Should a guest speaker be listed on a board mtg. agenda?

In CA, board meetings are q required to be open and the meeting notice & agenda must be posted 4 days ahead of the meeting. AT the meeting nothing can be added to the agenda (unless, basically, an emergency). There's a board meeting in my HOA tomorrow evening. The rumor is there'll be a guest who'll talk about a potential $1m. project that'll consume 24% of our reserves.

I don't see an agenda item about this proposed project or a guest speaker. If there IS a guest speaker, should s/her be listed on the posted agenda?

I see in Robert's Rules, the speaker should be noted in the minutes, but with no elaboration on their remarks.

Kerry,
While on boards in Ca. for 8 years we would very infrequently have guest speakers speak. I am not sure all were mentioned on the agenda. In those cases it would be at the very beginning and we would tell them you have 5 or 10 minutes and then ask them to leave so the formal meeting could begin. I am assuming this is not a member of the HOA if it was then of course they would have a right to stay. The board would not be able to discuss any of the information that was offered.

We also would invite City Leaders on occasion when they were pushing for added sales tax measures if the community had questions. This was never an agenda item but was sometimes noted on the announcement.

Can someone at the invitation of the Board speak to attendees during open forum, yes. Does it have to be on the agenda, no. Should it be, yes, if the intent was to inform as many people as possible.

But, legally, if not on the agenda, the Board cannot discuss at all. They cannot even ask questions of the speaker.

I asked our manager again if there was to be a guest speaker s rumored and she said no. But thanks for everyones' replies. By guest speaker, I meant someone who the board had invited to come to the board's open meeting this month--in this case it would have been someone knowledgeable about the $1m project that's apparently forthcoming. S/he would have explained the details to Owners in attendance.

The board, of course, can invite such an individual. But what I wanted to know is IF that person should be listed on the agenda that must be posted in advance of th meeting. You might wonder why wouldn't the board list such a person., The answer is it has become so secretive that they'd prefer if no one shows up at board meetings. Listing an expert in the project would bring out a lot more of those pesky owners who might ask hard questions . There
WAS an agenda time IX. P, i.e., last, about the project. It was listed so oddly that the majority of owners wouldn't know what it meant.

Remember, this is California and WE do play by a different set of rules, good or bad. Board can only discuss and take action on items on an agenda properly noticed to its members. If they invite a guest speaker and not put the item on the agenda, the speaker can speak, BUT the Board cannot discuss.

What if you want to get around that issue. This happened my first year on a board when two of us were in the minority and the other three would not allow others to offer items for the agenda. We would have three or four items for a meeting and handle those questions to members that came to the meeting to ask during open forum. Then it is open season.

In regards to a board member asking as a homeowner. Doesn't work at a board meeting , but does at a member meeting.

In the OP case, if 24% of my reserve fund was being proposed for a project, I would be hoping a town hall meeting was being seriously considered.

Before I decide not to seek reelection to the Board, I begged the board to hold just such a Town Hall. they refused even though the $1m decision was announced last May!