Hi All,
The President of UCO has issued a decree, closing UCO Committee meetings to the Unit Owners of Century Village. This action was taken Sui Generis, without approval of the Board of Directors.
This is an egregious arrogation of power for which there is no precedent or authority in the UCO Bylaws.
On the contrary, it is stated in the Bylaws that the Sunshine Laws shall be used as a guide as regards Committee meeting attendance.
In order to rectify this offront; Randall Borchardt has drafted a resolution of clarification of the exact intent of the Sunshine Law provision in our Bylaws.
This resolution will be moved "From the Floor" of the July 11th. Delegate Assembly meeting on Friday.
All Delegates must attend and restore Democracy to Century Village.
Please print and publish this BLOG Post on all Association Bulletin Boards
Dave Israel
====================================================
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS CONFIRMING THE
MEANING AND INTENT OF THE GOVERNMENT-IN-THE-SUNSHINE
PROVISION OF THE UCO BYLAWS (ARTICLE XI, PARAGRAPH H)
WHEREAS the Board of Directors must determine for itself the meaning of its Bylaws;
WHEREAS the meaning of the "Sunshine Amendment" to the UCO Bylaws has been broadly construed, whereby the established custom of open meetings has been altered by a new policy without the approval of the Board of Directors of UCO;
BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED by the Board of Directors of the United Civic Organization, Inc. as follows:
Section 1: THAT the Sunshine Amendment to the UCO Bylaws requires that 1) non-exempted meetings of boards and committees must be open; 2) reasonable notice of such meetings must be given, and 3) minutes of such meetings must be taken and made available upon request.
Section 2: THAT the Sunshine Amendment to the UCO Bylaws applies to all discussions or deliberations as well as formal action taken by boards and committees of UCO, except for those meetings or portions of meetings specifically exempted by this Amendment. It is applicable to any gathering, whether formal or casual, of a quorum of members of the same board or committee to discuss some matter on which foreseeable action or recommendations for action will be taken.
Section 3: THAT boards and committees are permitted to adopt written reasonable rules and regulations which ensure the orderly conduct of a meeting and which require orderly behavior on the part of the non-members attending. This includes limiting the time and frequency that an individual can speak and, when a large number of people attend and wish to speak, requesting that a representative on each side of the issue speak rather than everyone present. In addition, the manner of participation should also be adopted as a written reasonable rule. The board or committee shall determine that non-members are permitted to speak to each agenda item at the beginning of the meeting, or in the alternative, prior to the deliberation of each item of business. In the event that items of business not listed on the agenda are considered, non-member participation shall also be ensured by the board or committee. Agendas shall be posted along with the notice of the board or committee meeting at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting. Voting by secret ballot shall not be permitted except for the appointment or dismissal of committee members by the committee itself.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
OPEN COMMITTEE MEETINGS, Critical Vote
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28 comments:
Could you possibly enlighten me as to the policies with regard to open committee meetings during the Weiss, Walsch, and Marshall administrations. Did they post times and dates of committee meetings and where they open??
To anon. Does that really matter now? The past is not prologue here.
I think the past does matter. If there is nothing to hide, why should it make a difference? I'm just trying to understand why now and was there a difference in the past.
This is about the 4th or 5th time a group of people have tried to undermine UCO. by asking for open meetings which would never work all you would have is look at any corporation in America. none of which hold any open meeting.
We learn from the past...we move ahead with the future...TRANSPARENCY is the word...let's be fair to all the people and allow them to go to meetings...
This is about the 4th or 5th time a group of people have tried to undermine UCO. by asking for open meetings which would never work all you would have to do is look at any Corporation in America. none of which hold anyopen meetings, Time and experence has proven this is the right way to run a Corporation.
When did George Loewenstein say that he was apposed to open meetings? This may be just hearsay.
I would like to suggest that BEFORE we go off half baked, that an attorney give us a written LEGAL opinion on the proposed resolution. Can it substitute for an amendment?
Phyllis Richland once wrote an article about malcontents in the village. Has she now joined that group? What do you think?
