Can a committe remove volunteers?

Hi all,

New to this forum, hope someone can help with our situation.

Our HOA has existed for almost 25 years - all SF - 225 homes. We have an elected Board of Directors who were responsible for the initial appointment of three members to our Covenants Committee (CC).

The Bylaws and CCRs have no guidance as to how the CC will be run. In the past there has been a Chairman (currently me double-hatted also as a Board member) and the CC has always taken volunteers to assist with evaluating architectural applications, looking for violations to the CCRs, etc.

The problem is that 2 of our current volunteers have been very disruptive to the working of the CC (one of them is also a Board member). I want to remove them from the Committee.

Since our Bylaws and the CCRs are mute, can I simply say, "thanks for your efforts up to now, but we no longer need your efforts"? Nothing in our Bylaws or CCRs says anything. Do we have to take just anyone who volunteers? Can we be selective as long as we are not discriminatory along the usual criteria? Is someone who volunteers automatically on a committee just because they show a willingness to help?

Has anyone ever needed to remove a volunteer from an organization?

I would add these are two single women, joint owners of a property, both of whom are on the CC and one on the Board - they both want to be on the Board, but our Bylaws and CCRs say only one vote per property.

Thanks,
C. Watson

Welcome, Christopher.

Our bylaws also are nearly silent about all aspects of committees, e.g., who forms them & can disband them? who appoints their members? Who appoints their chairs? If you're incorporated, read your state's corporations codes about Boards of directors & committees. There, you should find that the Board appoints members via its votes at a meeting. Similarly, even though the committee members might recommend a chair, it's the Board's call and they vote to appoint a chair. Boards also vote to remove members or discipline one or more. Based on those statutes, you should be able to proceed.

If MD's Corps codes are silent, which I doubt, you'll, as a board, have to create your own rules about this. Our Board, for example, approved a document,
"Guidelines for all Committees," which deals with all of the issues I note above.n Then each Committee has its w own charter which deals with the specifics.

But, for now, find out how the other directors feel. If you have no support to remove one or both, you're outta luck.

With Nps: How many committee members? How many directors on your board?

Btw, you might be mistaken about co-owners serving simultaneously on the board. The reference PROBABLY is to members (all Owners) voting in annual elections, etc., not to directors voting at Board meetings. Some bylaws forbid co-owners serving on the Board simultaneously. Do yours?

Board must be an odd number, minimum 3, currently 5.

Size of CC not stated in Bylaws & CCRs, but started out as 3 appointees by the Board.

In the past we've had difficulty getting homeowners to serve on either Board or CC, so we would take anyone who showed an interest, but now we have 5 Board members (one of which is one of the ladies in question), and 7 on the CC (2 of the ladies in question).

As to the voting, although the Bylaws and CCRs are mute about persons from the same household, the CCRs clearly state ONE vote per property (not talking specifically about Board elections) to the extent that if there's a disagreement within the household, it loses its vote. I think a reasonable interpretation is that no single property should have undue influence over matters. If the CC shrank to only 3 (as originally mentioned), and if 2 people from one property were on the CC, that one household could control the entire process. Similarly if 2 persons from the same property were on the Board with 3 being a quorum they could control the Board.

I just want to know how to get these 2 off the CC. One can stay on the Board, although a provision exists to remove Board members and no justification need be made.

CWatson

Alternative scenario:

You dismiss one of the CC members. The Board/CC member escalates the issue to the board.

What does the rest of the board react to: Your reasoning or your treatment of her?

Here is the exact language about "one vote property":
"ARTICLE IV - MEMBERSHIP AND VOTING RIGHTS

Section 4.01. Membership. Every Owner of a Lot which is subject to assessment shall be a member of the Association. Membership shall be appurtenant to and may not be separated from ownership of any Lot which is subject to assessment.

Section 4.02. Voting Rights. The Association shall have two (2) classes of voting membership:

Class A. With the exception of the Declarant, every person, … who is an owner of any Lot which is part of the premises described in Article II of this Declaration, … shall be a Class A member of the Association.

When more than one (1) person holds an interest in any Lot, all such persons shall be members. The vote for such Lot shall be exercised as they among themselves determine, but in no event shall more than one (1) vote be cast with respect to any Lot."

This does not specify what the vote is about.

As to the language about removing a Board member, I do not have the exact language, but it does not refer to appointed Board members; it just says a Board member may be removed without cause by a majority vote of the other Board members.

My biggest issue involves volunteers and the need to accept anyone who volunteers and how to get rid of a volunteer if that action seems warranted.

Thanks for all the replies.

CW

Christoper, let me tell you our HOA's story. We are 9 years old and have 63 SF homes. We have a 5 person board and a 3 person committee (design review). When I joined the board 6 years ago, we had a homeowner made up of a husband and wife. The husband was the board president and the wife was on the committee. The wife would cause turmoil with her adversarial approach (that was just her nature), however was usually outvoted 2-1 for projects. Because of that turmoil, I submitted to the board a policy change that only 1 person per household could be on either board or committee. Before it could be acted on, the wife submitted a design review request which the 2 remaining committee members denied. She complained to her husband and he tried to convince the other 4 board members to reign in the 2 committee members. We told him that he needed to recuse himself from any discussion because it affected their property. We held a meeting between the 4 board members and we denied her design review request and because of her obstinence (and her past interaction on the committee), removed her from her committee position. Our bylaws and covenents state that committee member serves at the pleasure of the board and can be removed for cause or without cause at any time. Shortly afterwards, at our next board meeting, we approved the new policy.

2 years later, we have peace on the board and the committee. The homeowners, who sued us over a different issue and lost, are quiet. The wife apologized to a few neighboring homeowners for her behaviour over the last several years. The husband has declared he would never serve on another HOA board if he can help it. They would move if they could afford to buy another house in the housing development but outside our HOA. However, their kid is in a charter school across the street from their house and he wouldn't be able to attend if they moved to a more affordable area.

Good luck with your committee. It is worth it if harmony can be restored to the committee.