ELECTIONS

We are a small community (36 units) who recently took back over management of our properties. For the past 5 years we hired a property management company who did a very poor job and charged a ridiculous monthly amount. The board voted that it was in our best interest not to continue with this company and to maintain everything "in house" .
With that being said, the board members who were elected are no longer with us. The current president was appointed his position. He then appointed the secretary (me) and 3 other board members. Then the board voted for the treasurer. We will be holding our first HOA meeting since the recent change in management and feel it is necessary to have an election. Can anyone explain to me how your election works? How would someone be nominated? Do you have to be current on your dues to be a board member? (The current president is extremely behind) Our community is not very involved. The last board meeting only 4 home owners attended. I suggested having a drawing for a gift card to our local grocery store as an incentive to get homeowners to participate. Any positive thoughts and opinions are appreciated!

Check Bylaws
Check CCRs
Check state statute

By now, I'm hoping you've read your documents so you'll have an idea as to how the community is supposed to be run. Make sure your board colleagues have done the same so none of you will make up stuff as you go along.

That said, it helps not to overthink some of this stuff. Firing the management company doesn't necessarily mean you need an election, but you should know how long everyone's term is. In my community, appointed board members usually serve out the term of whoever was replaced and then runs for election for that spot at the appropriate time. Start by figuring out when people were elected/appointed - if everyone's terms end next year, you could wait until then to have your election because you'll know if someone plans to run or step down.

I suspect this is in your documents, but it is a good idea to be current on your assessments in order to serve or vote on board members. As a practical matter, why would you want someone making decisions that will affect your home when he/she isn't even paying his/her fair share of assessments? Usually, homeowners elect board members and the board members choose officers from among themselves. At your next board meeting, why not discuss who wants what position and let that person explain in front of everyone why he or she is best for the job, then the board can vote accordingly.

Ideally, the person would have reviewed the duties of the officer positions as written in the documents and knows what's expected of him/her. Remember, if the person turns out to be a dud, the board can remove him/her from that position (if there are enough votes), but that usually won't mean he/she's off the board - only the homeowners can vote him/her out in the next election, he/she can step down or the homeowners can recall that board member.

Now, about increasing homeowner involvement - many of us on this website have struggled with this. My community had its annual meeting last night and only three homeowners showed up besides the board members (two out of three were there because one had a prior appointment that couldn't be changed). This was the first annual meeting we'd had in about three years - happily, we got enough proxies to make quorum.

We did try giving away gift cards to people who attended or turned in a proxy, but the response was lukewarm so we quit. If you want to do that, start with one or two and require that homeowners either turn in a proxy (if you use them) or attend the meeting to be eligible (and they have to stay until the very end, because that's when the drawing will be held. Otherwise, send a letter to everyone encouraging attendence - instead of a board election, make this a town hall meeting to brainstorm what the homeowners would like to see in the next property manager, if the board hires another. If people suggest self-management, there should be a discussion on the pros and cons - and whether people will be willing to volunteer to assist the board because three or four people can't run the community by themselves.