Quote:
Posted By CharlesB20 on 04/17/2015 8:01 AM
EW4,
Does your association have a management company-- a manager? If so, the manager should remind the board that the purpose of a committee is to serve in an ADVISORY role to the executive board. (The board is never under obligation to accept or be ruled by the recommendations of a committee; however, the board should be willing to CONSIDER committee recommendations.) Never should a committee be granted such broad latitude in terms of autonomy and authority that is may act on behalf of, or instead of, the executive board. Moreover, even if a committee's charter explicitly states that the committee has such authority, that in itself would be considered a technical conflict with the authority of the executive board, because the board cannot shirk or otherwise ignore its fiduciary responsibilities by attempting to grant such authority to a committee.
Perhaps yours is a self-managed association-- (but perhaps not). In any case, the executive board must seek professional guidance in this matter from either an association manager who holds professional credentials, or from competent legal counsel (which means counsel whose area of expertise is HOA-related law). Your executive board has unwisely allowed committees-- or as in this instance, a single individual who serves on multiple committees-- to usurp the board's authority, or at least to ATTEMPT to take over the board's authority. It's time for the board to emphatically re-assert itself in the governance of your community. If the directors are reluctant to take on the mantle of governance, then the membership should replace the existing board with a new one, a new board who will be willing to dissolve existing committee charters and then start afresh.
Once again we re-visit the age-old questions of authority: Who has authority? How does he or she-- or an entire board or a committee-- get its authority? How is authority transmitted? And what is the scope of that authority? How far does it extend? This is yet another classic example demonstrating that HOA boards need ongoing education to help them understand their proper role in the governance of association affairs.
No, we don't have a management company. But as you can see one is needed! Some directors have gone out of there way to scare members about management companies. All done with no real knowledge of the real services a management company can provide.
We do have legal council and guess who the main contact is...this guy. There are 2 others as well but they are on board with this happening.