I am very upset about the fact that a vote will take place at the July Delegate's meeting on new By Laws. I don't think we should have a vote until January when the snow birds are back. What is in there that has to be passed in a hurry that all would not have a chance to read and make their voices heard? This is just so like UCO. They forget they are there for us, not themselves and they owe it to all to wait until people are here. They just waited until sowbirds have left to ram some new ideas through.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
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24 comments:
Your point is WELL taken. UCO should wait until the SNOWBIRDS are back. WHAT"S THE RUSH ANYWAY. As a snowbird I am insulted by UCO and Georges tactics. We are part of C V just like the rest of the year-rounders. I think this should be re-thought and waited until January
Hi Grace
I understand your view, however should UCO cease to function during the summer season?
Truly any Corporation should be able to consider items that come up for discussion and that includes the By-law amendments. They must first be published in the UCO Reporter, and on the Century Village Web site for those who do not receive the paper by mail.
It would seem to me that every effort is being made to PUBLISH before voting so all interested Owners/Delegates may communicate and express their views.
Incidentally, any Delegate may attempt to change the By-laws, simply following the procedure in those very By-laws.
Passing any amendments does not stop discussion. That is precisely why changes do require discussion, from time to time. This too will be well publicized before ever coming to the floor, and was passed by both the Officers and the Executive Board even before being published. I believe all parties will agree the proposed changes are acceptable and will also pass the Delegate Assembly.
I will also say, if UCO required ever decision that must be made, to be delayed until January, the meeting might last all day……and would not be very practical, as all changes that, might we well be justified, would be put on hold for the marathon meeting January every year. No Corporation can effectively function that way.
Ed...That's your OPINION. There is nothing like being there at the time of a discussion and vote...even if it takes all day. Why then are condo associations meetings schedule in January and February because most all snowbirds are back and are involved in the discussions and votes. You setup meetings when it is convenient to ALL ...not just a few. It is easy for you to say because you are there all the time not like the rest of us. You can put all you want in the REPORTER but it is not like being there. Why is it so important to just have the meeting set for the summer time instead of when most are back during the fall and winter. So you think it is so easy to have it published and read when you are hundreds if not thousands of miles away and make a decision and expected to be honored by the administration. There is nothing like being there and face off to a discussion and vote in person. If January is not a good time ...you have from November until late March to schedule important meetings. I deserve to be there when IMPORTANT issues are being discussed and voted on. Not read it in the REPORTER and try to get my point across from far away. This whole issue needs to be re-thought to come up with a better solution so that the majority of us are satisfied. I will leave it at that.
I have read all of your comments and share your sentiments. The changes to the UCO Bylaws at this time are procedural in nature and that is why these minor adjustments are taking place at this time. There are many controversial issues regarding the Bylaws which I would not consider presenting for a vote until the fall.
A few of the controversial issues which will be addressed at a later time are establishing Executive Board term limits; that the Bylaws presently do not speak to the issue of whether an officer must first resign (in the middle of a two year term) in order to be eligible to run for a different office, i.e. a Vice President elected in an odd year being able to run for the Presidency in March without having to resign his seat in the middle of his two-year term; whether the President should be permitted the power to appoint the Committee Chairmen AND the members of the Committee; the presidential power to fill vacancies in office, even on a temporary basis, until either the Delegate Assembly approves the appointment or calls for a special election. These and other very important and controversial issues are being developed at this time and will take many months of discussions before they are ready for a presentation.
Feel free to email me at rvirginia620@bellsouth.net and I will send you a copy of the proposed amendments, as well a the two controversial amendments which were voted down by the Executive Board. Keep in mind that an amendment that fails at the Officers' Committee and Executive Board level are only recommendations. The Delegates have the right to address Bylaw issues regardless of how these other bodies vote.
Randall, why not post the controversial proposed ammendments right here? Or should 7800 residents e-mail you separately? Make it easy for me.
Don,
The amendments have line throughs for deleted text and underlines for added text. This website does not support such format.It is quite time consuming to convert the amended text to a color code and I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with attempting it. Again, email me... it just takes a minute that way.
In this community, where the majority of the assembled "zone out" after 10 minutes, into a topic
of discussion,this particular one
of the Utmost importance, could not
sustain hours of discussion. It would be interesting to know, how many "Seasonals" actually represent
their bldgs. From all accounts, it
still comes up short! Many do attend for the sole purpose of having a topic of conversation at
the pools, on the buses etc.....
A permanent resident..
Thank you Randall for your offer to send the proposed amendments to Anon. (chicken to ID themself). I will send you a personal request.
