President resigned

[Guest Claire]

The President of our basketball tip off club resigned today. There is no procedure set up in our bi-laws except to follow Robert's rules. Can you tell me our procedure to replace him?

Thank you!

[George Mervosh]

If you have a Vice-President or First Vice President, that person is now President. You have a vacancy in the/a VP slot now.

[Guest Claire]

Thank you very much!

[Gary Novosielski]

The President of our basketball tip off club resigned today. There is no procedure set up in our bi-laws except to follow Robert's rules. Can you tell me our procedure to replace him?

Thank you!

Your first step is to move to accept the resignation, and get that passed by a majority vote and entered in the minutes. At that point, your Vice President becomes President.

[Guest Doug]

What if the Vice President does not want the Presidents position and would prefer to remain as Vice President.

[Trina]

What if the Vice President does not want the Presidents position and would prefer to remain as Vice President.

Can't be done directly, under the rules in RONR. The VP becomes President when the President's resignation is accepted -- thereby creating a vacancy in the office of VP. The former VP could, in his turn, resign the office of President. If the society is willing to put up with the rigamarole, it could accept his resignation (two offices are now vacant), and then consider the same individual again to fill the vacant VP office. Whether this is a good idea is up to the organization. It's certainly possible that the organization places a lot of non-parliamentary tasks on the shoulders of its VP, and that this person is good at carrying out those tasks...

[Guest Doug]

Thanks, that is what we were considering.

[Rev Ed]

This brings up the same problem that I have read (and heard of) about many organizations - the Vice President's (VP) position is filled by someone who thinks that it is an "easy" position as there is no responsibility. This can come about because of a lack of understanding about the VP's responsibilities, no real duties while the President is in office, or because no President has resigned, passed away, or been removed from office for a number of years so those standing for election see the position as a title without responsibility. At least that is my two cents.

[Gary Novosielski]

Thanks, that is what we were considering.

Also consider this: If the VP did not want to become president he never should have accepted the job. If he refuses to perform the job of president, accept his resignation, elect a new president, then elect a new vice president, and make sure it's not the same as the old vice president, who has already proven he's not qualified.

[Trina]

This brings up the same problem that I have read (and heard of) about many organizations - the Vice President's (VP) position is filled by someone who thinks that it is an "easy" position as there is no responsibility. This can come about because of a lack of understanding about the VP's responsibilities, no real duties while the President is in office, or because no President has resigned, passed away, or been removed from office for a number of years so those standing for election see the position as a title without responsibility. At least that is my two cents.

Also consider this: If the VP did not want to become president he never should have accepted the job. If he refuses to perform the job of president, accept his resignation, elect a new president, then elect a new vice president, and make sure it's not the same as the old vice president, who has already proven he's not qualified.

See, that's why I said that it is up to the organization to decide whether it's a good idea to jump through the necessary hoops to keep the VP as VP. Sure, the VP should be ready to take over the president's job if need be. However, in several organizations I belong to, the VPs have a great deal of responsibility, and probably have to work harder than almost anyone else on the board (non-parliamentary responsibilities). It's not ideal, of course, but if such a person is willing to keep doing the (difficult) VP job, but not willing to be president, the organization may take quite a different view than that suggested by the above two posters.

[Josh Martin]

See, that's why I said that it is up to the organization to decide whether it's a good idea to jump through the necessary hoops to keep the VP as VP. Sure, the VP should be ready to take over the president's job if need be. However, in several organizations I belong to, the VPs have a great deal of responsibility, and probably have to work harder than almost anyone else on the board (non-parliamentary responsibilities). It's not ideal, of course, but if such a person is willing to keep doing the (difficult) VP job, but not willing to be president, the organization may take quite a different view than that suggested by the above two posters.

I concur with Trina that in some organizations, the Vice President has extensive duties, and it is often a quite different position from President, so that someone who is a skilled Vice President may not be a skilled President. If this is the case for this organization, it would be advisable to amend the Bylaws to provide for a different method of filling a vacancy in the office of President, so there is no need to jump through these hoops in the future.

[Tim Wynn]

I concur with Trina that in some organizations, the Vice President has extensive duties, and it is often a quite different position from President, so that someone who is a skilled Vice President may not be a skilled President. If this is the case for this organization, it would be advisable to amend the Bylaws to provide for a different method of filling a vacancy in the office of President, so there is no need to jump through these hoops in the future.

Another approach could be to change the title of the office associated with the extensive duties, keeping the office of vice-president as an officer who is dedicated to step into a vacancy in the presidency.