ARS 33-1813 A. 4. (g) request petition
ARS 33-1813 Removal of board member; special meeting A. 4. (g) A petition that calls for the removal of the same member of the board of directors shall not be submitted more than once during each term of office for that member.
Does this include a Request petition that is handed to the Board that is flawed with errors in language that signers are not aware of and errors in how ARS and Bylaws are referenced. If the Board challenges its validly due to the errors. Errors are obvious to me but not to owners who are signing, I haven’t said anything. We were thinking second petition could be turned in if the first was rejected.
My thinking is there is no way they can accept it with the errors.
Thank you Dennis in advance…
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Joseph,
This provision in the law was very poorly stated and has led to many situations where association attorneys have improperly advised their clients that they can deny legitimate calls for a special meeting to recall board members.
The petition does not recall the board member the meeting vote does. So if a petition is submitted and sufficient signatures are denied the required petition is invalid but that does not stop the community from resubmitting the petition for the special meeting with the required number of valid signatures. Members can petition for meetings of the members to do anything as long as the have the required number of signatures. That petition only requires the board to hold the meeting to address the issue requested by the members. A board member may not be subjected to a recall vote more than once in any term and that is the intent of the statute.
if a petition is invalidated it is invalidated until the number of valid signatures are achieved. you do not have to redo the petition for any valid signatures you simply have to get the added valid signatures necessary to satisfy the number required. Once you do that the association has 30 days to call and hold the meeting for the members to consider and vote on the recall. If the board fails to call and hold that meeting and vote 30 days from the receipt of the petition the entire board is removed from office at midnight on the 31’st day.
Dennis
Good morning Dennis, association attorneys are infamous for game playing, which was the reason for my question that your response nailed… again. I’m calling the petition for a Special meeting of Members a REQUEST by way of signatures being called a petition for lack of another word to describe. The person that drafted the first Request got hung up on the word ‘petition’ confusing it with requests relative to Government action i.e. recall of an Municipal, State or Federal elected official; official initiative and or referendum that require specific petition formats and the requirement for the circulator to witness petition signatures, totally ridiculous. That said, again the first Request is littered with errors that I’m certain it will be rejected. Then we face the situation my question was about.
As our POA is in a remote off-grid location consisting of 294 forty acres parcels (17 parcels to a section of land) checkered boarded with State Trust sections, organizing and communicating is difficult. We have a large number of Owners (70%) that are uninvolved and unaware as to what is going on. The Board has the power of the purse to send slanted mailers.
As the revision to ARS 33 1813 takes affect October 30, 2023 the 31 day Board removal is in play. Plan is to let the submission of the first Request for the meeting to take place and if accepted great. The plan B Request – petition is ready to be mailed the end of September for a return date of November 7th. Copies will made to turn in, they will be arranged in parcel numeric order, listed on a master cover sheet to then be hand carried to the Statutory Agents office with a transmittal signature required by who accepts delivery. Clock, 31 calender days start day after turn in.
Joseph,
You are absolutely correct on the effective date of the new law and the expectations of that law. Once you submit a petition with the required number of valid signatures the clock starts. There is no formal requirement for the petition and all it requires is to identify that the undersigned members of the association request to call a special meeting of the members for the purpose of recalling board members X, y and Z by name. (very important). You can request to recall one or all or any number in between but must identify each board member by name. This will require that the ballot for the special meeting will have to allow each member to vote for or against the recall of each identified board member. Other than that point there is no other format or process requirement needed for that petition. Because all your owners are remote you can have them individually sign a form and collect all those forms for the submittal.
Dennis
I’m reluctant to say anything else here as they maybe viewing the site.