To all of the "Anonymous(es)"
The composite of villagers have
changed during the past 5 or so yrs. We now have owner's/residents
whether they be permanent or snow
birds, desiring OPEN Meetings,
( with applicable exceptions )
NOT PERMISSION, as is the current
policy..Each and every meeting,
translates into dollars and cents!
and guess who's picking up the TAB.
It is not the intent of most villagers to chastise current or
past Presidents of UCO...ONLY to
learn from past errors, eliminate offending elements,and introduce
a new concept - called "INCLUSION"
IS THAT SO BAD????????
Anonymous 2:02 and 2:14 are many noodles short of a casserole. Corporations do not exclude their Board of Directors (Delegates) from meetings. We have had Sunshine Law for 4 or 5 years, why are you babbling about groups trying to open meetings? . Kurt Weiss had open meetings for years, no problem, ask him. Phil Shapkin worries about anarchy,the only potential anarchist I’ve seen in the village is Phil Shapkin.
Its time to move forward, what is UCO trying to hide?
to anon 2:15 reprint from Ed Black, closed mtg ruling must have been June Delegate Mtg.---
"The Open meeting issue came up at the last meeting of the Delegate Assembly.
This Administration has continued to claim “TRANSPARENCY” while they issued this edict to effectively cease a practice that has been in effect since the Amendment passed with effectively unanimous support in 2003.
Basically, they reevaluated the “intent” of the Amendment without offering the required Amendment to our By-laws, thereby permitting 2/3rds of Seated Delegates to approve such change.
This seems to ferret out the concept of all in this Administration do support the President’s views as if he were KING GEORGE! The Executive Board did not vote against this change, or require the change be placed before the “Board of Directors”, (Delegate Assembly.) I believe this compels major changes upon us for the upcoming Elections in March 2009.
Why does he believe he may change the established interpretation of the UCO “openness” issue, for which he campaigned? This has been a “self ratifying precedent” that he now believes he may dissolve at will.
It would seem the “mandate” he declared after his reelection has truly gone to his head and now more than ever, CHANGE IS NEEDED.
It is time for Professional Management, so when the very limited staff, hired to serve this great community pulls such explicitly poor judgment into the public view, they may be terminated.
Thank you George for another demonstration of the “closed door policy” of your Administration.
Ed Black
Jun 27, 2008 8:56:00 AM
There are MANY condo associations that have professional management and they have the same problems we do. Professional management is not a cure all as some think. There are some lousy manager out there.
To bettyl
There has always been absentee owners in the village that rent out their units and have little interest in what goes on. Contrary to some views, open meeting will not solve the problem of owners not being interested in what goes on other than to collect their rents. We also have a group of residents who own multiple units for investment purposes only.
We have owners that do not rent their units, are here for only short periods of time and could care less about who goes to what meeting for what purpose. We haver a more serious problem with getting a keeping good officers with our associations. We have associations that have BIG money problems. We have associations that need to upgrade their buildings and need to raise the reserves. There are more serious problems to be solved than the ability to go to a meeting. Perhaps if some of the energy being spent on the meetings issue were transferred to other village problems this might be better place to live.
Anon 6:33 - WELL SAID!!
Out of 15 comments there are 11 hideamousers. Why
are you afraid of coming
out in the open especially
with an issue as serious
as this one. Your comments are not being taken seriously by many of us who
read the Blog. I am sure
you are going to say that
I am hiding because I use
the name The Nutmegger.
Let me assure you there
are many readers who know
who The Nutmegger is.
To bettyl
Not every meeting held has anything to do with spending money. Some meetings are down right boring. I would predict that even if some kind of open meeting conclusion is reached that the meetings will NOT be well attended. You have only to look at the monthly delegate assembly which is an open meeting. Has there ever been a time when all the delegates attended? NO. Has there ever been a delegates assembly meeting when the room was filled to capacity? NO. Has there ever been a UCO budget discussion meeting where the room was filled? NO. Open meetings is not a cure all contrary to what some people think and say.
to nutmegger. Some of us do not take much of the material on the blog as serious but consider it entertainment. Just because you use your name, WHICH YOU DO NOT,does not mean that you have more knowledge or insight than the people who post here anonymous.Frankly I do not know who you are and do not much care.
