Election of Board Members

Started by SandyW • 6 replies • 2330 views

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SandyW (North Carolina)
Posts: 2

Posted:

We are in the process of electing new board members for our homeowners association (the current board was appointed by the developer). The developer appointed a nominating committee to take care of this task. They nominated four people. Our by-laws state that three people will be elected to serve on the board - one for a one-year term and two for a term of two years each. When the board nominated people, they just let everyone in the neighborhood know by saying, "We nominated Dick, Jane, Sally and Roger". They did not specify for which position each person had been nominated. Now they are saying that they did it incorrectly and that the nominations are no good; that they must nominate people for each SPECIFIC vacancy. I would think that they nominations are GOOD and that when we vote, we will vote by each position and will be able to choose from the list of nominations. For example, since three positions are being decided, each member will have a chance to vote on three separate people.

Have other associations had this problem? I have looked through "Robert's Rules" and can't really find anything specific to this.

Any thoughts/comments would be appreciated.

Thanks.

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

Sandy, it depends on what your By-laws require. Many By-laws have you vote for Board members and the Board members vote to elect officers. That is because officers are usually elected every year whereas board members are usually elected for a multi-year term.

SandyW (North Carolina)
Posts: 2

Posted:

The by-laws state that the board members will be elected and then the board elects the officers. Per our by-laws, two of the board members will be elected for a two year term and one for a one-year term.

I should have been clearer: My question concerns the nominations for election to the board: do they have to be specific to each position (either a one year term or a two year term) or can nominations just be made in general? Our nominating committee made them IN GENERAL but now they say that they are NO GOOD - that they should have been made SPECIFICALLY to each vacancy. We are NOWHERE near ready for the board to elect the officers, since we can't get everyone to agree on how to elect the board members.

Our by-laws don't state anything specifically about the nominations. I know this is trivial, but this is how this association is operating !!!

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

Sandy, if the By-laws specifically state two to be elected for 2 years and one for one year then it should be done in that manner. Thus the candidates would need to decide whether to run for one year or two. That could get very ackward. If the By-laws are not that explicit it would be easier to elect 3 and the one getting the least (or most)number of votes could be elected for the one year term.

GeraldT1 (<Not Specified>)
Posts: 519

Posted:

SandyW,

My HOA had a similar situtation with staggered term lengths and multiple candidates running for the positions. We used the methodology that RogerB suggested, the candidate getting the least number of votes has the shortest term. Your by-laws are clear in that the community elects, the board members choose who is officer. However, I don't see anything wrong however in the community voting for who they want to be an officer, as a matter of fact it puts the power in the hands of the people. Even if the officership changes over time, at least you have a chance to say who does what.

Re-read your by-laws regarding qualifications for board members and members in good standing. Do your by-laws state that a member seeking election must be nominated by a member in good standing? Does your HOA permit nominations from the floor the night of the election? If so, are there any candidates that the residents think are more qualified than the developer's preferred choices?????

GeraldT1

JulieS (Georgia)
Posts: 412

Posted:

When our HOA was turned over to the association, we had an election at the first annual meeting. Nominations were taken from the floor from those interested in serving. We elected three board members. I'm assuming that the new board decided who had which terms along with the positions 3, 2 and 1-year terms). The first election was the only election with staggered terms for board members. Once the first term was up, each term thereafter is for two years. This is so that there will not be total turnover of board members at any given time.

We are required to have a board meeting within 10 days of the annual meeting/election. During this meeting, we discuss and decide who will hold which position.

DavidH4 (South Carolina)
Posts: 35

Posted:

Our by-laws state the person with the least amount of votes serves 1 year and the others for 2 years.
The Board meets after the regular meeting and elects officers.

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