Open Meetings
As a board member in Arizona, we struggle with the “Open Meeting” law. As a small community, we will often have a quorum of board members in close proximity (like at morning coffee, by the pool, or golfing) and invariably a homeowner will walk up and want to discuss a current issue. We tell them that we’ll put it on the next published board agenda but that we can’t really discuss it “in private”. The homeowner always gets upset and thinks we’re just refusing to discuss the topic. Any suggestions? Are we handling this correctly?
(Just to be clear, we do listen but try never to express an opinion).
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This is a question I get from most boards because I also believe that the current open meeting laws are overly restrictive for some issues with these communities. The informal meetings of the board provision was added to the statute in the early 2000s based on a 1997 Attorney General opinion on the subject. The provision was added to prevent the board from debating issues in separate communications or meetings and only vote on the issue in an open meeting without any discussion. The AG position was R97-018 a google search will get you that opinion. I’ve been attempting to change that statute for several years now, all to no avail, and tried to do so again this year. I’ll keep trying until we can get this law right. The following is how I last proposed to modify that provision of the open meeting law for both condominiums and planned communities.
“5. Any quorum of the board of directors that meets informally to discuss association business, including workshops, shall comply with the open meeting and notice provisions of this section without regard to whether the board votes or takes any action on any matter at that informal meeting.
(a) THIS PARAGRAPH DOES NOT APPLY TO ANY CASUAL DISCUSSION OF ASSOCIATION ISSUES IN SOCIAL OR PERSONAL GATHERINGS, INFORMAL MEETINGS OR DISCUSSIONS ACTING SIMPLY AS UNIT OWNERS, TRAINING SESSIONS, CONDOMINIUM WALKDOWNS, OR COMMUNICATIONS TO ESTABLISH MEETING AGENDAS EVEN IF A QUORUM OF THE BOARD PARTICIPATES.”
As for your specific question, under the current law, your informal meeting for coffee could be considered a violation of the open meeting law, depending on the purpose of your discussions. A literal reading of the existing statute would say you violate that provision. So, be careful about discussing association issues with a quorum of the board present until I can get the law changed. You are always free to discuss any problem with any resident in the community individually. Still, you have to be careful not to imply that you believe the homeowner’s action would be appropriate. Only the board as a body can make that determination. I believe your response to the homeowner was proper and compliant with the law.
Dennis