Declining to work on what is not interesting to me

When a group pitches an idea, if the board thinks it's good, the board would respond that we currently do not have the free time to do the research, obtain bids, etc. If the group would be interested in doing this and, if approved, overseeing the work, the board would be very interested to hear more.

No, especially given that you are either the brick and mortar (or glue and duct tape?) holding the HOA together, as a practical reality.

In fact, I think the best interests of the corporation depend on you not bending over so far that you break your back.

Just look at your months of comments here venting about those candy-a-- colleagues of yours. You're obviously dismayed and frustrated with them. Few among us would not be, at least on the first go-around of serving on a board.

Just say "no." For some, this may take practice and re-training of the neural networks. Be strong.

Henry,

It is within your privileges as a volunteer director to not engage in projects that require more than your oversight on behalf of the HOA. A president's role can be many things but it's still volunteer-based when it comes to other people dictating your physical labor investment.

Yup. I keep saying Henry, you need to start setting some boundaries. All you had to say to these folks is "hey, that sounds like a good idea, but I really have too much on my plate right now. Why not talk to Y or A (your board colleagues) about researching this with you?" Until you do that, you'll continue to come here complaining about this and that and you won't get anywhere.

PS: as you know HOA work isn't always unicorns and rainbows. Some of the work is as exciting as watching paint dry, but it's necessary and someone has to do. That's why all board members need to share in the work - the more involvement, the sooner the work is done and you can move on to something else. If you can't accept that or refuse to, maybe you need to ponder why You're on the board in the first place.

This can be typical of some newbies to the board - they have lots of ideas and enthusiam, which is good, but they have no idea of what running an HOA really entails (maybe they think its some sort of neighborhood block club on steriods because there's more money involved, and rules, and voting, etc.) The good ones will start by taking time to listen and observe and make suggestions as they go along, even OFFER TO HELP so they can get their feet wet, while others think all they have to do is show up once a month and decide how to spend money.

As for this idea of the homeowners voting on what the board does, what in the hell does she think the board is for?? Nothing wrong with make suggestions or weighing in on projects (that's why board meetings should have a resident forum), but the board is there to make decisions on behalf of the association. Part of this is setting priorities because no one has time to do everything, some ideas don't make any sense, others require research and careful thought, and most of them require money, and the board also has a responsibility to follow the budget as close as possible.

Now you see why I'm always talking about education for new and experienced board members - whether you get it here, CAI or a number of other HOA board resources is up to you. Sounds like she could benefit as much as the rest of you.

In the meantime, this one is doing what the rest of your colleagues have done, so you'll have to sit her down and set your boundaries with her as well. One way to calm her down is to ask questions about said project and make it clear she'll have to be the one to spearhead it? Start with why she feels a homeowner vote on board projects is necessary (it's not like you're proposing a special assessment). Board meeting minutes are available - is she concerned no one knows how to request them so they'll know what the board is doing or has suggestions on how to encourage homeowners to read them? And so on.

At the moment I think what she needs is to be reminded, in no uncertain terms, that the covenants and state law both say that the directors, not the owners, legally call the shots on nearly every decision involving the HOA. If the Board did something based on a an Owners' vote, and the action turns out to be unlawful, the directors could be held personally liable.

You as President preside at meetings. If I were the President, I would print out the several places the covenants, the Washington HOA statute, the Washington Nonprofit Corp statute say that the Board makes the decisions, and present these to this director. Then I would ask the director to show me where the governing documents and statutes say the owners make decisions for the HOA.

Vote against anyone who wants an attorney consult on this point. This is HOA law 101. The director who insists the owners make the decisions needs to do her own study and not have the HOA pay the attorney to educate her.

First off: I’ve noticed of late people urging you to delegate more, and “stuff that doesn’t interest you” is the perfect kind of thing to delegate. As President, I believe you’re empowered to create committees? Appoint a committee, ask ‘em for status at meetings. My thinking is, admittedly, based more on my experience working and managing in the software biz than practical experience in the HOA.

Aha, but the plot thickens: “a new board member who wants to send out decision making to homeowners …” Ummm … that’s a non-starter, IMHO. I understand the idea of getting resident input; but no: I’m unaware of any form of government where the leaders are required to be puppets who follow the whims of the populace. Indeed, a big part of the reason for *having* a government is to allow people the ability to not spend their time of the minutia of government. Yes, there are some issues that go to a referendum - but the board gets elected to handle the day-to-day sausage-making of the neighborhood.

Easy for me to just say this, but: I think somebody needs to tell this new board member that this is way outside of the mission parameters of your bylaws and ccrs. It’s perhaps well-intentioned, but (if I’m correctly understanding what is being proposed) this is one of the stupidest ideas I’ve heard in a long time.

BillD