Posted Agenda

Jean,
What are you "debating" about? What do you want to be right or wrong about?

that agenda would also violate the Arizona HOA open meeting laws. In essence, the agenda must be specific enough that the average person could tell if there were items of interest being discussed, by virtue of reading the agenda. The agenda presented seems very vague and generic, and would not likely pass muster with the AZ courts.

JeanS1: Since you state you are on the Board, then you, yourself, would know IF, for this particular meeting, there will be items for discussion which will require a vote of the community. IF there will be no vote, I don't see what the problem is.

Under Old Business there may be update on solutions already reached; and for New Business there may be discussion and input requested from members. Further, there is an opportunity in Open Forum for residents to present other concerns.

What do you think would be a better solution to the agenda presented since you have a firsthand knowledge of what will be discussed at this meeting?

PaulM,
According to California law, the board cannot even talk about an item that isn’t on the agenda, let alone vote on it. In addition, the homeowners must be informed of the agenda.

Something more like this:
I Call to order
II Open forum
III Previous minutes
IV Financial report
1 Current budget deficit
2 Unanticipated expenses
3 Reserves
V Old Business
1 Pool maintenance
2 Playground equipment
3 Gutter Cleaning
VI New Business
1 Bids for fencing
2 Asphalt repairs
VII Open forum
VIII Adjournment

I’d like to see even more detail.

Gerald,
With a proper agenda homeowners will be able to comment on items before the board and hopefully influence their decisions, by the end of the meeting, the voting is done and it’s too late to influence the board. Actually I would like to see open forum at the beginning AND end. The board members really don’t want homeowners to be informed, in spite of what they say.

I do believe under CA’s open meeting act that homeowners have the right to ask for clarification of discussion or repeat if homeowners can’t hear. Too often the board and management will refer to “page 28…” No one but the board knows what the heck is on page 28. The law simply states that homeowners may not participate in deliberations. This could be an item for a second open forum.
Jane

Gerald,
I agree with you on the agenda. The agenda i posted was still quite general and could use more detail as you suggest. Once our agenda listed 'landscaping' under new business. That covers a lot of ground (pun intended) Would rather have seen 'proposal to remove 3 pines trees in common area A.' That would have gotten attention, no ones wants trees cut down. Then there are those annoyed by the needles. The detail would definately get more people involved.

You have a good point about keeping owners involved by having open forum at the end. However, would owners even come and express their concerns if they knew they had to wait until the end of the meeting to speak? I think getting people involved is the hardest thing to do whether you have the forum at the beginning or at the end. Unfortunately, most owners really don't have a clue about what goes on.

You are definately right about communication!
Jane

Not to get off on a tangent, but I am a big fan of changing V. to Unfinished Business. The concept that something that happened in the past is Old Business is misleading. You either have something you haven't talked about (New Business) or you have something you talked about and tabled (Unfinished Business).