How Would Robert Rule a Community Association Meeting?*
It’s likely that many association board members, managers, and homeowners have a working knowledge of Robert’s Rules of Order, with some parliamentarians among the readership exhibiting detailed mastery of the inner workings of “Robert’s Rules.” A large percentage of people; however, may not fully understand how Robert’s Rules work within an HOA meeting.
Brief Background
As far back as ancient Greece, organizations have struggled with running meetings. Rules and customs in the civilized world have varied almost as much as organizations themselves. The basic content for running meetings was largely formed by trial and error over the centuries in the English Parliament, thus, resulting in the phrase “parliamentary procedure.” But not every organization or law-making body followed the lead of the English Parliament, and many created their own particularized rules (sound familiar for many community associations?). In the late 19th Century, a student of parliamentary procedure who was active in many organizations decided to take a run at standardizing meeting protocol.
Henry Martyn Robert, a distinguished engineer who retired from the US Army as a brigadier general, first published his Robert’s Rules of Order while a major in 1876. The 176-page book rapidly became accepted as the standard authoritative work on meeting rules. Robert regularly revised his book up until his death in 1923. His widow and descendants continued updates and revisions. The newly revised version is now in its 13th edition encompassing 816 pages (complete with addenda, tables, and index).
What are “the Rules”
Parliamentary procedures provide a process through which an organization can work out satisfactory solutions to the greatest number of questions in the least amount of time. Just about every community association board member or manager can relay stories of feeling helpless and trapped in the face of badly, ineptly—even unfairly—run community association meetings. A great deal of this consternation, controversy and time suck can be eliminated by a standardized set of meeting rules, procedures, and protocols. Robert’s Rules of Order serves this purpose by establishing a uniform framework for running efficient organizational meetings.
There are several abbreviated editions of Robert’s Rules of Order available that distill the classic tome to easily followed guidelines, tables, and references. Rather than attempt to summarize those effective publications in this short article, the section below attempts to highlight the areas most relevant to homeowner association governance.
“The Rules” as Applied in HOA Land
This section steps through the major categories of Robert’s Rules.
Preliminaries. To keep order, one person is chosen to preside over the meeting: (1) to enforce the rules and designate who is to speak at any given time; (2) may be elected specifically for that meeting or could be appointed; (3) and ordinarily, but is not required, to be the president of the association. While presiding, the person is called “the chair.” A separate person needs to make a written record of what is conducted during the meeting. Most association’s bylaws designate the secretary to keep meeting minutes; however, this function can be delegated to another board or non-board member.
Agenda. The meeting proceeds through a standard order of business. The most effective way to remain on track and avoid procedural pitfalls is to follow a written agenda. Under Robert’s Rules, any member of the organization in attendance can motion the chair to change the agenda, with such modification taking effect upon approval of a majority of the members in attendance. Under most state statutes, as well as most association governing documents, minimum time periods for notices of meetings to the association’s membership must be met. Hence, adding or deleting items from the agenda (e.g., board removal votes, altering budgets or voting to approve contracts or expend unbudgeted association funds, etc.), although permissible under Robert’s Rules, may stray from state law or an association’s bylaws or declaration.
Notice. Under Robert’s Rules, members of an organization can waive proper notice. However, under some state’s laws, though board members may waive proper notice of a board meeting, the general membership cannot waive proper notice of an association-wide meeting.
Quorum. Under Robert’s Rules, if a member or members leave mid-meeting, and their absence destroys quorum, then the meeting cannot officially continue. In many states, if a quorum is reached at the beginning of the meeting, it continues throughout the meeting even if people leave midstream.
Motions. Many people consider the motions section of Robert’s Rules to be the “meat and potatoes” of the rules. The overwhelming majority of association governing documents, and state law, do not govern meeting protocol, or how motions are presented or voted upon; thus, strict adherence to Robert’s Rules is acceptable in HOA land. The degree of adherence to the detailed motion protocols under Robert’s Rules is left to the discretion of the chair, or board. As stated in the Agenda section above, motions from the floor that involve substantive issues not properly noticed or included within the written agenda would not be properly raised in a community association meeting and would have to be set over until the next meeting.
Conclusion
Adherence to Robert’s Rules of Order is not required under most state statutes, nor do most community association governing documents mandate its usage. However, reliance upon Robert’s Rules in some form or manner is recommended to promote fair, efficient, and uniform HOA board and general membership meetings.
* Legal Disclaimer: The author is not a certified parliamentarian, nor has he met Robert, however, I have observed or participated in dozens of the most inefficient, wasteful, and painful association meetings known to mankind. I am striving to eliminate such practice from the face of the planet…one association at a time.