Elections

Started by PattyB1 • 7 replies • 1386 views

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PattyB1 (Kentucky)
Posts: 40

Posted:

A little question here.Can a person running for office also do some work for the same association and get paid for it? This person is running for President,will probably get it,and also want's his wife to have a position on the Board but only as an "extra voice",not elected but can vote with the Board.He is doing our medians for a "nice" fee.Can anyone help me here? PattyB1

KevinK5 (California)
Posts: 64

Posted:

I know this is acceptable in many instances, but to me it is very suspect to be paid for any work you do while you are also a board member. I would think that any honest person would automatically turn down compensation if they were also part of the party authorizing payment. There are laws prohibiting such behavior in some business corporations. But of course, our congressmen do it all the time.
As for the wife voting, I know that in our bylaws there is only one vote per lot, and a couple does not get two votes. The power is tied to the property, not to the tenants.

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By PattyB1 on 05/05/2007 6:24 PM
A little question here.Can a person running for office also do some work for the same association and get paid for it?

While not against the law it is a bad idea to have any Board member being paid for contract work for the association because of the appearance of a conflict of interest. Nevertheless the Board should not restrict Board members who wish to bid on job as an independent contractor. Get at least 3 bids, require proof of insurance, and do not allow that Board member to be involved in any manner on the award of the contract.

KevinK5 (California)
Posts: 64

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By PattyB1 on 05/05/2007 6:24 PM
...not elected but can vote with the Board....

Roger,
What is the position of most HOAs in regards to couples being on the board together? We had one instance where both co-owners volunteered to be on the board, but everyone thought that would not be proper so only one of them joined the board. Our bylaws say one vote per lot for elections, so I think this is correct. Does the one vote per lot only apply to elections and document changes, or does it also apply to board votes?
Kevin

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

Kevin, I can not speak about most HOAs but none that I have been associated with have had two Board members from the same family. I think it is a bad policy to allow two but it depends on the By-laws. If the By-laws are silent on this then I would go with one vote per lot on everything.

KrystalA (Iowa)
Posts: 60

Posted:

I would check you cc&r's as ours will not allow two people from the same residence on the board. Personally, it seems to me having her as an extra vote would be a conflict of interest and if the board needs to worry about an extra vote, they should add an "at large" position or something like that. We have done that with ours and it seems to help.

As for paying someone, my own personal view is that the person doing anything for the board should be a volunteer basis and the only monies reimbursed should be that of out of pocket expenses. For example, it a homeowner is maiking a website for an association, they should be reimbursed the cost of the domain registration. Or if someone was in charge of light bulb replacement, they should be reimbursed for the cost of the bulbs themselves and not the "labor" time.

just my thoughts.

MikeM8 (North Carolina)
Posts: 13

Posted:

We are NC. I have been on our Board for 4 years, 3 as president. 2 years ago, after sending out nomination forms and getting zero response from the community (400 + homes) our MC suggested that my wife run. My first thought was, “is that legal?” I was assured by the MC that it happened all the time. Still being skeptical, I requested that our lawyer weigh in on the matter. His response was very helpful. He said that there was nothing in our documents forbidding 2 people from the same household serving on the board at the same time. Nor were there any State or Local statues against it either.

He went one to clarify the voting issue. He said that for board votes, we do indeed each get a vote. One all other occasions were there would be a “community vote,” we would get only 1 vote like everybody else.

I Hope that helps.

BradP (Kansas)
Posts: 2,640

Posted:

Patty:

Maybe I didn't read it right, but he wants to appoint his wife to the board without having her voted in? That can't happen, unless there was a board vacancy, but a majority of the board would have to agree to that. Unless your docs speak to it, there isn't anything that prevents two adults from the same house being on the board. IS it a good idea, no.

Also, to me it is a conflict of interest for a board member to be paid to do work for the association. Unless they submitted a competitive bid, it was approved by a majority of the board and they have proper insurance and have a contract set-up as an independent contractor I wouldn't. Even with all that I think it is bad.

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