adversarial committee member

Started by PatriciaC14 • 7 replies • 330 views

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PatriciaC14 (Washington)
Posts: 17

Posted:

If an HOA committee is working on a project, and one member, who is on the committee by his own initiative, is adversarial and disruptive to the purpose of the committee, how do you remove him? Does the Board have to do that? Will that create the disruption and further controversy this individual seems to be craving?

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

The board is the ultimate decider of everything. The committee is only to do the work and then submit for decision to the board. They should not have any significant decision making power. It all should clear through the board. So the board simply needs to make sure that all decisions of the committees go through them. The person will have to be dealt with them by limiting what they can and can not do.

Former HOA President

BillD16 (Texas)
Posts: 971

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By PatriciaC14 on 03/01/2022 9:44 PM
If an HOA committee is working on a project, and one member, who is on the committee by his own initiative, is adversarial and disruptive to the purpose of the committee, how do you remove him? Does the Board have to do that? Will that create the disruption and further controversy this individual seems to be craving?

I think that the answer to this - and the answer to so many questions asked here - is “it will depend on what your HOA’s governing documents say”. Additionally, the specific committee may have a Charter that further elaborates on membership etc.

It might help if you provided more information.

BillD

HOA Board ex-President
Austin, Texas USA

“You can’t put too much water in a nuclear reactor”

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

Verify with your own bylaws, but typically committee members serve at the pleasure of the board and may be removed with or without cause. Committee members have no independent authority and no homeowner is entitled to serve on committees (unless your bylaws say otherwise, which would be pretty unusual).

Inability to work effectively with others is absolutely a valid reason to thank the person for their service and send them on their way.

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

In case I wasn't clear... :-)

Unless your bylaws say otherwise (and they probably don't) the board has the authority to remove a committee member for any reason or even to disband the committee altogether.

The board just has to make a motion to do so, vote, and record the decision in board meeting minutes. If you're in an open meeting state, something like this should probably be done in executive session.

The hard part will be informing the committee member and dealing with blow back since he's unlikely to take it well, given what you've described. Or, if this committee hasn't been getting anything done since Mr. Disruptive has been stopping the work, you do have a reason to disband the entire committee (and then re-form it later at some point without Mr. Disruptive if you think the others could be productive). The latter may be easier since your troublemaker may be less likely to take it personally, but I wouldn't count on it.

In any case, when you're dealing with a difficult person, the communications should be in writing: factual, brief, bland and boring, and with no arguing afterwards. "The board has decided to disband the XYZ Committee. We thank the members for their service to the community." Done and done.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By CathyA3 on 03/02/2022 7:04 AM
In case I wasn't clear... :-)

Unless your bylaws say otherwise (and they probably don't) the board has the authority to remove a committee member for any reason or even to disband the committee altogether.

The board just has to make a motion to do so, vote, and record the decision in board meeting minutes. If you're in an open meeting state, something like this should probably be done in executive session.

The hard part will be informing the committee member and dealing with blow back since he's unlikely to take it well, given what you've described. Or, if this committee hasn't been getting anything done since Mr. Disruptive has been stopping the work, you do have a reason to disband the entire committee (and then re-form it later at some point without Mr. Disruptive if you think the others could be productive). The latter may be easier since your troublemaker may be less likely to take it personally, but I wouldn't count on it.

In any case, when you're dealing with a difficult person, the communications should be in writing: factual, brief, bland and boring, and with no arguing afterwards. "The board has decided to disband the XYZ Committee. We thank the members for their service to the community." Done and done.

Good advice.

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

Our Bylaws say very little about committee but CA colorations odes, and therefore, WA corporations codes (assuming you're a crp) proablaby says a lot.

Your bylaws or state statutes will say the board votes to remove members form committees. Probably with or without cause. In CA the would have to be done in an open meeting UNLESS the person's being removed for violating your HOA's documents.

If this person is so ghastly the s/he'd cause havoc, Cathy's idea to deactivate or disband the entire committee is a good one, unless the committee is required by your documents (like our architectural committee).

tw, it could be the Committee has decision-making authority (contra Melissa)--our Architectural committee is an example. I believe in FL, "Fining committees" have authority to make decisions about fines.

MichaelS56 (Minnesota)
Posts: 858

Posted:

Has the board President talked with this person and asked why this person is behaving in such capacity? Has this person been asked by the President as to why this type of behavior is necessary? Ultimately, the Board has the power to remove the person from the committee. All of the Board members need to be on the same page if the person is removed.

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