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Board Members are
servants of the people
they represent. They have a fiduciary
responsibility to be the overseers of the affairs of others. There
is no omniscient authority to the job of caring for others.
The will of the people,
and their best interests dominate the agenda
of the board of directors. That "will" is encapsulated in the
documents of the Home Owners Association. These documents are not
easily changed, but they are able to be altered by
the requirements designated in the Articles of
Incorporation, the By-Laws and the Deed Restrictions respectively.
Furthermore, the Board of directors have powers to amend
documents as the need may arise, and as the will of the people become
overwhelmingly convinced of the need.
The board of Directors has the job of
maintaining the Association's documents under
the current guidelines of the State of Florida,
as well as to
sense the growing conscience of the people
they represent. In a real sense the people make restrictions and
liberties for
themselves and the board helps everyone live accordingly.
If a document needs to be altered or amended, as many as
twenty percent of the unit representative votes (27
household votes) may present their
recommendation to the Board. The Board of Directors
must consider the recommendation and decide what to do about
it. Since many factors impact a decision, such as
budget, laws, practicality and such, the board is
not obliged to accommodate every recommendation.
Nevertheless, residents have the right to shape the
community for the good of the whole.
(See
04 State Amendments)
As indicated in the
mentioned article, the "recall" of members of
the Board of Directors is an option to the community, with or
without cause. Of course the community is required to follow
certain procedures.
The covenants of the Board of Directors
have to do with how the Board handles their authority as stewards of the
people. Honesty, Clarity, Decisiveness, Fairness, and Integrity
are the characteristics of a Responsible Board of Directors.
Responsibility (The Association's documents), order (Robert's
Rules of Order), Documentation and Ethics (Honorable
relationships with the residents) are the four major areas that make up
the Board of Directors covenant to the people and to the law which
govern our affairs.
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It is the responsibility of the Board
of Directors to know the
Associations documents and the State of Florida
guidelines. It is also
important for the Board Members to
know the history of the
decisions made by the Board over the
years and keep running
records of these decisions for future
consideration. The
will of the people is a
consideration for the Board to set the agenda, and
to keep our community healthy and prosperous.
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Summary of these
rules by The Reform Party of IOWA
Chairperson/Speaker
Each meeting is
facilitated or guided by a speaker or chairperson.
S/he is responsible for ensuring that the
meeting
runs smoothly and fairly. The chairperson remains
impartial during the debate and should
command the
respect of all those in the room. The chairperson is
not the final arbitrator of all decisions:
the
assembly ultimately has the authority and the
responsibility to decide how the meeting should run.
Main Motion
The basis for
discussion is a formal motion. The motion is put
forward of being 'moved' by a voting member of the
assembly to focus discussion. Each motion must have
a mover and a seconder to show that it has at least
a minimum of support from the delegates. Once a
motion has been put 'on the floor' for discussion,
debate must focus on the substance of the motion.
All other discussion is out of order and not
allowed. A main motion may not be introduced if
there is any other motion on the floor. The mover
must state the motion before speaking and motions
should be written out and handed to the chair so
that everyone is clear on what is being discussed.
Order
Once a motion is
introduced, the chairperson will
maintain a
speaker's list to allow for discussion in an orderly
manner. The seconder of the motion is given the
right to speak immediately after the mover. To
ensure that all members of the assembly have an
equal opportunity to speak, the chairperson will
allow speakers on the list who have not yet spoken
before those who already have spoken.
Amendments
At any time,
a
person who has the floor can introduce an amendment
to the main motion being debated. An amendment is a
motion that alters, adds to, subtracts from, or
completely changes the main motion. Once an
amendment has been moved and seconded, debate
must
be on the substance of the amendment. An amendment
can only be amended once. For an amendment to pass,
it needs a simple majority. Once an amendment has
either been passed, defeated, or withdrawn,
discussion reverts back to the main motion, taking
into account whether or not the amendment passed.
Complex or lengthy amendments should be written out
for the chairperson to be able to read back to the
assembly.
Point of Order
If a member feels
that the rules of order are being broken, s/he can
immediately raise a 'point of order', and state what
rule has been broken or not enforced by the chair. A
point of order can interrupt a speaker. It cannot be
used as an opportunity to get around the speakers'
list - it can only be used to ask the chair to
enforce the rules. The chair decides if the point is
valid or not, and proceeds accordingly.
Point of Privilege
A
point of
privilege can interrupt the speaker. A member who
feels her/his right or privileges have been
infringed on may bring up this point by stating
their problem. Privilege refers to anything
regarding the comfort of accessibility of the member
(i.e. too much smoke, too much noise, fuzzy
photocopies, etc.), or to the right of the member
not to be insulted, misquoted, or deliberately
misinterpreted. Again, the chair decides if the
point is valid or not and proceeds accordingly.
