Jim Bartel

Shmuel, Indeed. //content.invisioncic.com/r127373/emoticons/default_smile.png Thank you.

If my suspicions are correct, upon putting the book in front of them they would likely ask what it was. Thank you Bruce and Weldon for your insights.

During a vote of directors on a measure, one voting Director was asked to recuse himself due to a financial conflict of interest which created an even number of voters. Another Director then stated that in such cases "Robert's Rules requires that the President recuse himself to avert a tie vote." Frankly, that sounds ridiculous and I am unaware of any rule relating specifically to the President voting other than those which refer to when they can vote. (In this case, the President is a voting member of the body so the issue of whether the President can vote is not a consideration.) Unfortunately, not being familiar with RO, the President agreed and the vote was taken. Does anyone have any information regarding the supposed rule that was cited by the Director? Since the measure was adopted by the body, my thinking is that the measure could potentially be rescinded at the next meeting. Anyone have any other suggestions? Thank you for your time.

Our HOA has regular Board meetings as well as a single annual meeting of the entire membership where the membership votes on amendments, etc. This meeting also includes the installment of new Directors. During this annual meeting, our President announced they would resign at the conclusion of the evening. As I mentioned, the agenda also included votes where member ballots are counted. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen issues, a tally had to be postponed, and as a result, the outgoing President announced a new meeting date and chose to recess the meeting instead of adjourning so as to avoid a special meeting. During this recess, the President and Vice-President vacated their seats, which were filled by the incoming Directors during an organizational meeting which is required 10 days after the Annual meeting. The new Directors are facing calls that they cannot bring the recessed meeting back to order - only the outgoing President can. This seems absurd as it doesn't allow for unanticipated circumstances such as accidents, illness, etc. I've researched the forums and I've seen references to RONR (12th ed.) 47:11(3) which addresses this at least somewhat. However, I'm interested in hearing what those of you who have had far more experience in dealing with these things have to say. Thank you for your time.

Atul, It is indeed my intent that the special meeting shall have the sole task of recounting the vote and I will ensure that the notices to members are quite clear on this. I wish there was an alternative, but everything I've read here and in other places points in this direction. Thanks again to this group. This is my 2nd day as President and I never envisioned an issue like this popping up right off the top. All of you have helped immensely.

Atul, Thank you for your response. Unfortunately, the amendment involves a change to our Bylaws, and that can only be accomplished by meeting a voting threshold by the entire membership. Based upon what I've seen here, I think our path is pretty clear. We will have another membership meeting as fast we can get the notifications sent and we will have a recount before the membership. Thanks to all of you. This has been most instructive.

At our annual membership meeting the other evening, an agenda item was voted upon using ballots. The initial vote tally indicated that the total was below the threshold to pass, therefore it failed and the meeting was adjourned. Immediately following the meeting, it was discovered that one of the proxy ballots containing multiple votes was not counted. Had these votes been included, the item would've passed. My thinking is that a motion to rescind is now in order (vs reconsider). Additionally, since this item required a vote by the total membership, the membership will have to have a special meeting in order to vote on it once again. My question is whether there is an alternative mechanism whereby we don't have to bring all of the membership together once again for a new vote. We still have all of the original ballots. Your thoughts are most appreciated.