Why the Board Cannot Close Monthly Meetings

On August 22, 2023 the Board of Directors of the Summit's HOA met and decided ("resolved") to exclude homeowners (HOA Members) from monthly board meetings.

The Board is wrong. The attorney for the HOA is wrong.

There is nothing in the By-Laws that allows the Board to do this.

The Board and the attorney are relying on Section 15 Open Meetings of Article III of the By-Laws. It reads,
"Section 15. Open Meetings . Subject to the provisions of Section 16 of this Article, all meetings of the Board shall be Voting Members, but Voting Members other than directors may not participate in any discussion or deliberation unless permission to speak is requested on his or her behalf by a director. In such case, the President may limit the time any Voting Member may speak Notwithstanding the above, the President may adjourn any meeting of the Board of Directors and reconvene in executive session, excluding Voting Members, to discuss matters of a sensitive nature, such as pending or threatened litigation, personnel matters, etc."

The first thing you'll spot is the error in the first sentence, which is the one on which the Board and the attorney are relying. It reads, in part,
"Section 15. Open Meetings . Subject to the provisions of Section 16 of this Article, all meetings of the Board shall be Voting Members, ..."

What does "all meetings of the Board shall be Voting Members" mean? It doesn't mean anything. And it definitely does not mean that the Board can exclude homeowners from monthly board meetings. 

The second point is second half of the first sentence, which reads
"... but Voting Members other than directors may not participate in any discussion or deliberation unless permission to speak is requested on his or her behalf by a director." 

That does not apply to Members (homeowners); it applies to Voting Members. And it certainly doesn't state that homeowners (Members) cannot attend monthly Board meetings.

However, Angela and the attorney say that is what it means; i.e., that homeowners can no longer attend monthly Board meetings.

How do you overcome such thinking? I've tried. 

The only solution seems to be to replace the Board, replace Angela, replace the attorney. Why cannot they read what the By-Laws say?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What? No trampolines?

OK, you trampoline fans. Are your rights and privileges being tramped on by your Board of Directors? The office sent out an email just before 2:00PM threatening you with a dreaded violation notice and the possibility of fines, if you dare to put a trampoline in your yard.  This is what the email from the office said,  " Please be advised that, pursuant to Section 13, Page 22, Article XII of the covenants, no structure of a temporary nature shall be placed upon any unit or any part of the properties. This includes, but is not limited to, tents, temporary gazebos, shacks, trailers, and any other structure of a temporary nature.  "Kindly note that trampolines are classified as temporary play equipment and, as such, are not permitted within the community. We ask that you ensure there is no trampoline present on your property to avoid receiving a violation notice and subsequent fines." What do the Covenants say? "Section 13. Tents. Trailers and Temporary Structures. Exce...
Read more

Open Letter to Barony Place "Voting Member"

An open letter to the "Voting Member" of Barony Place Neighborhood. Good morning, Billie, If you and/or an Alternate attended last night's board of directors meeting, will you please send out a recap of the meeting to Ann Stirlen and me (and to all the homeowners and residents in Barony Place)? About a dozen homeowners from throughout The Summit showed up for the board meeting  at the church  last night, only to learn from one person that it had been switched to Zoom, which allowed the board to meet in secret. Many of them had not received the email from the office that the board was (illegitimately) closing the meeting to homeowners. There are only about 1,800 (73%) email addresses of the 2,480 Members in the website database. I attempted to join the meeting on Zoom, as I am Attorney-in-Fact for Ann Stirlen, but I was not admitted to the meeting. The HOA's attorney has quoted a section in the By-Laws that she believes allows the Board to close the meetings. That spec...
Read more

Pet Peeve #1 - Tinted License Plate Covers

Image
  AO(Q?)H 152 My #1 pet peeve is heavily-tinted license plate covers. These are prohibited under South Carolina law (and by laws in many states), but my belief is that these drivers are seldom stopped.  These drivers can run red lights, speed, tailgate, even cause hit-and-run accidents, and witnesses can only say, "I couldn't see the license plate number." My solution? Troopers, deputies, and cops should stop these cars. Ticket the driver. Remove the license plate frame, tinted cover, and license plate as evidence. This will force the driver to have his car towed, because he cannot operate a motor vehicle on the roads without a license plate. Make it inconvenient and expensive. Drivers KNOW they are violating the law. They expect to get away with it, and they do. It's time for this to stop! Pet peeve #2: heavily-tinted front windows.
Read more