Can the president also be the secretary?

See these from our by-laws:

Section 1. Designation. The principal officers of the Association shall be a President, a Vice President, a Secretary and a Treasurer, all of whom shall be elected by the Board of Trustees. The offices of Treasurer and Secretary may be filled by the same person.

Section 5. Secretary. The Secretary shall keep the minutes of all meetings of the Board of Trustees and the minutes of all meetings of the Association; he shall have charge of such books and papers as the Board of Trustees may direct, and he shall, in general, perform all the duties incident to the office of the Secretary. He need not be a member of the Board of Trustees.

I would like to also run for secretary as well as be president. Is this typically not permitted?

This is the language in my Bylaws, where are just under 5 years old. Many, Many more have the same language, but to be fair, not all do.

Section 5.1 - Enumeration of Officers. The officers of the Association shall be a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary, a Treasurer and such other officers as the Board may deem necessary. Any person may hold more than one (1) office, provided that no one (1) person may be both the President and Secretary of this Association. All officers must be directors.

Being permitted or not will depend on your Governing documents or applicable State statutes.

Is it typical? No.
What is typical is the Treasurer and Secretary be combined.

Personally, I don't think it's a good idea to be the one who runs the meeting and be the one to take minutes of the meeting. It's difficult to do both well. This is even more difficult at general membership meetings.

From Ask the Parliamentarian website:

Question: Can a member serve in two elected offices at the same time?

Answer: . . . The assembly is free, however, to elect the same person to another office on a subsequent ballot, unless the bylaws prohibit a person from holding both offices simultaneously.

I'll second this. I'm only the secretary in my HOA and it's sometimes difficult to participate in the discussions at all while preoccupied with taking the minutes. Some people multitask well like that. I like to think I'm a good multitasker... but it's still a chore.


That sounds all kinds of illegal.

Forgive me Melissa, but it sounds to me as if you were running an association with less than a full deck. Unless I am mistaken, you CANNOT conduct business with LESS than a majority of Board members. The ONLY thing you are allow to do is meet to appoint remaining Directors. I find it very hard to believe the your documents didn't allow the remaining Board to appoint Board member to fill open positions.

So it seems that the general consensus is that the president cannot also serve as the secretary. It's almost as if the rule is "no single individual may occupy more than one trustee/officer position unless an exception is specifically stated in the by-laws". Personally, I like being the president and recording the minutes. Of course, I will admit that we don't do everything "the right way". Every meeting we've ever had was casual and no minutes were recorded. Instead, the president sent a summary out within a few days after the meeting which is what I have been doing.

I've searched through our CCRs using every keyword I could think of, but can't locate anything that states that the president cannot also occupy the secretary or treasurer positions.

It probably would be found in your bylaws, Ron. But if your own docs are silent, review your states laws, probably OH corporations codes (if your HOA is incorporated). Your answer will be there.

If not, then, the parliamentary procedures (Robert's Rules?) that Tim cites is your default.

I agree though that presiding and recording minutes simultaneously, which I've had to do in a different context, limits your effectiveness as a participant in the governing process.

Melissa

A quorum of the Board is not based on the number of signers on the association's bank account. It's based on the number of DIRECTORS, not officers, as only DIRECTORS can vote or make decisions.

I got our business done and made our HOA a success... No lawsuits and operated within budget without dues raises or special assessments. Improved our sales and sale prices by a few grand. Was able to create an interest in HOA participation and a neighborhood watch formed... So send me to HOA jail for not following someone elses imposed opinion on how to run my HOA....

Ron

There is in fact no RIGHT way. It is your HOA and the members of your board can decide how the board functions.

I do not think one person holding two elected positions is either possible or prudent. However, having someone other than the Secretary creating the minutes WITH THE APPROVAL OF THE BOARD, is not violating any federal or universal laws that I am aware of.

And just to be clear and understanding you don't reside in California, there are no HOA police waiting to charge you with violating the guidelines set forth in your documents.

Our meetings too are casual and informal. Roberts Rules of Order hold no place in the governance or operations of your board unless your board has agreed to adopt them. Unless adopted for use their content is meaningless. I prefer to operate without the wigs, gavel banging and repeated motion making they require. Like setting up rules how to have a simple conversation. IMO overkill+. You sir are out of order!

So elect a Secretary and in the best interest of the board ask that they perform the job they are tasked with and wait to see if they can perform that duty in an acceptable manner. My opinion better to involve others versus doing everything yourself YOUR way. That gets old quickly.

Good luck and get those forms in......

So far as i can tell, Jon, Ron has not reviewed his bylaws (if he's incorporated) nor OH's corporations codes. Looks like he might be avoiding that.

I think Tim suggested Robert's Rules as a place to visit if laws & gov. docs are silent about the prez & sec'y being the same person. There was no mention by him or by me that Ron or anyone else should follow parliamentary procedure. (I think it's required, though in CT)

I'm not avoiding it. I've done text searches for various keyword and cannot come upon anything that suggests pres/secretary combo is not permitted. Does anyone know what I should look for? I think I am just going to continue as is with myself as pres and secretary. I have a good memory and can summarize the meeting well so long as I do it after the meeting or next day

So it sounds like, Ron, that you may serve as both officers. Does no other director wish to be an officer? Was there a vote for each officer?