It’s time to kick off the election process for club officers and directors for the coming Rotary year (beginning July 1). Your club bylaws require that a least four officers plus directors for the coming year be elected no later than December 31. Those officers are president, president-elect (to follow the elected president), secretary and treasurer. Excerpts from the relevant section of the Standard Club Bylaws are at the end of this article.
Start right away – you need time to assemble a nominating committee, confirm with possible nominees their willingness to serve, present a slate of candidates at a meeting and publish the slate in a bulletin — all at least one month before the election at a meeting (in December).
An effective Rotary club has its president line in place for at least 2 years in the future, so it’s important to not only elect a president for the coming year, but also a president-elect.
An effective Rotary club also has a Board rotation/replacement process in place. Depending on Board terms (2 or 3 years), some number of seats need to be replaced every year. A Board position is a good way to get an emerging leader up to speed on the workings of the club.
The president, immediate past president, president-elect, secretary, and treasurer are automatically members of the Board.
IMPORTANT: The nomination process, securing commitments from those nominated and the election process are all responsibilities of the Board of Directors — it’s not the incoming president’s responsibility to fill any of these positions. The president is responsible only for securing committee chairs.
By the way, if your club’s bylaws have not been updated since 2016, they should be, as they’re out of date. The 2016 Council on Legislation enacted several provisions that would require an update.
Excerpts from Recommended Rotary Club Bylaws:
Article 2 Board
The governing body of this club is its board of directors, consisting of, at a minimum, the president, immediate past president, president-elect, secretary, and treasurer.
Article 3 Elections and Terms of Office
Section 1 — One month before elections, members nominate candidates for president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and any open director positions. The nominations may be presented by a nominating committee, by members from the floor, or both.
Article 5 Meetings
Section 1 — An annual meeting of this club is held no later than 31 December to elect the officers and directors who will serve for the next Rotary year.
Article submitted by: PDG Terry Weaver, D7750