President subbing for Secretary/Treasure for Elections

[cbreezejr]

The Secretary of my Hoa will be out of town is it right/legal for him to have the President step in for him at the annual elections for which all three of their seats will be voted on for new directors ( none of them Pres,VP and Sec are running due to the damage they've done in the hoa they are tring to control the votes though to get their friends in )or should one of the other two directors at large who hold no official position be selected to vote the proxy's left for the secretary to use as he sees fit.

Also can the daughter of a homeowner serve as a board member although she does own property in the hoa and just lives with her parents.

[Chris Harrison]

The Secretary of my Hoa will be out of town is it right/legal for him to have the President step in for him at the annual elections for which all three of their seats will be voted on for new directors ( none of them Pres,VP and Sec are running due to the damage they've done in the hoa they are tring to control the votes though to get their friends in )or should one of the other two directors at large who hold no official position be selected to vote the proxy's left for the secretary to use as he sees fit.

RONR doesn't deal with proxies much (since they aren't allowed unless the bylaws specifically provide for them or applicable law requires them). If your bylaws do provide for proxy voting they should also cover what happens if the member who the proxies are assigned to isn't at the meeting.

Also can the daughter of a homeowner serve as a board member although she does own property in the hoa and just lives with her parents.

You will need to look to the bylaws to see what qualifications (if any) are required to serve on the Board.

[Guest Edgar]

The Secretary of my Hoa will be out of town is it right/legal for him to have the President step in for him at the annual elections . . .

If the secretary is absent, the chair, immediately after calling the meeting to order, should conduct a brief election to select a secretary pro tem (a temporary secretary) to serve during the meeting. It can, but needn't be a board member. In fact, it needn't be a member at all. But it shouldn't be the chair (i.e. the president) who will already have enough to do.

[Trina]

If the secretary is absent, the chair, immediately after calling the meeting to order, should conduct a brief election to select a secretary pro tem (a temporary secretary) to serve during the meeting. It can, but needn't be a board member. In fact, it needn't be a member at all. But it shouldn't be the chair (i.e. the president) who will already have enough to do.

I think the original poster's concern was not so much with getting the secretarial functions filled, as with the fact that the secretary in this organization happens to be entrusted with proxies.

However, as you point out, the secretary, as secretary, has an important job to do at the meeting, and a secretary pro tem should be elected (not chosen ahead of time by the secretary, as is suggested in the OP) to do that job.

What happens with regard to the proxies is an entirely separate question (and one not answered by RONR, as Chris pointed out).

[Guest terencekuch@ymail.com]

The Board could vote to reorganize itself pro tempore, if the Bylaws so permit, swapping offices so that there is a Secretary (by that title) present. In the absence of any guidance from State law or Bylaws or RONR, that is what I would suggest.

- Terence Kuch

VP Gates at West Falls Owners Association

[JohnR]

But RONR does provide guidance. It says that a secretary pro tem should be elected if the regular secretary is absent. I doubt that very many bylaws authorize the swapping of offices.