Entrance Damage

Our neighborhood entrance has a median with landscaping and sprinkler system. We have sustained damage to the sprinkler system on several occasions by vehicles driving over the end of the median. At a meeting a few months ago it was suggested that we place large boulders at each end of the median in order to discourage drive overs and protect the sprinkler system as another local neighborhood had done. Our board president was hesitant because she couldn't visualize the boulders and wanted to know what they would look like.

Over the course of the next few meetings the topic was brought up and tabled, each time due to lack of sufficient info for the president. At the most recent meeting, when the item came up we decided to vote and voted for placement of the boulders. Our board president was absent, but we did have quorum.

I told our president about the vote just as a "heads up" so she didn't have to hear about it at the next meeting (I figured she wouldn't be thrilled). Well, she is NOT happy and wants to resign over it. She is HIGHLY offended. This is, of course, her choice. My question is: did we do something wrong or bad? Whose responsibility was it to give her the info she wanted? She was obviously waiting for it to come from someone else and our management company wasn't forthcoming. We have a sticky situation here because she feels like we went behind her back while she had to attend a funeral service that evening; this was not the intention, though. She had been the only one blocking the vote and when she wasn't there nothing held it up.

Ours is not a board with many problems; we rarely have any conflict. Just thought I might get some input into this situation from others. I will, of course, be talking with our manager about it tomorrow as well to get her input.

Thanks for any thoughts!

Hi Amanda! I personally don't think your board did anything wrong. It sounds as if she was well aware of the topic and the rest of you got tired of just talking about it and finally made a decision.

She sounds like she forgets that you all have an equal vote and as the president she has no more power than the rest of you.

She also had plenty of opportunity to check out neighboring boulders if she couldn't "picture" what they looked like.

Remind her that she had ONE vote and the motion would have passed at any time it was proposed.

Watch that her temper tantrum doesn't spill over to other HOA business.

One comment before I agree wholeheartedly with the rest of the posters:

I'm assuming that your group meets once a month?

If the boulder-placement issue was important to the rest of the board, and the only thing keeping the president from getting behind it enough to place it up for a vote (never mind the issue that someone could have made a motion to take a vote on it, and if it were seconded she could not block the vote), then how difficult would it have been for someone to just snap a picture of the boulders that other HOAs have done?

Apparently this topic was coming up in meetings and discussed. In our meetings, if someone makes a motion, and it is duly seconded, I can't, as president, unilaterally declare, "We will table that motion and I won't accept a vote on it."

She may not like what happened, but it is perfectly legitimate. Like everyone else pointed out, the president is not the same thing as the "king/queen" of the board. Her role is to lead the meetings, not act as ruler and dictator over a mini-kingdom. All the other board members are equally responsible for the direction of the association.

But wish her well in her exit off the board and let her know that you all have appreciated her contributions.

A gentle reminder to your angry president about how voting works...

When a member calls for a vote, there needs to be a vote. The President can't just say, "Ok, There's a motion to bring this matter to a vote. I don't feel like I, personally, have enough information, so I'm not going to allow the vote to go forward." My association doesn't use Roberts Rules for our parliamentary procedure, so perhaps I'm wrong.

I wonder if your President is angry because your board actually stood up and did something? Maybe your President is one of the guilty parties who drove over the median and damaged your sprinkler system...

Amanda---as Peter stated--she should have been part of the solution. Why she thinks she has to have all information handed to her on a silver platter is beyond me. She could get off her "kiester" and done some research herself.

Or she can keep dragging her feet because no one "presented" her with the information she wanted.

As I said before---you didn't do anything wrong.....she would have been outvoted anyway.

You are fortunate this president is resigning since she is ignorant on the role of president and it appears she has contributed nothing.