Board meeting discussions with owners

Started by HoltG2 • 5 replies • 1625 views

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HoltG2 (Oregon)
Posts: 2

Posted:

For the past 9yrs. our HOA Board has allowed owners to speak freely by addressing questions to the Board as the last item on the Board meeting agenda. We now have a new Board and they have decided to eliminate the old Q&A session, and now require that anyone wishing to address the Board must submit their request in writing or email 3 days prior to the Board meeting to speak at the upcoming Board meeting.The Board will give each owner no more than 3 minutes to state their case.Following that, discussion of that statement will be limited to 3 minutes per speaker.
In our governing documents, there is no specific provision as to how this discussion process should be handled at our meetings.I'm not aware of anything in our state HOA laws(Oregon)covering this either.Does the Board have the authority to make this kind of change to our normal meeting process? If so, should not this procedure be spelled out somewhere in our Bylaws, etc? I am aware that some Assoc's use this process to try and limit and control the issues and subsequsnt discussions raised to the Board. What do other Assoc's do in this respect?

MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043

Posted:

Holt,

With reference to ORS 100.420, all meetings are to be open to the members, however the statute does not state that members have the right to speak at a meeting. Therefore, unless a procedure for members speaking at a board meeting is outlined in your bylaws, the board may handle this however they choose. Just because one board did it a particular way does not mean the next board must do it the same way.

The AZ' open meeting law states that members and designated representatives have a right to speak at a board meeting and also have a right to speak b/4 a particular issue is voted on by the board. The law also allows the board to set an appropriate time for speaking, to set a time limit and to provide for a reasonable number of persons to speak on each side of an issue. The last would apply if there were a large number of members present to speak on a particular issue. Our board has the Homeowner comments/questions at the beginning of the meeting. We don't place a time limit but our Pres would not be afraid to ask a speaker to "please wrap it up" if they became too wordy. Anyone is free to speak about anything they choose. If something brought up would require a board action the Pres would indicate the matter will be placed on a later agenda. It's not fair to the board to expect them to vote on a matter that they have not had time to prepare for.

SureshD
Posts: 268

Posted:

Agreed they appear to have the authority to establish reasonable rules about meeting protocol.

If you do not like this "new" way of doing things than let them know and organize the membership to see that the BOD members wanting this are replaced at the next election.

HoltG2 (Oregon)
Posts: 2

Posted:

Our Bylaws stipulate that members may not disuss or converse with the Board at Board mtgs. unless so authorized by a majority of the quorum of the Board. Therefore, it would appear that the Board can "set their own rules" as to whether to allow "open " discussion or "scheduled " discussion per the Agenda. I suspect the Bylaws could be amended by a majority vote of the owners to specify either open or scheduled discussion.

MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043

Posted:

Holt,

So there you have your answer! BTW, the bylaws should specify the procedure for amendment. Some can be amended by the BOD w/o a vote of the members.

LynetteB (Texas)
Posts: 141

Posted:

I like the guide your board is setting. In the past, owners that have wanted to speak at our board meetings have wanted to blindside us and expect immediate answers to their concerns. We have a similar policy in effect and it goes for board members as well as the general members. We need time to research most subjects in order to provide a complete answer to members and for items the board will be discussing. The 3 minute limit is great for those who just want to gripe without offering no real solution in site. A good case can easily be presented in 3 minutes if you come prepared.

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