resignation of elected president

[Guest emb]

the constitution of our organization provides for the past president to sit on the board. however, that president who was elected by the membership resigned. does he still get to sit on the board by virtue of the fact that he is a past president? his resignation was tendered in anger because he felt that the board would not play by his rules.

[David A Foulkes]

the constitution of our organization provides for the past president to sit on the board. however, that president who was elected by the membership resigned. does he still get to sit on the board by virtue of the fact that he is a past president? his resignation was tendered in anger because he felt that the board would not play by his rules.

Your constitution (and bylaws, if applicable) must be interpreted by your organization. See RONR 10th Ed., p. 570-573 for some guidelines. You might also seek the services of a parliamentarian. Visit the Parliamentarians.org website (NAP) or the American Institute of Parliamentarians website (AIP) for a parliamentarian near you.

That said, do you think the former president who resigned is not a (the) past president? Does your constitution state that only past presidents who serve out their term, or who resign without rancor, may sit on the board? Does it state "immediate past president?"

[Gary Novosielski]

the constitution of our organization provides for the past president to sit on the board. however, that president who was elected by the membership resigned. does he still get to sit on the board by virtue of the fact that he is a past president? his resignation was tendered in anger because he felt that the board would not play by his rules.

There are no rules in RONR governing such issues, nor does RONR recommend having such an officer, for reasons you are beginning to appreciate.

If your bylaws provide that the immediate past president, or "the" past president, or all past presidents are members of the board, then they are. It is then up to your society to develop rules that would answer questions such as the one you have posed, such as what "the" means in the previous sentence, if there are more than one. If your bylaws are ambiguous, your society must determine what they mean. If they are not ambiguous but merely inconvenient, you must follow them anyway, until they are duly amended.