization, will be an ex-officio member of the board after the election of new board members by the membership. This is stated in our by-laws. The board has 13 members.

...

I was on committee that revised constitution/by-laws and simply said "The immediate past president shall be an ex-officio member of the Board of Directors for one year." and "The Board of Directors shall consist of not more than 15 (fifteen) and not less than 7 (seven) officers and directors. Only members of the Society in good standing shall serve on the Board of Directors."

Q. Where did this magical number 13 come from? Why not 7? Why not 15?

Q. Since your membership as IPP is mandatory per your own definition, then what difference does it make whether you are #12 or #13 or #14, since you are still under the magical limit of 15?

Q. Since the IPP is a member of the board by definition, then how could you have 15 OTHER "officers and directors" and still obey your definition of your board being:

X <= 15 and X >= 7

?

Put another way, "How can you be "a member of the board" and NOT count toward "total membership of the board"?

That is logically fixed.

Analogy:

A rule in biology might be, "The human hand is limited to a maximum of five fingers."

By rule, "The thumb is a finger."

Q. Is the thumb counted toward the maximum number of fingers on a human hand?

Q. If a human hand does have exactly one thumb on it, then how many unaccounted-for fingers are left, maximum?

How can you escape the logical necessity of answering, "Yes, if X is a member of a set, then X counts toward the maximum number of elements in that set"?

It is logically impossible to assert, "X is a member of Y, but you don't count X when counting up the members of Y."

That's just logic, not Robert's Rules.

[Guest Hattie]

I appreciate your answers. They did resolve my question. I see the need to review our constitution/by-laws for clarity.

Our future board members need to read these and they should be clear.