HOA MASTER BOARD MEETING ABRUPTLY CANCELLED

Started by FredW5 • 6 replies • 242 views

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FredW5 (Florida)
Posts: 177

Posted:

We had an open HOA Master Board Meeting this morning, open to all residents.
Ten minutes into the meeting, the president noticed that one person was recording the meeting, and when she asked asked the resident if he was recording, he said yes, its for
my personal review .
The president suddenly decided to abruptly terminate the meeting.

Any thoughts.?

AugustinD
Posts: 3,698

Posted:

If this is a HOA subject to FS 720, recording is allowed. From FS 720:

RECORDING.—Any parcel owner may tape record or videotape meetings of the board of directors and meetings of the members. The board of directors of the association may adopt reasonable rules governing the taping of meetings of the board and the membership.

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0720/0720.html

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

What do the laws of your state say about consent to recording: one-person or two-party?

There are conflicting opinions on the value of recording meetings:

* You'll have a verbatim record. BUT modern technology allows manipulation of any recording, making its value questionable at best.

* Recording can have a chilling effect on discussions, making people less willing to speak their minds. This lessens the quality of the discussion and possibly of the resulting decisions as well. This does nobody any good.

Personal opinion: with all of the Florida laws regarding notice, open meetings, availability of HOA records, etc., there should be no need to record a meeting except in specific circumstances (eg. allowing a housebound or absentee homeowner to "participate"). The use of online meeting platforms such as Zoom will pretty much eliminate the need for the exceptions as well. And recording a meeting without giving the president a heads up is rude.

Speculation: the person recording the meeting may have a track record of sh!t-stirring and the president didn't want to give the person another option for trouble-making. That said, the HOA should be prepared for this sort of thing, should have a policy in place regarding acceptable behavior at meetings, and then enforce the policy.

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

Given the FL statute about recording being allowed at HOA meetings, the savvy board should consider making their own recording (Zoom allows this) and making the recording available to those who want it. This can help address any potential issues with doctored bootleg recordings making the rounds.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By CathyA3 on 01/18/2022 9:36 AM
Given the FL statute about recording being allowed at HOA meetings, the savvy board should consider making their own recording (Zoom allows this) and making the recording available to those who want it. This can help address any potential issues with doctored bootleg recordings making the rounds.

At a charge of say $25 for duplicating. If free, people will say I will take one even if not needed.

FredW5 (Florida)
Posts: 177

Posted:

Thanks for your kind responses..

Here's more on the background of the story.. There is very contentious situation going on between The residents, and the Master Board due to the fact that the City took over a private club and golf course within our communities, and the golf course, became open to the general public.The City promised to build their own entrance and exit into their club to alleviate all the traffic problems this would cause. The city council had a Zoom meeting where they promised all the residents that they would build the new entry access into their club a short distance away..

The City found out that it would be too expensive, and it would cut into their plans to add Pickleball courts where the new entrance was planned to go.

A Zoom recording of the city council Meeting describing the building of the new entryway was circulated among ther residents
who were happy that our entryway would not have to be shared with The City's Clubhouse.

When The City found out that we had an old gate , which has been closed for over 20 years, they reneged on the building of the new entry and said they would pay our HOA Board for a study to build a second entry guardhouse, and if the feasibility study would be in their favor, They would pay to build a new Guardhouse, and they wanted our residents to pay to staff it.(Meeaning our maintenance dues would go up) . They also mentioned that a School bus stop would be moved to the new guardhouse area.

The master board members, without consulting the residents agreed to this.

There is no provision in the agreement regarding the contemplated opening of a new guardhouse, anywhere in the agreement . Only to do to do a feasibility study.

The majority of residents are incensed at this idea. It would cause traffic ,noise, pollution and and security problems.

..And that was the main item on the agenda to be discussed today, and abruptly cancelled when residents expressed their anger, and were recording the meeting. (Legal if Lorida if an open meeting.

SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,964

Posted:

Cathy's statement is probably why the president called the meeting off - people can slice and dice recordings to make it look like the board didn't care or was in cahoots with the city (or whatever BS they dream up) and post the thing on the internet and cause more drama.

I don't have a huge issue with residents recording meetings, but since the law does allow the Board to establish reasonable rules on recording, I think that's the board's next step before they reschedule this meeting - and it SHOULD be rescheduled. For starters, what will the cameraman or woman do if someone says I don't want to be recorded for whatever reason (I can see board members saying this, along with some other people because when a resident is speaking, the recorder will likely zoom over to Mr. Smith cussing everyone out over this). Have a chat with the association attorney - who should be working with you on the city's about-face anyway.

Send a letter to the residents telling them what the board plans to do to address the situation and perhaps encourage them to write letters or send emails to the city council protesting this, with a copy to the board. By reviewing the correspondence, you'll have a good idea of what bugs people the most about this, and that will be useful when the association fights back (and you should do so). Give your local representative a heads up as well and tell him or her you expect his/her assistance in resolving the matter. In the meantime, put together your rules, vote to approve them via a resolution during an open board meeting, and then explain the new rules (effective immediately to the homeowners. I also like the suggestion on the Board preparing their own video and posting it on the community website - that may give the slice and dicers something to think about.

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius

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