Our current bylaws state: During the fall annual election, any open board positions (due to an expired term or by resignation) get filled by a vote by the members of Ignition. However, if a Board member leaves for any reason outside of that period, the Board alone votes in their replacement. That replacement then fulfills the remaining term of the departing Board member, be it just the remainder of the year or 2.9 years. The reasoning behind this is the need for speed. Ours is a “working board” in that each member has a lot of work to do. If there are candidates interested in the position, it’s advantageous to get one of them elected and up and running as soon as possible. Doing a full Q&A and vote by Ignition slows the process significantly and puts a lot of strain on the machine. The argument against this approach is that it gives excessive power to the Board.
A possible compromise was suggested at the December Board meeting. This proposal is to change the bylaws as follows: If a Board member leaves outside of the annual election period, the Board would still be empowered to replace that member. However, the new Board member would only fill out the remainder of the year. Once the annual election period opens again the following fall, the remainder of the term for that slot would be put up for full Ignition vote. The person who temporarily filled that role would be allowed to run for the position, along with anyone else who is interested. We have created a Google group for comment on this proposal. Please click the link below to read input from others and provide your input. The comment period will end on January 18th.
Thank you community!
Your Board of Directors