Cape Dad, you couldn't have said it any better! Way to go! These are the posts that I look forward to reading... they put things back into the right perspective. Great Job!

bravo to cape dad...bravo bravo bravo...you are right on target just because someone wants to see the bylaws and be an officer does not make them out to get you. like i always say "when you stop learning you stop growing". As parent groups we need to always reach higher and never be happy with just good enough...our kids and schools deserve that 110%! Change is hard but it needs to happen!

Very genially put. I agree entirely. I believe that with a GROUP effort great things can be accomplished. Your “aside” comment shares my own perspective on how changes should be handled. One should never be too self-important to enact the failure of a new officer. Everyone's goal should be for the improvement of the organization, not to better one's pomposity. If I were PTO president (or any other officer) I would want people to say that I was open, honest and fair, but more importantly that I contributed to the continuing success of the newly elected officers and ongoing organization. This is like running a relay race; the "baton" must be placed smoothly into the hands of the next “racer”. Otherwise, we all know what happens when a "baton" is dropped.

There have been a lot of posts regarding election procedures lately which I frankly do not exactly understand. I am not an expert on this stuff, but I am one of those people who practically single-handedly authored our group's bylaws after a ton of research, so I have a fairly informed opinion.

When writing our bylaws and articles of inc, one of the common things that everyone wanted to see -- county, state, federal, bank, etc. -- was that, since we were calling ourselves a membership group, that we had steps in place to be inclusive to our members. These things included a certain amount of meetings in which minutes were taken and published and notice given beforehand. We also had to show that changing the basic foundation of the group -- bylaws especially -- was an open and inclusive process. Even if noone but the board members show up for meetings, they have to happen according to these guidelines.

IMO most importantly, we had to provide a clear procedure for electing officers. Again, it had to be obvious that there was an inclusive process. I was under the impression while researching that the process could be as convoluted as I wanted to make it as long as, in the end, you give notice and act fairly as a group.

Yes, it is great if the officers can hand-pick their successors and train them, etc. before their term is up, but under no circumstances should that be guaranteed. The groomed candidate should of course be nominated, but not to the exclusion of anyone else, and he or she should not be guaranteed a win, either. Members are entitled to vote. That is what an election is.

I would encourage leaders to examine your group's election process as early as possible in the school year, before anyone has a truly vested interest in it. Make sure that the system you have is fair to all -- newcomers and established officers. That way, when election time comes around, the only stress on your group is whether or not you are properly following the rock-solid procedure that you came up with.


Aside:
Someone else's desire to lead your group is not necessarily an attack on the person currently in charge. Imagine being a past president, with a couple of years left at a school, using your experience to chair a couple of events while supporting and respecting the new leader. That, to me, is a great way to improve a group.