Mansion Farm

During the September community meeting a motion was made to increase the Board of Directors from 7 to 11 for the upcoming election in February 2012.  Some of the board members met with the individuals who made the motion to better understand the reasons for the increase and the outcome was a compromise to increase the board to 9 Directors.  This compromise was taken back to the entire board, voted on, and passed 4 to 3. This vote was not taken lightly and many hours were spent coming to this conclusion. 

The main reason behind the vote was to have more people on the board to help with specific responsibilities such as but not limited to coordinating the annual bidding process, more frequent communication with the companies hired to do the work and more directors to oversee additional committees. 

Our By-Laws state the board can have up to 11 directors so it is possible this number can change for future elections as long as it does not exceed 11 Directors. 

There were several posts to the website concerning the approach taken by the grounds-keeping committee which the board fully understands and did take into consideration when making the final decision.   

Going forward, it is recommended to notify the board ahead of time especially when the motion is as significant as this one.  Informing the board ahead of time will help ensure the vote taken at the community meeting is organized in a way that only one homeowner votes, everyone voting is eligible to vote (in good standing) and the board has the opportunity to reference pertinent documents.

 Kate Moore

 I attended that meeting and voted to increase the board to 11 members.

the motion was made and passed by a large margin of those in attendance.

I never  knew there was a petition.

You said you had to check with our lawyer. What was that opinion and did we pay for it.

That was a legal motion and it passed. I did give the people who made the motion permission to make a settlement with the board. There is nothing in our by-laws that gives this authority to anyone

The motion passed and unless it was not a legal motion the board should be increased to 11.

Please post the lawyers opinion.

This just seems like more underhand action by certain board members.

 Just a correction

I did Not give the people who made the motion any permission to make a settlement.

Technically a motion was not needed at the community meeting since our by-laws already state the board can have up to 11 directors.  The board is empowered to determine the number of Directors.  In the past the number of directors has fluctuated for a couple of reasons.  Years ago not enough people ran in the elections so anyone interested in running at that time became Directors.  I don't believe this number ever exceeded 7 and eventually went down to 6 two years ago due to a resignation.  Last year the election committee made a recommendation to the board to increase the number to 7 so there would be an odd number for voting purposes as well as having another Director to share board responsibilities.  The election documents clearly state this was for the February 2011 election.

I did contact our attorney at no charge.  He said the board did not need to entertain the vote since it was not on the meeting agenda. However in my opinion this is not stated anywhere in our by-laws but would have been a welcomed courtesy rather than soliciting attendees through a petition.  Especially since one of the main compliants from this committee is communication.  The attorney had two concerns with the validity of the vote. 1) It was not clear if one vote was cast per household vs. individuals in attendance.  2) Only members in good standing are eligible to vote which was not determined at the community meeting.  He reviewed our by-laws and said for a fee he could conduct additional research regarding this specific situation within the Delaware county laws. The board agreed not to move forward with the research due to the cost. Instead the board talked to the individuals who made the motion to discuss the reasons behind the motion and petition. 

The by-laws say up to 11 which does not mean there has to be 11. The board is empowered to determine the number of Directors and took into consideration the motion / petition made by the majority of the people attending the meeting.  At the request of the people at the September community meeting the board voted 4 to 3 in favor of increasing the number of Directors to 9, for the February 2012 election.