Forums like this to serve the intent of open board meetings

quick, knee jerk decisions most likely CAUSED or CONTRIBUTED to whatever issues you are having

quick decisions are only necessary in an EMERGENCY situation

A "meeting" as defined by the California Legislative branch is a gathering of a majority of directors at the same time and place to "hear, discuss, or deliberate upon any item of business that is within the authority of the board. The key words, which are not understood by some, is the same time and place.

A forum, such as this is not "same time and place", neither is an email. Now, if you have some techno wizards, you could do this by webinars or teleconference. A couple of years ago I had two associations that I set up GoToMeeting accounts and that is how they conducted their meetings. Surprising, they had just as many members join the conversion as if it was held in person.

Another option is to delegate the hell out of everything, so that meetings really aren't necessary. Delegation better be in writing as a Resolution and you better make sure that the actions taken are in writing and readily available to the members upon request.

How is it that the association is in financial trouble and then you want to conduct meeting without the members present?

Since you're the one proposing the idea I think it's incumbent on you to provide reasons why it would work. In Florida, at least, the statutes give homeowners the right to participate and speak on any matter that comes before the board at an open meeting. How's that going to work on an internet chat board in real time? I think observing directors at a board meeting in-person can also provide visual cues, e.g. facial expressions, body language and subtlety (or sarcasm), that are quite valuable and impossible to replicate on an internet forum.

In short, no thank you.

Sometimes it's just that there needs to be some amount of collaboration on documents.

For example, our association needed a Rules and Regulation Guideline for Remodeling of units because bad and inappropriate remodeling has caused major emergency plumbing damage to our building. Our reserve account has become dangerously low because of these many emergency plumbing issues which has caused damage to our common areas and adjacent units. Also, because our CC&R are old and outdated and not well written, the improper assignment of responsibility has the Association to take the full brunt of the cost particularly when it comes to insurance claims. Many insurance companies are not willing to insure our building and we almost didnt get insurance this year.

We needed to pass some sort of Rules Guideline which i started sometime last November. I requested the other board members give their input and other suggestions as necessary (using Google Docs) so that these Rules could be quickly approved at the next board meeting.

No one gave their input.

In fact, at the next board meeting the officers started giving me their comments and edits to the Remodeling Rules and they told me to make the corrections. I was not only tired and overwhelmed because I had worked on the Rules during the weekends and Thanksgiving holiday, I felt a little insulted.

I took back the Rules and again asked the Officers to give their input and make the corrections they wanted on the google docs.

In the meantime and sure enough as most people use their kitchen during the holidays and as several remodeling was happening as well, we had an onslaught of emergency repairs during Dec.

I started to make the corrections myself during the weekends and Christmas and New Year’s holiday. I took it to the next meeting. Yet again, the officers came back with a other suggestions and corrections. The reason for them not making any suggestion prior to the meeting is because of the rule:

(b) (1) Notwithstanding Section 7211 of the Corporations Code, the board shall not conduct a meeting via a series of electronic transmissions, including, but not limited to, electronic mail, except as specified in paragraph (2).

Needless to say, not only am I feeling overworked I feel treated like some sort of employee working for them when we a colleagues and partners to the same cause.

Hi Sheila,

Thanks for your input. In case you didnt know, "google docs" is an online word document that allows collaboration from authorized contributors. You are able to see edits live.

A forum I think would be helpful so that people can add to the list of ideas already put forth. Since I am in the building industry, I of course, lead the way but still needed other's to be on board to pass the Rules quickly.

That's why I am wondering why a forum wouldn't work for instance where collaboration on documents would be helpful. It's hard to make edits while in a meeting and then have to wait the next meeting for approval.

I feel like a puppy dog trying to get these louses to approve something they, with all due respect, know very little about but to pontificate in a meeting.

If I had suggestions on a document or policy, I'd send it to everyone (board members) in a memo and I would tell them I need your responses by X day. If they liked it fine - some would comment, others wouldn't and a few never said anything about any topic whatsoever. During an open meeting, we'd make a final decision and the draft would be attached to the minutes along with my memo so everyone knew what I was talking about and why.

I'm now wondering if some of your colleagues are stalling on this whole thing because there's always some pushback when new rules are enacted. If you applied careful thought to the process, kept the homeowners in the loop and then apply the rules fairly and consistently, things usually calm down after a while. It may be these guys and gals are afraid if they enact a rule saying things like "homeowners will be responsible for all repair expenses if they make unapproved changes to the common area." Maybe you need to ask people point blank why they refuse to move on this issue - sometimes a kick in the rump (or teeth) is what boards really need.

In any case, put in whatever changes people have suggested so far, give them the document and let them know this as far as you're going with this - if anyone else wants to take it further, they're welcome to do so. Otherwise, get on with a vote and move on - they've had several months to review it and while I realize life happens and people may forget, there's no reason this should take as long as it has.

I live in a senior community and some of our members do not own computers. Louisiana has an Open Meetings Law which states in part:"It is essential to the maintenance of a democratic society that public business be performed in an open and public manner and that the citizens be advised of and aware of the performance of public officials and the deliberations and decisions that go into the making of public policy.." There are some rare exceptions to Open Meetings such as cases of extraordinary emergency which is limited to natural disasters, threats of epidemics, civil disturbances, suppression of insurrections, the repelling of invasions or other matters of similar magnitude.

These Laws apply to public servants however our bylaws require Open Meetings of the Board of Directors and in my opinion, the same policies apply.

HOAs in CA must also follow the open meeting laws mentioned above and that, too, are found in my HOA's bylaws, Jean. These laws for HOAs were patterned to some extent along the lines of CA open meeting legislation for public entities. You do point out that open meetings are required by your HOA's Bylaws.

Imo, a good way for JK's Board to collaborate on a document, is to have a committee of less than a quorum of the board work on it before it's brought to the board as a whole. My experience on boards in my HOA for 10 years is that only a few directors are interested in wordsmithing.

JK7 ... I commend you for your hard work to help fix items. I can understand how frustrating it can be but you and I both know the hard work will pay off for both your family and neighbors in the future. While it is hard and frustrating it also in many instances is a necessity. I agree with GenoS to potentially have just "Special Board Meeting Work Sessions" where everyone just spends that date and time to tackle the project. If you do this a couple of times and post so members can attend if desired (LOL ... probably none will), the project most likely will be completed more timely and with less interruptions or distractions. And probably less frustrating for yourself