Items to discuss during executive session.

I am a new board member to our condo association in California. We are getting ready to undergo a major renovation (to the tune of $1 million for 96 units). We have an engineering company which is in the process of getting bids for the different work that needs to be done. Other board members and our management company insist that this company should present the bids (and other discussions regarding the project) in the executive session. I protested; saying that we need to privvy all the homeowners to this info. The management company says that because it is a contractual issue and relates to bids which others may divulge to other bidders, it should be kept in the executive session. Is this true, and can I do anything to make these issues more transparent to the homeowners?

Shar,
I recommend bids be held confidential. Otherwise many companies may not chose to offer a bid. There can also be legal stipulations which require maintaining confidentiality. If an owner who is a non Board member wishes to review bids they can ask to inspect the records. Upon stating a valid reason for seeing the bids and signing a confidentiality agreement they may be allowed to review bids. Meanwhile, it remains the Board's responsibility to review bids and select the contractor. For a $1MM project the homeowners may request, or call themselves, a special members meeting. The purpose being to review the details of the project and the costs involved.

Thank you for the excellent suggestions. This is a very valuable forum. I will be certain to come back to this forum regularly. I have a feeling that I will have many other questions in the future. Thanks for the great input. Shar

In Ohio we also have open meetings but we go into executive sessions when we discus action against delinquent homeowners and when we do contract negotiations and it is not only legal, I think it is the right way to do it.

The members of the Board of your HOA are your representatives; they have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the members. It is not about being strong; it's about following proper business procedure. Say the XYZ Construction Company meets with the Board in front of the members and lays out their proposal for rebuilding the sidewalks and their bid is X dollars. Now one of the homeowner's children works for the ABC Construction Company and the homeowner tells them what the bid is because they heard it at a meeting. Now ABC Construction Company comes in and undercuts XYZ to get the contract, great right? Maybe not. What if XYZ finds out what happened and decides to sue your HOA for unfair business practices, remember at the heart of it all the HOA is a business.

BTW condos are one form of a Home Owners Association.