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Role of President/making motions/voting

Knowledge on this site is overwhelming! Thank you Dennis! About to have our annual townhome election-have 11 people running for 7 seats. Self managed Townhouse Association of 119 units. In past, at our meetings, the pres was not allowed to make motions and only votes in a tie. I cannot find the reason for this in our CCRs or Bylaws, or so far in all the reading I’m doing online. Is this part of Robert’s Rules? and is Roberts Rules even followed as of this date? Also, Bylaws say Pres chosen by board members and then Pres assigns board positions-in past the board members discussed and volunteered for different positions. Does maybe Planned Com Act cover this? So much reading to do! THANKS FOR HELP!

4 Responses

  1. dennisl

    Carol
    First a seven member board for a community of 116 homes is a little over kill. I would typically see 5 member boards for community of this size. Clearly your entire board is re-elected each year for continuity reasons I would recommend that terms be extended and staggered to two years, where half of the board is re-elected each year. It is great to see so many candidates running for the board. This is a sign of a very healthy community. The practice you describe is very uncommon and unless specifically called for in your bylaws is totally inappropriate. It diminishes the power and rights of the President to act as a representative of the community. Each board member should have an equal voice in any board decision. This practice should stop for your community as no statute in either common interest community law or corporate law requires this type of restriction on the voting power of any board member.
    Typically the homeowners elect the board members then those board members elect the officers of the association. The officers should be elected for only one year irrespective of the term limits for the board members themselves. In this way new board members are equally eligible for officer positions as old board members.

    Thanks
    Dennis

  2. yuke17

    We have an interesting alt version of Carol’s issue. Our president is convinced that, after submitting their vote, in the event of a tie they get to call the outcome – in other words, break the tie.

    With a board of 4 (a different issue), ties happen. So after all have voted (including the president), the president claims privileged to break it with essentially another vote.

    Am I wrong in correcting the president (and board) that we all only have 1 vote and ties result in a failed motion?

    Yuke

    1. dennisl

      Yuke,
      Once again you are correct. I cannot believe that your governing documents dictate that you have a board of only 4 members. I also cannot believe that your bylaws would specifically authorize this type of privilege for the board president. If it does not that privilege does not exist. What i suspect you have is a board of five members with one vacancy. Each board member only gets one vote if you have a tie the issue fails. The board has the power to appoint a board member to fill the unexpired term of the vacancy but because they chose not to does not allow any member to have more than one vote. The largest issue in these community is that the desire for power drives so many of these board to defy logic and simply ignore the laws put in place to protect the integrity of the governance scheme.

      Dennis

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