Not only the Board bungled, but our Onsite Property Manager was also a part of still another misstep. BTW – isn’t the Onsite Property Manager a certified and credentialed individual, whose purpose is to counsel and direct an HOA Board of Directors in the proper procedures with the housekeeping of running a community?
Florida Statutes lay out the mechanics for the Board of Directors and their actions, which include called Community Meetings, like our Annual Meeting. We were told in e-mails and correspondence that there would be no election for Directors, since only two candidates had submitted “timely” applications. Remember that the Board provided confusing dates and days for what “timely” would be. Further, we were provided a Meeting Agenda with no announced matter(s) for which to vote. Hmm. No Director elections and no matter(s) for which to vote.
Per the Statutes, a Quorum is needed for a Meeting, and in Aquarina that means a majority of the voting members, if there will be voting. Gee, we were told that there would be no voting for Directors and that the Meeting was informational, i.e. no matters for which to vote. No voting means no Quorum is necessary.
Yet, our Onsite Property Manager told us that the Proxies, which were mailed to all the Aquarina Voting Members (Property Owners), were necessary to be completed and mailed back to be sure that a Quorum could be established for a Meeting to be held. What? A Quorum is not required at a non-voting Meeting.
But wait. The Proxies were assembled to read that to whomever the Proxy was assigned, typically the Board Secretary or other Board Member, would have absolute voting rights for the Property Owner who assigned away his or her Proxy. Wow. A proxy can be assembled for a particular vote and not open voting, the mailed Proxies were assembled for open voting. The mailed Proxies are open for any voting that could occur if a voting situation was disclosed before the Meeting Agenda. At this time no voting has been announced, as of yet.
However, this Proxy request seems pointless if no voting is to occur – right? The Residents, being told that no voting would take place at the Meeting, might decide to not attend, and instead just complete and mail back the Proxy, and maybe read about the information nature of the meeting rather than attending it.
This would mean that if the Board decides to amend the Meeting Agenda, after the Proxies were mailed out and were returned, that the Board (with the probable majority of assigned Proxies in hand) could now vote to pass any matter that the Board added to the Agenda. Would you be surprised if this course of events evolved?
Information Alert. The Board Meeting for today was cancelled. Hmm. The purpose of the Meeting was for the Directors to vote to reduce the funding of the Reserves to create more cash flow, or vote to not reduce. The Board needs available funds to pursue its Agenda. Guess what the Vote would have been. Reducing the funding of our Reserves adds to the deteriorating conditions that are ongoing in our Community, since sufficient funds would not be available to address needed common element repairs or replacement.