Interuptions During HOA Meetings

The Chair person of the meeting needs to tell him that he will have an opportunity to state his position during the open forum section of the meeting. If he persists then the Board might want to think about hiring an off duty peace officer to act as Sargent of Arms and if he persists after being warned, then the Board should recess while the S of A ejects the unruly member.

In addition to what Tim said, you may want to consider putting a video camera on a tripod in one corner of the room where both the board and the audience can be seen. If this owner continues to disrupt your meetings and you do need to call the police (which I recommend even if the owner has left) you would have evidence of that person's disorderly conduct.

heard so many times : that Procedure "should be a shield and not a sword", but what happens when you're being beaten over your head with the pointed end of a shield ?

How many Open Board meetings ( or almost any adjudicative or live deliberation process ) could function with observer interrogations underway ? If you allow him/her or anyone to hijack the Board meeting agenda outside of a feedback period - if this is what is happening - this openness is under attack too. Not irrelevant : Are the objections sometimes quietly helpful or lateral thinking ? Is part of the problem that the owner is seen unhelpfully as an outsider ?

Yes, Nicole, as everyone has stated, the presider needs to stop her/him the FIRST time s/he interrupts the business portion of the meeting. S/he may ONLY speak during Open Forum. The presider can gavel for quiet. It also might help if the presider stands up and states that interruptions are disrupting & will not be tolerated. It is a Board meeting not a members (homeowners) meeting.

At the 2nd interruption, the presider ask the minutes recorder to note that M. XX has been asked twice to not disrupt the meeting. If M. xx refuses and interrupts again she will be escorted out by security or asked to leave the meeting. if she doesn't leave, the board picks up their materials and adjourns to a director's home and refuses to let the disrupter in.

On 5/7, 12:09 am, subject "Nasty Owners..." I ended with our new policy conduct, which is o the back of our agendas, and which I've pasted below. It was first used a couple of days ago and though the main disrupter was present two of her "posse" were not so she was very docile. Can't tell if the rules, which our prez reviewed at the beginning of the meeting helped or not.

I do NOT get how JohnC thinks CA legislators, via the Davis-Stirrling Act, could revise it to make tough statues about rude owners at HOA meetings.

BOARD MEETING CONDUCT

We welcome homeowners as observers of the Board of Directors meetings. During the discussion and votes about agenda items, ONLY those at the conference table may speak. Please remain silent so that we may hear one another and conduct our community’s business.

We sincerely invite your views of the board’s agenda items or other related topics at the beginning of every board meeting during our Open Forum. We hold a second Open Forum at the end of the board meetings for your additional input.

During Open Forum:

Raise your hand to be recognized.

State your name and unit number/tower.

Express your topic in concise and clear terms.

Only ONE topic each time you’re recognized to speak.

Limit your remarks to two minutes.

Never interrupt others while they speak.

Ideas for improving Horizons or concerns about board policy are acceptable.

Berating any individual director, homeowner or manager will not be tolerated.

Please report maintenance items to management outside of board meetings.

It is important to realize that the board may not be able to respond to your remarks without research. If your topic needs board action, it, per California statute, will not be deliberated by the board tonight unless the board defines it as an emergency. Instead, it will be considered for a future agenda.

Thank you for your interest in our shared community!

I do not like this idea of moving the meeting because it essentially lets the disruptive owner win. That is, they have gotten their way by disrupting the meeting to the point where you must leave and go elsewhere to continue. They win the battle and will return to wage war in the future.

If the disruptive owner refuses to leave the meeting after being asked to do so, it is time to call the police to have this person escorted out of the meeting and, if possible, cited for disorderly conduct. Let them wage their wars with the courts and local government.

If this same person disrupts more than one meeting I would also recommend seeking an injunction to keep him out of future meetings.

My personal opinion is that those who engage in repetitive disruptive acts are mentally unstable and should be viewed as a potential threat to all others who attend the meetings.

Kerry

What I was saying is I believe D-S has procedures as the when one can speak and those procedures should be followed and the violator cracked down on.. In SC we do not have to allow anyone to speak.

Kerry

In SC owners cannot be forbidden to attend a BOD Meeting. They just do not have to be notified of such. A big difference. Personally, I advocate notifying owners and allowing them (within reason) to speak. I also say there are times when it is in the best interest of running a business (corporation) that they are not notified. I like to have my cake and eat it also.

I was under the impression that D-S allowed comments (controlled or not) at various times (such as prior to a vote) or am I confusing CA wih FL? Easy to confuse FL and CA with all their "regulations".

That topic is covered in the Criminal Code, which prohibits interrupting meetings of any kind, such as school boards, HOA's, church services, or model railroad clubs. Here is the text of Arizona Revised Statute 13-2904:

13-2904. Disorderly conduct; classification
A. A person commits disorderly conduct if, with intent to disturb the peace or quiet of a neighborhood, family or person, or with knowledge of doing so, such person:
1. Engages in fighting, violent or seriously disruptive behavior; or
2. Makes unreasonable noise; or
3. Uses abusive or offensive language or gestures to any person present in a manner likely to provoke immediate physical retaliation by such person; or
4. Makes any protracted commotion, utterance or display with the intent to prevent the transaction of the business of a lawful meeting, gathering or procession; or
5. Refuses to obey a lawful order to disperse issued to maintain public safety in dangerous proximity to a fire, a hazard or any other emergency; or
6. Recklessly handles, displays or discharges a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument.
B. Disorderly conduct under subsection A, paragraph 6 is a class 6 felony. Disorderly conduct under subsection A, paragraph 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 is a class 1 misdemeanor.

Source: http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/ars/13/02904.htm&Title=13&DocType=ARS

Kerry

Even when notified and/or invited they are not allowed to speak unless allowed to by the BOD. In my last SC HOA we had a 30 minute Q&A session before every BOD Meeting. My last SC HOA had a monthly BOD Meeting and all were notified about it. My present HOA has no amenities, we are public water and sewage, public streets, we do all the landscaping including every home, our homes are cookie cutter thus basically no exterior changes are allowed etc. so it is a relatively easy association to operate and with a good MC, our HOA basically runs itself.

Just because one does not have to do something does not mean they cannot do it.