Special Vote by Owners

I am a member of a particularily toxic HOA. The President has a personal relationship with the management company and the resident manager so many reported problems are swept under the rug. We reside in Minnesota. Is there any mechanism, other than voting for board members, that may be employed to shift the balance of power away from the President and management company?

A personal relationship isn't necessarily a problem unless there's an issue with things not getting done according to the contract with the association. You haven't said what type of problems you're having, so I don't know what you mean by stuff being swept under the rug.

All of that said, whenever I hear of a specific board member, president or otherwise, running amok, I must first ask where's the rest of the board?? This person only has one vote, so it should be simple enough for the rest of the board to rein him/her in. In many associations, the homeowners choose the board and the board members then appoint officers from among themselves (check your documents to see how officers are appointed). If your association operates this way, why haven't the other board members removed this man/woman from the position?

Note that removing the president or any other officer from the spot doesn't equal kicking him/her off the board - for that, the homeowners will need to vote them out or recall them in a special meeting/election - read your documents again to see how that's addressed. Which brings me to my next question - you don't say how long you've been concerned, but if we're taking several months (years?), what's wrong with the homeowners? You guys and gals elect and reelect these people, so if you don't pay attention to what they're doing and express your concerns, you need to vote them out. That's step one in turning things around, but step 2-infinity require a little more work.. You'll need to find people willing to step up and replace them (starting with you) and then you can start taking a long look at the manager's performance. It may be you need to get another manager assigned to you to fix this, but if you have some deep problems, considering hiring another company may be an option. this isn't something that should be taken lightly and it does take time to determine what you want the company to do, send out requests for proposals and then do your due diligence by checking backgrounds, comparing fees (the cheapest isn't always the best and the most expensive doesn't necessary guarantee anything), and then asking for references and check them.

I hope you weren't looking for a quick or relatively easy answer because there isn't one. THIS is how you get real change in your community and it takes all of you working together to make it happen. So, start talking to your neighbors and get to work. Good luck!