Omissions in Minutes

[NancySkiff]

During the Annual Meeting of our Condo Association, the President distributed a letter about an owner.  He had the Vice President read the letter out loud to all in attendance.  I assumed the reason the Vice President read the letter out loud during the meeting was to make it a matter of record.  

The letter contained many false statements about the owner.

When the minutes of the Annual meeting were published, there was no mention of the letter or that it had been read during the meeting.  

Can the Board Secretary deliberately omit the letter and the actions of the Board from the minutes?  Before the minutes are approved by the membership, can a motion be made to correct the minutes.  If so, how does the owner word the motion to add the missing letter?  

Many thanks.

Nancy

[George Mervosh]

The Secretary was correct not to include it.  What should be in minutes is described on pages 469-471 of RONR.

[NancySkiff]

George,

Pg 471 (20).  The Board specifically "named" the owner for disciplinary actions in the letter distributed at the meeting and then read the letter out loud.  Once "named" isn't the Secretary required to include it in the minutes?  

Is it only the letter that should not be included in the minutes?  What about reading the letter at the meeting?  Should that action be excluded as well?  

Many thanks.

Nancy

 

[Joshua Katz]

If the procedure of naming the offender (for offenses during a meeting) was followed, then yes, that should be in the minutes.  If, on the other hand, the President handed out a letter and directed the Vice-President to read it, then the procedure for naming the offender was not followed, there is no indication of an offense during the meeting or of any disciplinary process, and these facts should not be in the minutes.  They also, likely, shouldn't have been done, but what's done is done.  

[Richard Brown]

Nancy, I agree with the response immediately above by Godelfan as well as the response by Mr Mervosh. 

Disciplinary  procedures are rather technical and complicated. Trying to shortcut them can get your organization and its officers sued. I suggest that you and your president, and perhaps the entire board, read chapter XX in RONR, which is the chapter on discipline. It is 26 pages of detailed information and procedures.

[Dan Honemann]

Not that it matters much, but there seems to be some confusion here as to whether this was a meeting of the membership of this association (which seems to be indicated by the reference to it as the "Annual Meeting of our Condo Association"), or a meeting of the association's board, since the question asked is "Can the Board Secretary deliberately omit the letter and the actions of the Board from the minutes?"

Or perhaps this was one of those instances in which it was assumed that both the board and the full membership were meeting at the same time (but let's hope not).

In any event, I agree that what is said on page 471, lines 20-24, is entirely irrelevant.