Challenge the Chair
If a member feels
her/his point of order or privilege has been ruled
on unfairly by the chair, s/he can challenge the
chair. The chair then asks for a motion to uphold
the chair, and the vote is taken. The vote decides
whether the action decided upon by the chair is
valid, or whether the member is correct.
Point of Information
A point of
information is a QUESTION. A member may interrupt
the speaker to ask her/his question, but the speaker
who has the floor has the privilege to refuse the
question. The chair will ask the speaker if s/he
wishes to entertain a question at that time. A point
of information is not an opportunity to bring
forward information, jump the speakers' list, harass
another speaker, or generally disrupt the
proceedings - IT CAN ONLY BE A QUESTION.
Table
Debate may end in
several ways. If a member feels that a decision on a
motion needs to be postponed for some reason, then
s/he can move to 'table' the motion. A member may
not move to table a motion at the end of a speech,
only at the time they are recognized by the chair. A
specified time may be put on the tabling or the
motion may be left indefinite. The only debate
allowed is as to the length of tabling, or the
time-line involved. A motion to table requires only
a simple majority.
Calling the Question
If a member feels
that further debate is unproductive, s/he may 'call
the question', requesting the debate be ended. If
there is no objection, the meeting proceeds to the
main motion. If there is objection, then the meeting
must vote on whether to end debate. This vote
requires a two-thirds (2/3) majority to pass, and is
non-debatable. If the 'call' passes, a vote on the
main motion is immediately taken, without any
further debate.
Rescind
A motion to rescind
another motion is in order if it refers to a motion
passed at another meeting on another day. This
cannot be applied to actions that cannot be reversed
(i.e. things that have already been carried out).
This requires a two-thirds (2/3) majority to pass.
Reconsider
A motion to
reconsider is applicable to a motion that was passed
at the same meeting. Such a motion must be moved by
someone who voted with the prevailing majority on
the previous vote. It requires a two-thirds (2/3)
majority to pass.
Suspension of the Rules
A motion to suspend
the rules of order (so that the assembly may do
something not allowed in the rules) must receive a
two-thirds (2/3) majority vote, is not debatable,
cannot be amended and cannot be reconsidered at the
same meeting.
Adjourn
This motion takes
precedence over all others, except to 'fix the time
to adjourn', to which it yields. It is not
debatable, it cannot be amended, nor can a vote on
it be reconsidered. A motion to adjourn cannot be
made when another has the floor, nor after a
question has been put and the assembly is engaged in
voting.
Refer or Commit
This motion is
generally used to send a pending question to a
committee so that the questions may be carefully
investigated. This motion must be seconded and is
debatable, but the debate can only extend to the
desirability of committing the main motion, not to
the substance of the main motion itself.
Committee of the Whole
At some point the
assembly may wish to informally consider a motion or
a group of motions before having to deal with them
in a 'one at a time', debate fashion. Votes may be
taken in committee but are not binding on the
assembly unless ratified when the group re-enters
the regular session. Motions are required to move in
and out of committee of the whole.
The numbering of motions always is
by date, and then by when the motion arose in the
meeting (YEAR/MONTH/DAY:NUMBER IN ORDER). So the
fourteenth motion during the June 23, 1996 meeting
would be numbered like: 96/06/23:14.
The three numbers after either a
'CARRIED,' 'DEFEATED,' or 'TIED' are arranged in a
specific order. The first number indicated the
number which voted in favour; the second is the
number voting against; the third is the number who
abstained. Thus, a decision which saw seven members
in favour, four against, and two abstaining, would
look like: 7 - 4 - 2 .
Note: Board
minutes should contain the following information:
- Meeting date and time.
- Purpose of the Meeting. (walkthrough,
committee mtg., monthly mtg. or yearly mtg.)
- Clarification whether the minutes were a draft
or approved.
- Who were present or absent.
- All motions during the meeting and who made the
motion and seconded it and the outcome of the vote.
- Any modifications approved or disapproved by
unit number.
- First and Last name of everyone involved in
requests and approvals.
- Significant Controversies discussed.
- Any specific details on approved motions.
- Closing time.
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Ethics is a way of acting with
integrity toward
others, not for self gain or a pet philosophical
theory, not slandering or contending, not
motivated by self importance or pride, not grasping
for power or fame, but by genuine interest in
others, seeing their good as the end of our goal,
and the good of the whole body of people we serve.
Along the way we must
uphold the principles of the association we lead.
This also is a part of the job of a board of
directors. The bottom line is that we blend
the discipline needed with genuine appreciation for
the people under our care. Etiquette is more
concerned about how we do our job rather than what
job we happen to be doing. This view produces
a constituency that enjoys living under our
association's by-laws and deed restrictions and
builds value into our units and our properties.
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