Question about voting rights of members vs. the board.

Hi all!

At our last month's HOA meeting our Board voted to ban alcohol at the pool. During this meeting it was asked of the members to vote and it was an overwhelming "No" to the ban on alcohol, yet the board still voted among themselves. They came to a majority vote to ban alcohol, thus essentially ignoring the votes of the members. The question I have is, if the board has all the power to vote and institute this ban, then what is the point of members voting? We had a meeting this week and all the members that attended where there for this same issue, since most feel that this ban was put in place improperly and unfairly. We requested that the meeting be rescheduled, since the HOA did not notify the members of the change in meeting date and time in a timely manner. Signs where not in place until after 8am of the day saying the meeting was moved to that same day at 7pm. Since there were only 4 board members out of 9 present at this weeks meeting, we requested the meeting rescheduled. We have a meeting next week and I am positive that we, the members, will have a majority vote again of "No" to the ban on alcohol. Is there really any way around having the board vote among themselves and actually have the members majority vote count? Or do we, the members, just have to wait until November to oust the board for not honoring the majority vote of the community?

Thanks!

Tim gives great advice, I'll add to it just a little. Hopefully you have copies of the governing documents. Typically this would be Covenants/CCRs/Deed restrictions and bylaws. All HOA members should have, read, and understand these documents. As Tim mentioned, the board apparently took a non-binding straw poll of members, but most board members voted the other way. If you read the governing docs, they will tell you what members can vote on. Generally, this would be 1) board of directors elections, 2) (sometimes) ratifying the annual budget, 3) making changes to the governing documents. Your documents might include others. Tim also mentioned special meetings and recall of directors. Your documents should have specific procedures for each of these, along with what is required to change the governing documents.

Out of curiosity, were there specific incidents that triggered the board to change this policy, or are they just a bunch of neo-prohibitionists?

Sorry to have to say it too, Zach, but your board most likely has the final say on this topic. Generally an HOA's governing documents say that the board has the authority to make or change rules.

The audience's advisory vote or straw poll isn't binding.

But why does this board want to ban alcohol at the pool? Is it for insurance reasons? Or have residents and their guests been drinking and partying too loudly?

My HOA permits alcohol at the pool (but no glass containers), but I honestly don't know what our insurance policy says about it.

I don't know if an alcohol ban is enough to justify dumping the board - personally I'd be more concerned about the sudden change in the meeting date and time. Did they explain that - whenever possible, people should be given at least three days notice of the meeting. I also question about the number of board members voting - we used to have 9 on our board and 5 constituted a quorum for voting, so unless your documents say different, I'd agree another vote should be taken when more board members are present. Those issues would make me wonder what else is being pushed through without applying careful thought to the issues. The homeowners are certainly welcome to vote the rascals out, but remember, someone's going to have to be willing to step up and take their place - and still deal with the problem.

It seems to me banning alcohol completely is too heavy handed - even if the documents give the board sole authority to make such decision, a better approach is to first explain why it was considering this (besides insurance issues, maybe there have been issues with underage drinking, trash, etc.) Homeowners can then make suggestions on how to reduce problems besides an outright ban. The Board would then consult the Association insurance carrier and perhaps the Association attorney to craft a policy based on liability concerns and homeowner suggestions, and then make a final decision. This way, even if people aren't happy with the final decision, they have more of an explanation as to why it's necessary.

ANY GLASS is prohibited at ANY pool by the (pool) authority having jurisdiction.
(in South Carolina it would be Dept. of Health & Environmental Concerns)

If broken glass is even SUSPECTED of being in the pool the pool MUST BE TOTALLY DRAINED for inspection - or 'swept' visually inch by inch by a certified CPO using CBA gear.

for the DOHs among us: broken glass is INVISIBLE underwater AND dangerous - blood in a pool is just as bad as feces, perhaps worse depending on many factors ...................

There will always be some AH with a beer or wine bottle in a paper bag.

Accidents will, eventually, occur.

ergo:

from a practical standpoint alcohol must be banned.

I am not aware of any incidents that occurred, but the reasons that were thrown around the room as to why was because it sets a bad example for children. I also heard from a few other homeowners that a board member's wife/husband was the one that spearheaded this whole thing.

Just to add one more thing, in the last meeting we had this week, the president openly admitted that he had not followed correct procedure with the voting. Another reason the issue is being resisted in a week. We have lived in our neighborhood for 6 years now, all those years and the years before that, alcohol was allowed at the pool. I can see banning it for a legit reason, but no legit reason was given in my opinion. If one was, I think people would not be so upset, but this has a lot of people upset.

Why dont you let the board know this? 2 minute phone call. Tell them they are going to have riots unless they simply explain the reason they banned it.

I find it amusing that people are discussing the ban of alcohol at the pool area. If you do a search on the internet, the banning of alcoholic beverage is extremely commonplace. You might also check with your HOA insurance and see what they say.

The other option is to recall or vote the pro-alcohol group in and potentially have the association and the very members who want drinking at the pool sued. Guess what, if the insurance policy won't cover, and you get sued, you won't be able to hide behind the D & O coverage. Might want to have a fast exit strategy available.

ZACH

The BOD has the ability to make Rules & Regulations and they did.

The member vote was an advisory vote that the BOD choose to ignore. Foolish of them to ignore it but within their rights to do so.

The checking of beverages is absurd but I expect within their rights to do so.

Either get the BOD to reverse its decision or replace them with people that will rescind the no alcohol ban.

Personally, I see no issues with alcohol at the pool. Not that I would say we allow it (insurance reasons), but I would not say we ban it.

I agree with no glass containers within the pool area.