Special Committee Rules of Engagement
Hi Dennis
Is a Special Committee appointed by an HOA of a planned community bound by the same meeting rules as the HOA Board? Specifically, if we have the opportunity to meet with a contractor to discuss the needs for which our committee has been formed, but the notice is so short that we cannot get a 48-hour advance notice out to the community, are we in violation of the Open Meeting Rules (it is in our committee charter that all meetings are open)? Would we be in violation if fewer of us that quorum are able to meet at that time?
Thank you!
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Rhonda,
The way the Arizona statutes address committees of the board is in my opinion totally ridiculous, and I’ve tried to change that many times, and will continue to try and do that again this coming session. But the open meeting statute only require “regularly scheduled” committees of the board to comply with the open meeting laws. As if scheduling has anything to do with the significance of any committee. You could have a regularly scheduled flower committee that would have to comply but an irregularly schedule architectural review committee not required to apply.
So right now, if your committee is “regularly scheduled ” and no matter what your charter says then it must comply with the open meeting law no matter what the significance of the subject matter that you deal with. If your committee is not regularly scheduled irrespective of any requirement in your charter to be open it does not need to comply with the open meeting law. You can have other people sit in your committee meetings and be open, but you do not have to provide notice 48 hr. in advance, and you do not need to allow members to speak before you vote on any issue. Whether you can act in any way without a quorum present will be totally dependent on your charter. While the statute does address a quorum requirement for board meeting it does not specifically address quorum requirement for committee meetings.
Dennis
This information is extremely helpful, Dennis. We have contractors that are able to meet at a moments notice so it sounds like we are free to gather as less than/equal to/in excess of the quorum as spelled out in our committee charter without fearing any violation.
Rhoda,
I’ve provided you the basis for assessing your committee’s applicability to the open meeting law. Since I don’t know what your committee does or how it is scheduled or what exactly is in your charter, I cannot comment either way on your conclusion.
Dennis
Perfect!!
I am sorry to bother you again with committee-related questions, but can you help me understand what rules we need to be prepared to follow with our committee communications to each other via email? We have been cautioned that we should not engage in in-depth discourse, but I am not sure how to interpret that and the author is not responding to the question as yet. I would love to hear an expert explanation if you wouldn’t mind providing that to me! A little detail: we are a 6-person committee of residents, with one Board member acting as Liaison; all 6 are cc’d on these group emails.
Thank you!!
Ronda,
Current law only applies to “regularly scheduled “ meetings, whatever that means. As if the scheduling of a committee meeting has any relevance to the significance of what that committee is doing. I’ve been trying to change that provision for years and will try again this year. If you believe that your committee fits the requirement of the open meeting law then you must provide notice of your meetings 48 hours in advance. You then must allow any community member to attend your meetings and be provided an opportunity to speak before your committee votes on any issue. You cannot take any action outside of a meeting, but there are really no restrictions on your communications outside of a meeting. The current statutes limit those activities only to board members and meetings.
What does your committee do? How often do you meet?
Dennis
We are a special advisory committee to the board to review, assess, and provide recommendations on property wash, drainage, and erosion solutions. We meet “weekly or as needed” according to the language of our Charter. Thus far, we have met twice and both times we have followed the rules of informing the community and have made attendance open to all interested from the community. We do follow an agenda, which is provided to the whole community as part of the emailed notice about the meeting. During meetings, we have not held ourselves to Robert’s Rules, which as resulted in excellent discussion between all attendees, committee and community both. By “action”, would this include something such as sharing drafts of letters to be sent, the goal in sharing in this way being to wordsmith to everyone’s approval so that, at the upcoming meeting, the most complete and desirable draft can be presented for final approval to be pushed to the Board level?
Rhonda,
You are doing everything right and I believe that because of it your committee and the community is doing the best job possible for your community. I really wish that more communities believed like you that open and transparent actions by board and committees are not difficult and do not need to be a burden on either the committees or the board. When homeowners are allowed opportunity to participate in these committee and board meetings and their opinions are both welcome and encouraged you have a happy and peaceful community that works together for everyone’s benefit. While I would say that your committee under the current nebulous classification of “regularly scheduled” would be subject to the open meeting laws in my proposed changes to that definition your committee would not have to comply to that statute. That does not mean that you would have to change anything in how you conduct your committee, just that the law would not require you to do so.
Thank you
Dennis
Thank you!!