To anonymous 8:21-Shame, Shame on you. Do you not know that you are not supposed to question the "names" who post here either real or fake?
You cannot solve problems if you are shut out of meetings and do not know what is going on, and you do not want to help when you are not welcome. The people who want to go to meetings are the active problem solvers of the community and should be encouraged.
Of course there are no simple answers to complex problems, but open meetings and looking at professional managers are good steps, better than promoting being a helpless whiny defeated useless moaner.
Has anyone requested that they attend a specific meeting and were told they could not? I'm curious.
Even if no one goes to the meetings , they should still be open. One never knows when a concerned (dues paying) unit owner might want to know more about a particular committee's business. Politicians need to know people have an interest and are watching . Mike
Larry, note my post of 6/26 where I was cut off at the pass by being told that there were no meetings scheduled (straight from George).
I did track down the Infrastructure Mtg yesterday, I asked a couple of questions and then left so that they would not be accused of having let someone into their meeting, or have to eject me.
To Annoy's posted at 6:33PM,7:07PM
and 8:14PM.....APPARENTLY, YOU HAVE
MISINTERPRETED MY STATEMENT!
OPEN MEETINGS WILL NOT SOLVE APATHY, NOTHING WILL....HOWEVER THOESE INDIVIDUALS WHO WOULD ATTEND
SHOULD NOT BE REQUIRED TO ASK
PERMISSION, OR BE EXPECTED TO LEAVE
ONCE THEIR QUESTION IS PRESENTED.
ONE VALID POINT IS MISSING, WE,
THE DELEGATES, ARE THE BOARD OF
DIRECTORS,WHO AUTHORIZE UCO TO ACT
ON OUR BEHALF,AND NOT THE REVERSE.
WELL Said BETTY!!
No one at UCO should invoke powers they are not granted by the By-laws.
Open meetings are our right and UCO's responsibility... or should they resign so others may lead this Village?
UCO BYLAWS
ARTICLE VII
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF OFFICERS
A. PRESIDENT - He shall see that all orders and resolutions of the Delegate Assembly and the Executive Board are carried into effect and shall act in accordance with the policy statements voted on and approved by the Delegate Assembly.
IN REFERENCE TO OPEN MEETINGS--WHAT DOES GEORGE HAVE TO HIDE THAT WE RESIDENTS CAN'T KNOW OR BE PRIVY TO?
From the Desk of Phyllis Richland
You Are My Sunshine, My Only Sunshine
According to page 15 of the UCO Bylaws, paragraph H, the Sunshine Laws are used only as a guide for any and all meetings, with few exceptions: 1. meetings with attorneys, 2. Nominating and Ombudsman, 3. investigating prospective renters and or buyers and finally, issues relating to paid employees.
UCO must provide open records to its members, but open records is quite different than open meetings. Associations governed by F.S. 718 must provide both open records and open meetings. Chapter 617 which governs UCO does not mandate open meetings for committees. Our bylaws, that's UCO bylaws, say only the Delegate Assembly is an open meeting, which is our Board of Directors.
Any member of UCO, defined as a unit owner in good standing, can attend a committee meeting if invited by the chair or request to attend a specific meeting to discuss a subject related to that committee. After which the member is asked to leave so that the meeting may go on.
Policy of open meetings can be changed by the Executive Committee. Politics of a closed meeting could be a problem but there is no legal impediment.
UCO is not a Condo Association and is not subject to open meetings as per Chapter 718 F.S. Condominium Act, which governs Condo Associations.
UCO is not a governmental agency and therefore is not subject to the Sunshine Laws requiring open meetings.
UCO is a corporation not-for-profit subject to Chapter 617 F.S. That chapter has an open record provision, not an open meeting provision.
The rules governing the records inspection by members is very clearly spelled out in Chapter 617.1602 and 1603 F.S. This allows members to view the books and records of UCO with reasonable notice and proper purpose. See Millennium UCO Amendment Operating Agreement.
The rules governing the appointment of committees can be found in the UCO bylaws starting on page 6, article 8. Committees shall be selected and serve at the discretion of the President of UCO.
I have tried to explain as much as I could in simple language, so anyone seeking to attend a committee meeting can know what the guidelines are.
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