Board recording — oops again
Dennis,
This is the second time that our board (Tonto Forest Estates HOA), managed and meeting operated by Ogden & Co., has said they were recording the Zoom meeting, but when I ask the next day for a copy of the recording I get the same answer, essentially, “ooopps, Zoom didn’t record. Sorry”. They also turn off member ability to record within Zoom.
They have not used that to preclude members from recording, but it demonstrates a problem with the law as-written: ” unless the board audiotapes or videotapes the meeting and makes the unedited audiotapes or videotapes available to members on request without restrictions on their use as evidence in any dispute resolution process”
You can see the potential for abuse: Board records the meeting and prohibits members from recording, then if the board does not like something said in it, then the board says “oops, Zoom failed to record. Sorry we told you that you could not record.”
Is there a really good reason to have that section in ARS 33-1804? If not, ever thought about striking it and simply changing it to say the board cannot prohibit recording (audio or video) in any way?
Tx
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Hi, Fish7 and sorry to hear about your meeting woes.
I don’t know if this is a reasonable thought, but aren’t homeowners still allowed to video record the Zoom Meeting not utilizing the Zoom recording function (obviously couldn’t if property manager turned it off)?
If I’m in the comfort of my own home and participating in a Zoom Meeting that the property manager and board say they are recording, I may still use my own iPad to record the meeting in progress! With shaky trust issues in my community, I take matters into my own hands – make my own video or audio recording – especially in cases of “whoops we lost the video” or “there must’ve been a Zoom glitch”. Who’s to say I cannot record what I want to in my own house?
To both PJ and Fish 7,
Nothing in law authorizes virtual meetings or provides any controls for virtual meetings in these communities. They became rampant during the pandemic, as there were no real options for in-person meetings, but they became a staple for these communities after the pandemic was over, because they were cost-effective and allowed them to silence homeowners and directly violate the provisions in law allowing homeowners to participate and vote in person at meetings. The abuses are widespread across the state, with the same complaints heard in just about every community. The meeting host does not allow participants to speak, but selectively allows people they want to speak to have their microphone turned on, or they suddenly turn off the microphone on anyone talking that they don’t like what they are saying without notice, and inside the time allotment that they specified. I personally would never trust a community manager or board member to actually record any meeting because I’ve heard too many repeat examples of the same process, whether it was at an in-person meeting or a virtual meeting. I forgot to turn on the recorder, or the recorder malfunctioned coincidentally at the most controversial portion of the meeting. Arizona is a single-party state, and anyone can record any meeting they participate in without the permission of anyone else at that meeting.
I will be addressing the virtual meeting issue in my open meeting legislation proposal for the next session as i did in the last session. That legislative proposal will mandate that the association recognize any and all homeowners wishing to speak on an issue before the board and keep the mike turned on for the entire time allotment allowed, and that they turn on the individual recording feature of the virtual meeting software if it is available. In the interim, feel free to record any virtual meeting you participate in from your own home.
Dennis