Posted:
Committees can be of great help to Boards and property managers. In my HOA, of the 30 residential directors who've served over the past 16 years, all but three came up through the committee system. Committee service shows them a slice of the association's activities & budgets. They usually attend board meetings too, so gain a bit of knowledge that way. They also are a source of camaraderie and shared specific interests among owners, which I'm thoroughly convinced, helps keep apathy at bay.
In CA, committee meetings are not required to be open to all Owners, but I'd encourage Boards to require than (except, possibly for the Finance
Committee) to involve as many owners as possible le in the life of their HOA.
But they, in all honesty, must be rigidly managed or they can run amok with demands, and with some thinking they know "more" than the board. Over many years, our boards have disbanded two committees because they were such pains and kept trying to exceed their charters, demanding the
board make huge expenditures, etc. They both, by the way, were landscaping committees.
If some owners truly want to serve, the below might be useful.
The most important reason for HOA committees having board-approved "charters" or whatEVER a Board wishes to term them, is because the Board is completely responsible for committees' conduct and activities. For that reason and to Bill's point, to cover the Association's rear-end, committee charters MUST be specific about their purpose & duties. The Board MUST have the power to form and disband committees. The committee MUST offer something that eases management's workload or that of the Board or otherwise adds something positive to the HOA. The Board appoints committee members and the committee chair (as recommended by the committee).
I'm guessing every state's nonprofit corporations codes permit Boards to delegate many tasks to managers, committees, officers, etc. Our HOA's Bylaws on this point are pretty silent except to say the Board may delegate some tasks to committees. I suspect most say this. They do not require any particular committee so any committee may be formed. (Our CC&Rs require an Architectural Committee since we're a condo building). Our old developer- written bylaws required a "nomination comimttee," but we, like most nowadays, dumped that one.
From Terri's citation: Calif. "Corporations Code §7210. Corporate Powers Exercised by Board. The board may delegate the management of the activities of the corporation to any person or persons, management company, or committee however composed, provided that the activities and affairs of the corporation shall be managed and all corporate powers shall be exercised under the ultimate direction of the board."
I've formed and served on several committees over 16 years and monitored them as an active board members for 14 years in my HOA. Anyone in the USA who's interested should visit https://www.davis-stirling.com/HOME/C/Committee-Menu. this Calif. HOA attorneys' website has everything you need to know, and most info is NOT specific to Calif. It's really invaluable re: this topic.
Any little gaggle of owners might like to form a "committee." But they must be willing to do the work that'd helpful and not a pain or hindrance to the HOA's purpose. To keep members in line. IMO, a committee should have a minimum of 3 members for its own voting purposes. There's a great deal online about HOA committee charters from which to draw. Their charter, imo, must include:
A purpose or goals. It must note that their rule is advisory only (unless like the ARC in my HOA, or, perhaps a Social Comm. with a budget, they have $-spending authority)
If and how much budget they have, and how to record their expenses. In Calif, committees with $-spending authority must write minutes of their meetings.
That members must attend monthly comm. meetings during normal business hours and management and the board president must be invited as non-voting ex-officio members. Members should be informed that neither can always (or even often) attend.
The committee must submit a report with recommendations to the board x days before the board's regular meeting to be presented at the board meeting by the committee chair or a member.
Only the committee chair may meet with management. We, for instance currently have four "standing" committees, Social, 8 members; Finance, 5 members; Building, 3 members; (aesthetics incl. landscaping); and ARC, 3 members. Imagine if each "stops by" the mgmt. office for a "few minutes" once a month!
It's best if each committee has on it a board member OR the Board appoints a non-voting "board liaison" who interacts with the committee chair and attends some meetings. That director's main role is to advise the Committee usually about budget topics.
Charters must say if members must be owners. We, for instance, invite renters to be members of the Social Committee.
I've been meaning to respond to BillD of Texas similar post but have been on a fine beachfront staycay for a few days.