General Meeting Rules for discussion

It is up to the chair of the meeting (typically the president) to set the ground rules of meetings and enforce them. For board meetings, many associations limit non-board discussion certain times on the agenda. The chair can rule people out of order, maybe even get a gavel if needed. Worst case, a disrupter can be ejected from the meeting.

During member meetings it would be expected that all owners should be able to talk on all topics, but again, if somebody has the floor anyone who interrupts can be ruled out of order.

In the end if you want orderly meetings, the chair person needs to conduct them that way.

First, our HOA usually only has one membership meeting a year, which is our annual meeting and election of directors. Owners (not all residents) may ask questions and make remarks during our Open Forum, which, for this meeting, we have while ballots are being tabulated.

In CA, board meetings must be open to owners (except for a very few confidential topics). Our Board meets monthly and we offer an Open Forum at the beginning of the board mtg., and also one at the end. We rarely permit owners to speak during the meeting except for these Open Forums.

On the back of the agendas that Owners pick up, are our rules for Owners' conduct during meetings. We crafted it a few years ago when we had some owners who'd constantly talk among themselves wheel the board was conditing its business. Here it is as some, none or a lot of it might help various boards.

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 are able to hear one another and conduct our community’s business.

We invite your comments about 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, unit# and tower.

Express your topic in concise, clear terms.

Convey only one topic each time you’re recognized to speak.

Limit your remarks to two minutes.

Never interrupt others while they speak.

As A Reminder:

Ideas for improving Condo Highrise or concerns about Board policy are acceptable.

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

We ask that maintenance items be reported to management outside of meetings.

Please realize that the Board or Management may not be able to respond to your Open Forum remarks without research. Board deliberation or votes on non-agenda items, per Calif. Civil Code 4920, cannot occur on the spot. The Board will consider these for a future agenda.

Thank you for your interest in our shared community!

Sheila adds good advice.

The Best part about a 2nd open forum in our HOA is that occasionally, maybe once a year, one or more Owners will ask the board to reconsider a decision previously made that evening. This sometimes has resulted in a director making that motion and the board voting on a different course of action.

"... throughout the entire annual meeting"

But it wasn't a meeting at all. You went through an elaborate charade with all the signs, bells and whistles of a bona fide "Annu al Meeting" and got upset because somebody else wasn't playing nice? Wow. That's some chutzpah.

It was an informal shoot-the-breeze session (still with rules to keep things on the up and up) since we didn't reach quorum. If you don't like that, I suggest you not move into our HOA.

Sounds reasonable and legal ... did I miss something that made it awful?