When yet another homeowners association meeting fails to begin on time, the residents grumble loudly. The two board members in attendance agree and voice their unified opinion that the other three members should be removed because they are always late-when they bother to come at all. While they wait, they approve the minutes to the previous meeting.
A third board member arrives, upset that the president notified her of this meeting only last night. A resident complains about cigarette smoke wafting through the hallways. His neighbor defends his right to smoke in his own unit.
One of the board members announces she must leave, and would appreciate it if everyone just hurry up and award the pool contract to her son. Mention of the pool reminds the president he thinks they should levy a special assessment to install showers in the clubhouse. A resident who never uses the clubhouse says he’ll refuse to pay it.
Sound familiar? Hope not. The preceding scenario was enacted in a mock meeting held by the Community Associations Institute (CAI) at its national convention held in Chicago this fall. As part of a training course for association volunteers, the mock meeting exaggerated many of the pitfalls and errors that prevent boards from conducting productive meetings.
The association, which is headquartered in Alexandria, Va., is a national non-profit organization created to educate and represent homeowner association members and the contractors serving them.
Are your association’s meetings effective? We asked a panel of condominium and townhouse professionals for tips that board members can follow to accomplish more business in less time.
1. Bone up on the issues. A few days before the meeting, board members should receive a hefty packet of information that includes management and financial reports, committee recommendations, an action list update, minutes from the last meeting and copies of contracts and proposals to be acted upon. Usually the property manager will prepare the packets but if the community is self-managed, the president or secretary can do it. The board member’s job is to read and digest the material.
“The ultimate goal is for board members to come to a meeting ready to make decisions,” says William DeMille, executive vice president and property manager for J.S. James & Co. Inc. in Chicago and president of the Chicago CAI chapter. “All the information they need should be in that packet. If they have a question, they should call the manager or committee chair or whomever (before the meeting) to get the answer so they know how to vote.”
The packet system also eliminates the need for time-consuming oral presentations. With the minutes and reports in hand, board members can move directly to making approvals or recommendations. Copies can be posted on a communal bulletin board or mailed out for homeowner review.
Alas, some boards do not come to meetings prepared, says Lynda P. Erickson, property manager for Sudler/Nagy Inc. in Chicago and facilitator for the CAI mock meeting. “You know when you come in and the board members open their envelopes they haven’t looked at it.”
To get them in the habit of doing their homework in advance, she suggests sending orientation letters to all new board members after the annual election, or holding an orientation meeting to explain their responsibilities.
2. Stay focused. The president or property manager must create an agenda and, like a sheep dog, continuously herd the members in that direction. (See accompanying story.) It’s easy to get sidetracked, especially when members of the board are at odds or when they are good friends who enjoy each other’s company.
DeMille’s advice for minimizing extraneous chatter is to pre-determine an adjournment time and, if needed, schedule a second meeting to complete unfinished business. The possibility of an additional meeting often motivates board members to stick to the task at hand.
Another tool many boards find helpful is the action list. This is a running tally of board decisions, the person(s) responsible for carrying them out and the status of each one. Items are checked off as they are carried out. A board member or the manager usually is appointed to compile the list.
“It’s the best way to provide continuity from one meeting to the next,” DeMille says. Without it, “three months down the road it’s easy to forget. Then someone says, `Whatever happened to that?’ “
3. Follow parliamentary procedure. Rules of conduct are imperative to prevent a disruptive resident or a minority of board members from dominating a meeting. Most boards use some form of parliamentary procedure; some association documents decree this procedure will be followed. “Robert’s Rules of Order” is the most popular version.
4. Limit homeowner input. A big mistake is to permit unit owners to interject at will. Even well-meaning owners can be disruptive because it slows the board from its mission, which is to conduct the business of the association. The Illinois Condominium Property Act does not require homeowner participation in meetings; nevertheless, many boards do provide for a short open forum before or after their meetings. Some do both.
“The ideal situation is to reserve the first half hour before a meeting for owners who want to have their say,” says Mark Pearlstein, attorney for Boehm, Pearlstein & Bright Ltd. in Chicago and author of the Tribune’s Condo Log column. “Once the official board meeting starts, unit owners are not to talk at all.”
“Some boards do it after the meeting for 15 minutes,” says Erickson. “Their thinking is that with people staying through the whole meeting, they could have some questions at the end.”
5. Make decisions and carry them out. The most troublesome area is usually major repairs, either because board members lack the knowledge to determine a solution or they fear the expense. But procrastination costs dollars and time. While the board scratches its collective head, the leaks get bigger and the lobby grows shabbier.
A board must take action, says DeMille. It has the fiduciary responsibility “to protect, preserve and enhance the value and assets of the association. Sometimes that does put you in a bind financially but you can’t afford not to make repairs or replacements.”
A baffled board should enlist help rather than table an issue, the attorney says. In the event of a structural problem, for example, it can hire an engineer to come up with a solution, draw specifications and bid out the job. If the board is still hesitant, they can get a second opinion.
Some issues, such as whether the hallways should be carpeted in beige or gray or whether the association should obtain cable television, are more trivial than that collapsing parking garage, but can still eat up hours of meeting time. These can be referred to a committee of board members and unit owners. The committee does the research, makes recommendations and prepares a report in advance of the next meeting.
“Even if the board is not 100 percent right or doesn’t get the cheapest price for the job, they haven’t done anything legally wrong,” Pearlstein says. “They have met their fiduciary obligation.”
KEEPING THE MEETING TO 2 HOURS
Meetings that drag on for hours provide a diminishing rate of return. Board members become tired and cranky, residents see nothing is being accomplished with their money and potential board members are scared away from serving. Industry professionals recommend two-hour meetings and promise it can be done. Their suggested agenda is as follows:
– Open forum. 15 to 30 minutes.
– Call to order. Record the time in the minutes to keep everyone aware of any tardiness.
– Approve minutes. Review before the meeting.
– Financial report. Highlights only.
– Management report. Highlights only.
– Committee reports. Present in writing before the meeting.
– Review of action list. Briefly note status of each.
– Old business. Make motions and vote on them. Immediately add these items to the action list. Table as little as possible until the next meeting.
– New business. Avoid surprises. Unless the issue is an emergency that requires an immediate vote, send it to a committee or to building management for study and recommendations. Set a date for when the report is due.
– Adjournment.
If all else fails, hold your meetings on Monday nights when the Bears are playing, Pearlstein says facetiously. “Then you’ve got a guaranteed time limit of a half hour.”
