Nominations from the Floor process for Board Members during Annual Membership Meeting

[Josh Martin]

1 hour ago, NotSure said:

The board refuses to elect me because they do not like me. They indicated this through taking a vote right after I nominated myself when nominations were called for by taking a vote at the annual meeting right at that moment when the chair made a motion to ask the board if they wanted me to be appointed.

Well, then next time make sure to vote for yourself or have a supporter vote for you.

[NotSure]

2 hours ago, Rob Elsman said:

I'm sure it's just me, but this does not make any sense.

Which part is not making sense?

Just an FYI... I am dealing with a group of people who are highly critical of RONR, and not at all knowledgeable about any of it's processes, despite it being the officially adopted rules. They flat out said they did not care about Decorum, and the person who is called president specifically aid they were not willing to learn, know or practice the 11 duties of the chair, and that Decorum would not be followed.

They do not believe members have any rights.

[NotSure]

37 minutes ago, Josh Martin said:

Well, then next time make sure to vote for yourself or have a supporter vote for you.

One other person did vote for me, when I nominated myself another homeowner who was also participating by phone voted for me.

[Richard Brown]

1 hour ago, NotSure said:

One other person did vote for me, when I nominated myself another homeowner who was also participating by phone voted for me.

I thought you told us that you were told you were not elected because you did not receive any votes. Have I gotten this thread confused with another thread?

[NotSure]

26 minutes ago, Richard Brown said:

I thought you told us that you were told you were not elected because you did not receive any votes. Have I gotten this thread confused with another thread?

I received a vote from another homeowner, but that did not seem to matter to them. I did mention it in either the first post or a follow up response. Like I mentioned before, they said during the annual meeting that it was "legal" for me to get on the board through a floor nomination and a vote. The same person came back at the end of the Board meeting that I was not elected because there was no ballot. This person wa the property manager, not the chair, and the chair just said "Gee, I guess you're not a board member after all" and when I told the property manage I thought she was mistaken about a floor nomination having to be seen as a write in candidate (this was her argument) she instructed the chairperson to hang up on me since they were going into Executive Session, who then did hang up on me.

 

It was here that I mentioned the other person-who was not a board member, but a homeowner during the annual meeting-who spoke up and said they voted for me to be on the boad.

 

Edited November 19, 2020 at 03:44 AM by NotSure

[Gary Novosielski]

On 11/17/2020 at 9:07 PM, NotSure said:

The property manager chimed in at the end of the meeting, after the election was over, and said since I did not have my name on a ballot, I was not elected. She aid that in order to be elected I had to write my name on a ballot and turn it in, which to me makes no sense. Then she told the chair to tell me I was no longer a board member. It was actually quite humiliating.

Edit: This was after she told the chair earlier that nominating myself was "legal" and it qualified me to be elected.

I've heard more horror stories about property managers making up rules to the point where I would have to be shown the rule in writing before I believed anything of the sort.

[Josh Martin]

13 hours ago, NotSure said:

One other person did vote for me, when I nominated myself another homeowner who was also participating by phone voted for me.

 

11 hours ago, NotSure said:

I received a vote from another homeowner, but that did not seem to matter to them. I did mention it in either the first post or a follow up response. Like I mentioned before, they said during the annual meeting that it was "legal" for me to get on the board through a floor nomination and a vote. The same person came back at the end of the Board meeting that I was not elected because there was no ballot.

Now I am confused.

How was the vote taken? I was previously under the impression that the vote was taken by ballot, but now you say that you "received a vote" and that "there was no ballot."

[Richard Brown]

16 minutes ago, Josh Martin said:

Now I am confused.

Welcome to the club! 😊

[NotSure]

3 hours ago, Josh Martin said:

 

Now I am confused.

How was the vote taken? I was previously under the impression that the vote was taken by ballot, but now you say that you "received a vote" and that "there was no ballot."

When I nominated myself, the chair initiated a motion to ask the other board members if they wanted me on the board (I had been on it already for 5 years). They took a vote, during the annual meeting, so it was very public, which I understand was not supposed to happen.

