You described how this person has been in office and will probably stay there. You are afraid of running & not being elected & being an outcast plus you are afraid of running, winning & him being mad. If everyone else feels this way, then you nor anyone else can complain at his way of handling the position since no one will stand up & run. So what if you lose, at least everyone knows that you are serious about being involved. Maybe they will take more notice of you & how you run your activities or events. Maybe the current President will shape up knowing that someone else wants the position!

I always think that it's better to have at least tried and gotten nowhere than to have not tried and never known what could have happened.

Does that make sense?:o

I understand that sort of icky feeling where you want to step out but are afraid the floor might give way and then for the next how ever many years you'll be the one that "tried to get rid of the President". That's hard especially in a small, closed community. Unfortnately this year, doing just that is your only recourse...stepping forward and taking the chance.
If you opt out of that option (which is understandable) my suggestion would be that you opt in to create the bylaws and a good elections process so that next year you have the grounding to make this a more procedural event. There are always going to be crickets chirping...it's just he nature of the beast...but if there is a process in place then at least someone in your position will feel like the "election" is being held in the U.S. and not some monolithic nation where the democratic process doesn't work. As President--I pretty much ensure that the process is without malice...I want to be elected by folks that feel they had a choice and not just a last resort.
So you can hitch up those pants, walk in there and stand up for the Presidency...or put things in place for next year that will benefit the organization as a whole...neither is a better answer...but if you are president still work for the voting procedures and bylaws...obviously you know first hand how important they are...d

My suggestion to you would be just have your husband or someone else nominate you for the position and you accept it. If the other members are sick of this guy and want change then they will vote you in to the position.

This is one of the reasons that bylaws are so important. No one should just be entitled to have the position forever. This is also why most organizations have term limits as to how long someone can hold a position.

Hi everyone,

I would like some input. Our PTO has been stuck in the "this is the the way we have always done it" rut. We have a President (this is their 2nd year) who has lived in our neighborhood their whole life, went to our school as a child, knows everyone, and has a lot of family who's children also attend the school. In fact a relative was Pres. for two years before they took over. He can be very condescending and if very superficial. He is a constant gossip and has even made comments to others about my Husband and I. Which these things are always hard I know he would be childish if challenged.

My family moved here 5 years ago and my Husband and I are both active and even hold offices. We have no bylaws for our group that I know of which of course is the first problem. The second is everyone knows everyone, and the groupd is a huge clique. I would really like to be elected as President for next year, of course I know my Husband will not hold an office if I am elected but, together we will be a wonderful supportive team.

So on to the problem, most of the time our elections are a joke. When the Pres asks if there are any nominations or members who would like to run for an office all you hear are crickets chirping. I think that a lot of the regular members would love to have an alternative to the current person being elected again. The issue I think is that the Pres. is so engrained in the school, that I don't think anyone will even think about nominating someone else, especially me since I am an outsider. I also don't want to do much lobbying for myself or running anything like a campaign. I do think that a fresh perspective is at least a step in the right direction. Getting that across to others may not be easy. My Husband told me if I was serious and wanted the position that I should just step up at the meeting and say so. But I don't want to do so and then either not get the position and make the Pres. mad or even worse I get the position and make him madder so that they would sabitoge me.

HELP!! I don't know what to do. This person can be such a pain in the butt with their micromanagement and shortsightedness. I hate to let this continue. I would like to ask a few members what they think of my holding the position, I am just afraid that someone would tell and this person would find out. My life could become very difficult then!!

Really no one person should be given this much power and right to serve their own adgenda regardless of the effect on the children or the school! Does my frustration sound familiar to any of you? If so how do you handle it?

Thanks for listening and any feedback would be MUCH appreciated!