Question: Our board, is dealing with a difficult situation. A former board member (Tom) has expressed an interest in being on the board again. During his former tenure, the board was totally dysfunctional. No small wonder. He is very aggressive, confrontational and difficult to deal with.

The current board communicate wells, works effectively together and uses these "Guiding Principles":

1. Place the interest of the community above that of individual owners

2. Enforce the rules, change or eliminate them

3. Try to achieve consensus with the general members on important issues

4. Openness and communication with other owners

Tom attends every board meeting and makes a point of challenging the board on a range of issues, many which are petty. He makes a point of critiquing the minutes and demanding they be changed. He has taken an inordinate amount of our time and energy. We are concerned about the prospect of him getting reelected and further upsetting the apple cart.

How have other boards dealt with people like this? What do you believe is the best response? How detailed do the minutes need to be? Do you know of a good "shrink" for beleaguered board members? Any other insight?

Answer: Your board is not alone in being harassed by a former board member. People that crave power feel frustrated when they don't have it. While members in general should be allowed at meetings, they are there to listen, not participate. So if Tom is interrupting, you can insist that he not or leave the meeting. Providing a Member Forum at the start of the meeting can allow him to vent but not interfere with the business meeting.

Limit him and others to no more than five minutes each. Do not allow him to commandeer the preset agenda by demanding the board deal with something. A response like "The board will consider what you have to say and whether it should be discussed at a future meeting" works.

Minutes are minutes not seconds or hours. They should memorialize actions taken, not discussions. If someone wants to discuss something, the chair should ask for a motion and second to see if two directors are interested in discussing it. If not, move on. Most meetings can be summarized in a page or two.

The board is not responsible for getting member consensus and trying to do so makes getting business done much more difficult. The board is elected to get HOA business done. It's fine to ask for feedback on an important piece of business but delaying action until everyone agrees bogs down the whole process and invites a malcontent to slow it down even more. Consensus sounds very noble, but unless you have an extremely harmonious group that all attends the meetings, it won't work and simply makes a volunteer board's job much harder. Do board business efficiently and openly but use the representative democratic approach. The board was elected to make decisions. Do it.

Responding to Tom's ongoing series of demands is not necessary when there is a pattern of harassment. The board could and should choose which items to respond to and when. The fact that he wants something NOW! doesn't mean the board has to give it to him now or provide it for free. Slowing down response time or selectively responding may help educate Tom (or not).

If you fear Tom's prospects of getting re-elected, you should promote the candidacy of someone you feel will be a better team player. If you do nothing, you may get your worst nightmare.

For more innovative homeowner association management strategies, see Regenesis.net.

Published: May 7, 2008

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws -- http://www.loc.gov/copyright.