The chair never actually said whether or not the motion she made to have me on the board passed or failed because the property manager interrupted the process by telling the chair it was "legal" for me to become a board member by electing myself and then having someone vote in my favor (even though I also voted during the bogus vote, and my own vote should have counted in this context).

At the "Discussion" point, which she was just going to push past without any call for it, I told her I had someone to say. I said my health issues were improving, and I had something to offer, etc.

When I finished, she asked the other board members "Do you buy that?"   then a second later "Yeah, me neither..." then right when she was about to call the motion as passed, after I was the only one who voted for myself, another homeowner chimed in and said he'd vote for me, then the property manager interrupted, and then the chair made a personal remark about me, and then the Annual meeting was adjourned and the Board meeting began, which I participated in (3 hours)   

Then at the end of the meeting, 3 hours later, when about to go into Executive, the manager chimed back in and said I was not elected because there was no ballot with my name written on it, and that I had to be a "write in candidate".

I was participating by phone, so there was no way for me to hand a ballot to them, and also-there was 3 whole hours for this information to be relayed to me, if that was a real requirement. I could have arranged for that piece of paper to be given to them, but at this point, I was told I was no longer a board member. When I tried to contest this situation, the manager argued with me and made several personal remarks, then told the Chair to hang up on me, which she did.

 

 

Edited November 19, 2020 at 06:56 PM by NotSure

[Josh Martin]

43 minutes ago, NotSure said:

When I nominated myself, the chair initiated a motion to ask the other board members if they wanted me on the board (I had been on it already for 5 years). They took a vote, during the annual meeting, so it was very public, which I understand was not supposed to happen.

The chair never actually said whether or not the motion she made to have me on the board passed or failed because the property manager interrupted the process by telling the chair it was "legal" for me to become a board member by electing myself and then having someone vote in my favor (even though I also voted during the bogus vote, and my own vote should have counted in this context).

At the "Discussion" point, which she was just going to push past without any call for it, I told her I had someone to say. I said my health issues were improving, and I had something to offer, etc.

When I finished, she asked the other board members "Do you buy that?"   then a second later "Yeah, me neither..." then right when she was about to call the motion as passed, after I was the only one who voted for myself, another homeowner chimed in and said he'd vote for me, then the property manager interrupted, and then the chair made a personal remark about me, and then the Annual meeting was adjourned and the Board meeting began, which I participated in (3 hours)   

Then at the end of the meeting, 3 hours later, when about to go into Executive, the manager chimed back in and said I was not elected because there was no ballot with my name written on it, and that I had to be a "write in candidate".

I was participating by phone, so there was no way for me to hand a ballot to them, and also-there was 3 whole hours for this information to be relayed to me, if that was a real requirement. I could have arranged for that piece of paper to be given to them, but at this point, I was told I was no longer a board member. When I tried to contest this situation, the manager argued with me and made several personal remarks, then told the Chair to hang up on me, which she did.

There is certainly no doubt that this situation was handled extremely poorly.

So far as I can tell, what ultimately happened is that the actual vote for the election was conducted by ballot, and apparently no votes were cast for you in that vote. If this is correct, then I think you are owed an apology for being given extremely poor information regarding what was happening (perhaps intentionally so), but the fact remains that a person who receives zero votes in the election is not elected.

Apparently, at some point a motion was made for only board members to vote on whether they wanted you on the board. This was improper since the board can't vote on things outside of a board meeting. Such a vote would also be purely advisory in any event, since it is the membership, not the board, which was electing the board members. Correct me if I am wrong, but I understand the facts to be that this is the vote where you and one other person voted for you. Such votes have no effect on the election itself, which appears to have been conducted by ballot.

If you wish to pursue this matter further, I would suggest trying one or more of the following courses of action:

• Try to get appointed to fill one of the remaining open positions, if there is one.
• Attempt to take disciplinary action against members of the board. Check your bylaws or see FAQ #20 if your bylaws are silent.
• If all else fails, when the next election occurs, make sure that you or someone else actually casts a ballot vote for you and ignore the other nonsense.