What would you tell a president....

Karen,

I commend the President for wanting to insure that the entire Board is present for this "huge agenda" involving lots of membership dollars unless there was some urgency which could not wait. Summertime is very difficult to get everyone present for meetings. I would do the same thing for my Board.

I would only be concerned if this was a trend. Otherwise the best decisions are made with the whole board present.

We have some pressing issues that we did not get to last month BC the president refused to notice a special meeting that the board had voted to hold, instead taking the two contract issues that were to be heard at the special meeting up at the board meeting. She did this independently.

These contracts account for 70% of our budget and they need to be resolved. One of the contracts is up for renewal and we have gotten another bid that is 55% less than our exisiting vendor. We share this contract with two other HOAs and must vote and then get the info to them so that they can make their decision before the end of the month.

Also had an ARC issue last month that may be headed to litgation. Vote needed on what action to take. Another item that was not heard involves a decision on imposing a user fee that would reduce our budget by 5%. We meet in a public building and only had two hours for the meeting.

Another agenda item that we did not get to include one involving a new city fee and we have until the end of the month to file an appeal. This affects every resident's personal fees, as well. If we appeal and win, the association will get a credit every year. The residents will need to know whether to pay or file an appeal by the end of the month if we decide to appeal.

We also have our budget meeting in September and need to put a finance committee in place and set up a workshop for resident input. The association has not been deliberative about the budget in the past, accepting the PM's budget without question. We traditionally do not have a board meeting in July, but I think that with all that we have before us (I've only outlined the matters that have time constraints.), we need to break with tradition. The president thinks that we do not need monthly meetings.

In short, we are paying for the decision not to hold that special meeting. While it would be good to have the full board at this meeting. The two of us who will not be there can provide our input in advance of the meeting. I trust those who will be there to take our thoughts into account and then vote in the best interest of the association and owners.

Karen, in Florida a Board member may not vote by proxie on an issue at a meeting that you're unable to attend. So making your feelings known before the meeting does no good. But the State Statutes DO allow you to "attend" a meeting by "speaker phone". So if you can't be there in person, your voice and your vote can still be counted this way.

Karen,

One other very important thing to remember is that the open meeting laws must be upheld (FL does have this requirement, right?). I know my board posts the meeting schedule in our quarterly newsletter as we do not have a clubhouse where notices can be posted monthly. If there is a change in the posted schedule a mailing would be required which would cost in the neighborhood of $800. Of course I don't know what the situation is in your community; this may not be a problem.

Board meeting should be scheduled for the same week each month so board members can prepare and organize their personal schedules accordingly. Board members should inform the President of scheduled vacations if this is what is causing absenses. The absent board members should be aware of the importance of this meeting and adjust their personal schedules accordingly. Seems to me the more prudent thing to do would be to hold the meeting if a quorum is present.

Thanks for the input. To answer some of the questions posed-

I didn't intend to vote by proxie, as I know that isn't allowed. But, although I think the presidnet needs to take a less laisses faire attitude, every member of the board is there for the good of the neighborhood and there are no hidden agendas. That is why if those of us that will not be there share our thoughts, they will be taken into consideration in the decision-making process.

My son is coming off a two week choir tour and their homecoming concert is tomorrow night. I won't be voting via speaker phone, but will probably be totally embarassing him because I'll either be tearing up or waving a lit lighter back and forth in the air- LOL!