The Rodgers Forge board has proposed changes to the by-laws that would prevent residents from doing nominations from the floor at the annual meeting. In the past, residents could just come to the annual meeting and raise their hand and say, “I’d like to run for a board seat.” Then there was a vote. (In fact, most of the time there wasn’t even a vote because none of the seats were contested so people just automatically got on the board.)
Now the board wants to require that people alert them by mid-July that they plan to run for the election in September. They say:
(1) Having a cut-off date for nominations instead of allowing nominations from the floor is important because the nominating committees in any given year need to review the person’s qualifications; and,
(2) submit the person’s information for the RFC Newsletter. Without having both items completed by a “cut-off” date will be unfair to both early & late candidates.
But is it hard to review a person’s qualifications? To be qualified to run for a board seat, you must be over 18 (show a driver’s license if there’s any doubt); live in Rodgers Forge (bring in your BGE bill or lease or deed or AT&T bill or water bill, etc ….) and have paid your dues for the year (a board member would have a list of all dues-paying residents and could check your name, or you could pay on the spot). It’s not as if they do a criminal background check, run your credit report, and make sure you’re not an illegal immigrant.
I’m not at all clear on how a nomination from the floor is unfair to the other candidates. Wouldn’t you be more likely to vote for someone who had gotten his/her information in early such that you already knew something about the person? As far as I can see, waiting until the meeting is of no benefit to the candidate who waited. However, it is still his/her right.
The board is also trying to make this huge change via an email vote at the last minute (instead of at an in-person meeting), which the by-laws say should only be done if “it would be impractical or impossible to convene a meeting prior to the time a decision must be taken and/or the matter is of such import that the entire then-serving Board must register a vote and it is not possible to get the entire Board together in person.” I’m thinking that’s more in the vein of something like, “Towson University just announced it’s buying the Rodgers Forge Apartments and will tear them down to build eight dormitories that are each 30 stories high unless the board votes by next week to stop it.”
But the fact is, the board voted in May to allow an email vote to amend the by-laws. Jean Duvall made the motion and it was seconded by Chris Alworth. They did not, however, disclose what the change to the by-laws would be. So, in May they knew they wanted to make this change. They then had a board meeting in June at which they discussed it not at all. (One of the things they did discuss, however, was ways of improving communications with the community to help get residents more involved with the board. Ah, irony. Of course, the move to change the bylaws and the idea of discussing communications came from two different board members.)
Now they are rushing this through via email and want to make it applicable to this year’s election. Absolutely incredible. It is true that the past few newsletters have said that if you want to run and have your candidacy noted in the August newsletter that you should let the board know of your intentions by July 15. But it never said that there would be a change this year and that if you did not meet the July 15 deadline that you could not run at all. That is totally new.
The deadline for board members to vote on this by-law change is July 7. That is the same day the newsletter is supposed to come out, so it would be literally impossible for the board to include this massive rule change in the newsletter.
So how will it be communicated to the community? Via a blog that hardly anyone reads because it is so rarely updated and doesn’t even post things such as the dates of the board meetings? The website, which is updated even less frequently? Perhaps it will be in the August newsletter and say, “If you would like to participate in your community and run for a board seat, you should have let us know last month. It’s too late now. I know this is likely the first you’re hearing of it, but oh well.”
I did a quick check of other area associations and didn’t find any that had elections but didn’t take nominations from the floor. Here are some examples of groups that take nominations from the floor:
Gaywood
http://gaywoodonline.com/new-
Roland Park
http://www.rolandpark.org/
Hampton Improvement Association
http://www.hamptonmd.org/
Idlewylde:
http://www.idlewylde.net/ica.
Nominations from the floor are also the standard in Robert’s Rules of Order, the guide most organizations use to determine operating procedures.
My husband, who is on the board, said he made a motion via email to amend the proposal to have it apply to the 2011 election and not this year’s election because it’s too late in the process for that. I don’t know if he’s received a second to his motion, and of course it’s all very cumbersome and awkward to try to have a debate about something like this over email. (I would actually prefer that he vote against it altogether but at least this is an improvement.)
I am deeply saddened that the board is taking this approach. The board does some good things but could be so much more effective. If it would take the high road and be open and communicative, then it could do so many things. Instead, it feels like there is a lot of protecting of turf and looking to hold onto the status quo instead of continually improving.
I emailed and called board vp Lawrence Swoboda, who is overseeing this vote, to get his thoughts but he didn’t respond.
If this is an issue you care about, I suggest you contact the board (email, snail mail and phone numbers are here). You could also attend the next board meeting, which will be July 14. There will be no August meeting, so July is the last time the board will meet before the election in September. The July meeting is scheduled to be at board president Janice Moore’s home, and at the June board meeting she stated that she is requiring one week’s notice if non-board members want to attend the meeting because she doesn’t want a bunch of people in her house, so if a sizable number of people want to attend, she will think of a “Plan B.” These are open board meetings, by the way, where the rules of your community are discussed and finalized. You have every right to attend.
To sum up: Even if one agreed in principle with this change, it is outrageous that it is being rushed through at the last minute without giving people proper notice.