K.M. from Hartford County writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
Can/should a manager chair Board of Directors meetings. The Board of my Condo in Florida asked our manager to chair the meetings because they believe he can do it more efficiently.
Mister Condo replies:
K.M., that is a good question and I could go either way with my response. First and foremost, it is clearly the role and responsibility of the Board President to conduct and preside over the Board meeting. Governance documents require it and it is usually right in the description of duties for the role. However, perhaps the Board president is not familiar or comfortable with Roberts Rules of Order, has no interest in becoming a parliamentarian, or just isn’t comfortable actually chairing the meeting. I can see no reason that the manager could not assist the President by taking on the duties of running the meeting without actually having any authority or ability to cast votes. The authority is granted to the Board. The ability to vote is a Board right, not a Property Manager right. So, while I would be careful to keep a close eye on the situation, I have a hard time telling you the practice should not be allowed. It is quite possible that the Board could not properly carry out its duties without the Property Manager’s assistance and guidance at the Board meeting. However, if there is any sign that the Property Manager is influencing vote outcomes or doing anything else that is preventing the Board from truly functioning independently, I would suggest ceasing the practice. Additionally, I would hope the Board President is learning from the Property Manager’s leading of the meeting and can, at some point, resume the duties of running the meeting. Running a Board meeting is such a rudimentary duty of being Board President that I would have to question the long-term leadership ability of a Board President who wasn’t eventually up to the task. All the best!
This is a dangerous practice in my opinion. I live in a condominium where the property manager not only runs all meetings, elections and approves all expenditures also signs and approves their own perpetual contract. Having an outside special interested party run things is like stepping into quicksand to see if you really will sink. It’s too late to get out once you’ve drown.
I would suggest the new and actually all board members be given and required to read one of the many manuals available for helping directors learn and understand their responsibilities and duties to their community.