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terms of office


Guest clipper

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Our by-laws state "The term of office for the President, et al... shall be one (1) year. These officers may serve no more than two consecutive terms.

The rub is that we have always had a problem getting members to run for board seats. So it has become necessary to appoint someone after regular elections are over. Our present President was appointed the first term, elected the second year, and now wishes to be elected again. Precedence has been set that a president has been elected two times successively and then appointed president several more times.

We now have members expressing the opinion that three (3) terms, under any circumstances is unacceptable.

Some direction please, Clipper

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The rub is that we have always had a problem getting members to run for board seats. So it has become necessary to appoint someone after regular elections are over.

You can't simply appoint someone because the election is "incomplete". The power to appoint must be in the bylaws and typically applies only to mid-term vacancies (due, for example to a resignation or death). But if the person you "appoint" (however improperly) is willing to serve, why not simply elect him?

You might also address the fundamental problem of filling board seats. Perhaps the board is too large. Perhaps you don't need a board at all.

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Our by-laws state "The term of office for the President, et al... shall be one (1) year. These officers may serve no more than two consecutive terms.

The rub is that we have always had a problem getting members to run for board seats. So it has become necessary to appoint someone after regular elections are over. Our present President was appointed the first term, elected the second year, and now wishes to be elected again. Precedence has been set that a president has been elected two times successively and then appointed president several more times.

We now have members expressing the opinion that three (3) terms, under any circumstances is unacceptable.

Some direction please, Clipper

As Mr. Mountcastle pointed out, appointing someone when you had an incomplete election may not have been proper in the first place... unless your bylaws specify an appointment process under those circumstances.

One detail that may (or may not) help is that RONR specifies that serving more than half a term counts as a term, the implication being that serving less than half doesn't. (RONR p. 432 ll. 20-22)

With regard to the 'precedence' of what was done in the case of a previous president of the organization, the precedent has no weight if it is found to be in conflict with your written rules. (see RONR p. 17 ll. 4-18 for a discussion of 'custom', and how custom falls to the ground if a conflict with the written rules of the organization, or with its parliamentary authority, is brought to light via a point of order).

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