Disruptive Board Member

Hello Everyone! We have a disruptive board member that wants to have complete control over the board and over the whole community. He walks around telling everybody how much "HE" has done for the community, which is a complete lie, and also tries to put other board directors down. As a homeowner, me and many other of my neighbors are fed up with this person. I was talking with a board member, and I was told that he can't be removed from the board unless everybody votes him off, which at this point in time, would be an extra expense that our association can't afford because we just had our elections and unfortunately this person made it only by a few votes. How can the board remove him without incurring in the extra trouble of having the whole community vote? During our elections, we had to mail the ballots twice because the quorum was not met, and I know it would probably be the same situation if we try to recall this one person... Can anybody help me! Thanks for your advise.

Our bylaws say that if a Board member misses 3 meetings that he/she can be easily voted off the Board by the other board members. Then the Bylaws (like ours) usually have a provision that the Board may appoint another member/resident until the next annual meeting when Elections are normally held. Check your bylaws.

MikeS1...figures, an exception would pop up right before I submitted my response!

My docs have that provision as well, but if this BOD member is full of himself, I'm just guessing that he doesn't miss many opportunities to strut his stuff...

let's see. a majority of intelligent voting homeowners desired to have this individual re-elected, fully knowing his qualifications, past actions, and abilities. Perhaps you should listen to the will of the people, and wait till next time, and get more intelligent people on your side who don't want him in office, and vote him out.

and remember, the people who voted him in the first time are the same people you have to convince to vote him out...

Ellen,

I'm surprised your bylaws allow the BOD to remove a board member "without input" (meaning voting???) from all owners. Usually the board can only remove a board member from his officer position but to be removed totally from the BOD requires a vote of the members. There may be exceptions such as missing a certain number of board meetings or being delinquent in assessments or in violation of the CCRs. Anything else would require a vote of the members.

I think it all depends on how your documents are written.

Our bylaws allow removal of a director with cause by 2/3 vote of the remaining directors. "With cause includes, but is not limited to, acts of fraud, theft, deception, criminal behavior, breach or disclosure of confidential Board information or discussions to person(s) not on the Board, failure to conform or follow the Director's Statement of Conduct, or any other unauthorized acts which hinder, bypass or compromise the authority of the Board to act as a whole." Other causes for removal of a board director by 2/3 vote of the remaining directors are-- is s/he is absent for 3 consecutive meetings or is more than 30 delinquent in payments due the association.

I believe GlenL recommended not to plan to embarrass the person at an open board meeting, and I agree with that. You want to keep whatever you do as businesslike and decent as possible. You don't want to end up being viewed as the "bad guy" in this unfortunate situation. Oftentimes, what you do and say indicates more about you than it does about the person you do it to or say it about. This is a touchy situation which could become a real community bomb. I wish you good luck.

To get back to the original question. What do you do with a disruptive Board Member.

Well, for one, we all know the Board elects the President and if this guy is creating a disruption the onus is on the President and the Pres does or should preside and he has the authority to maintain decorum. Even if it comes down to having security to do it. The members business comes first, usually the President sets the agenda and if he don't, he opens the meeting and he can set standing rules of conduct of all the members. The Pres usually picks committees, he is not obligated to pick every Board member for a committee. Don't give this guy any authority or public exposure. Ignore at meeting if the Board collectively or individually decides.

But FIRST. select a couple diplomates on the Board and along with the President have a private meeting with this guy. I am not big of Executive sessions but this could justify one. Explain how the meetings are going to be run, and go on from there. Worst thing in the world to happen to most people is to be isolated. Keep the pressure on him at the meeting, keep your BOD meetings open so all can see the reason for the Boards action and as someone mentioned do not hesitate to demand demand decorum and if chastising him publicly, so be it. But have a little chat first, then a ES and then public disdain ay meetings.

Mary,
Of course you are right. It appears in a lot of states and SC is one, there just isn't control anywhere about Executive Meetings and if the Board wants to discuss anything they don't have to a state what it was about or what was said regrd specifics and some even handle two or more subjects in an ES and will call ES outside a regular meeting and give no announcement before or after.

Not to open the old "ES" debate again, let me rephrase my suggestion and say that the Board should feel free to discuss this in an open session. Then if the offending Board Member objects, then shouldn't do it, and if ES is ruled out, they should do that, and since it is also ruled out for the BOD to dicuss this off the record, they should not do that.

So if we pick the lesser of three evils because ES has to state a reason I pick that one for discussion and justify it with a statement that ES is called for on such and such to discuss some internal board business, and let them sue me. I would, whether required or not, keep a record or maybe even a tape. And put it away for 7 years.

From our BoD, . . .
In our HOA, . . .