Executive Session in NY

You and your neighbors should rally together, attend the meetings as a group and remind the board that executive sessions should be rare for the reasons you mentioned. There's nothing secret about "strategizing" - in fact, the point of an open board meeting is to listen to the rationale behind board decisions.

If they cannot or refuse to check themselves, check your documents to see what they say about special homeowner meetings and recalls of board members. Usually, special homeowner meetings must be scheduled within a certain time if the board receives a petition of a certain percentage of homeowners. If you want to recall them, the petition needs to specify what the special meeting is for. At that meeting, give the board a chance to defend themselves and then the homeowners can decide if they want to go ahead with a recall vote. However, if you succeed, you need to have people ready to step and take over (meaning YOU may need to be one of them.)

Whether these folks promise to change their ways or are replaced, it would be helpful to establish some rules on when an executive session should be called. There are various discussions on the subject on this website where you can pick up some ideas. Better yet, you may want to put something in your bylaws - for that you will need homeowner approval. Be sure to run it by your association attorney so you can ensure you're in compliance with any applicable state law. Have fun!