Too bad we can tell how many Anons. have responded to the commentary.
Hello Randall
The email address that you posted did not work. The mailer demon said it had fatal errors.
Please re-post
Thank you
Howard
Howard,
No wonder Elaine was the only blogmember to take me up on my offer. My apologies. I switched my service provider to comcast (over a year ago... Ugh).
rvirginia620@comcast.net
I have to agree lets say on 1-10 scale 10 being high priority? I couldn't
say wait until we return, however I can't imagine this, say also the golf issue it could be high but also we all should be present to give a vote. I also am confident with Randall, Dave, Ed, and a few others that we have a
good reprisenitives on our behalf, they at times may not come out on the prevailing end but will give us the complete interaction of what transpire
as usual thanks for all your involvement.
NOTE: THIS POST EXCEEDS THE 4,096 CHARACTER LIMIT AND IS NECESSARY TO BE BROKEN UP INTO A MINIMUM OF FIVE POSTS.
Proposed UCO Bylaw Amendments
The Officers' Committee and Executive Board have voted to recommend all of the following proposed UCO Bylaw Amendments. There were originally two additional proposed amendments, yet at the Executive Board level, those met with great controversy and failed to be approved. Each of the amendments held in abeyance will require lengthy discussion at a meeting of the Delegate Assembly prior to being formally published and voted upon. Briefly, the first called for term limits for Executive Board members, and the second clarified that a sitting officer is presently not required to resign in the middle of a two-year term in order to be eligible to run for a different office.
There will be numerous additional proposed amendments in the near future that will require careful scrutiny. Some proposed amendments are extensive and will inevitably be in conflict with existing provisions so that all cannot be given effect. They must be arranged in logical order so that when one amendment is adopted (and given immediate effect), other sections must also be changed in order to ensure consistency within the document.
The following amendments are not controversial and therefore will be voted on as a single motion. The adoption of this amendment “package” requires the affirmative vote of two thirds (2/3) of the Delegates present at the July meeting of the Delegate Assembly (provided a quorum is present).
FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS POST, IN SOME INSTANCES THE DELETED LANGUAGE WILL BE ENCASED AS FOLLOWS: ((( ))). IN OTHER INSTANCES
I WILL POST THE PRESENT TEXT FOLLOWED BY THE AMENDED TEXT. ANY AND ALL CONSTRUCTIVE QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS ARE APPRECIATED.
To be continued...
The 'transitional language' will be deleted. It describes the already completed election process which established staggered two-year terms for the four offices of Vice President. It is now obsolete and serves no meaningful purpose.
1) ARTICLE VI
OFFICERS
The officers of UCO shall be a President, four (4) Vice Presidents, a Treasurer, a Corresponding Secretary, and a Recording Secretary. Each of the Officers shall be elected by the Delegate Assembly to two-year terms and shall be installed in their respective offices at the Annual Installation Luncheon to be held in the month of March. No member shall hold more than one office at a time, and no President or Vice President shall be eligible to serve more than two consecutive two-year terms in the same office.
Each shall hold office until his successor has been elected and installed or until his earlier resignation, removal from office or death. The Vice Presidents shall serve staggered two-year terms. ((((such that the March 2006 election will have filled the first two such vacancies. Each Annual Election thereafter will fill the vacancies created by the term completion of the other two Offices of Vice President. ))))All Officers of UCO must be members of UCO, and be domiciled and reside in Century Village, West Palm Beach, Florida, for a period of not less than nine (9) months of each year in which they serve. In addition, there shall be the Office of President Emeritus. Such office shall be held, without election, by each retiring President during the first term of his immediate successor. The President Emeritus shall perform such duties as may be requested by the current President, with the approval of the Executive Board.
* * *
The Officers' Committee and the Executive Board have recommended that the newly asserted purpose of the Nominating Committee should be to compile a list of ALL eligible nominees and therefore should also change the name of this committee to the “SEARCH/NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE”. This proposed change in name and function would remove the 'politics' from the nomination process and be conducive to creating a more inviting atmosphere for volunteer participation. This committee would also actively search for UCO members who are “ready, willing and able” to serve on the Executive Board.
The present eligibility requirements to serve on the Executive Board can be found in Article X, “Executive Board”, of the UCO Bylaws as follows: “...members of UCO (“in good standing”); domiciled and in residence in Century Village, West Palm Beach, Florida, for a period of not less than nine (9) months of each year during the term in which they serve; and, must declare his readiness to serve on at least two committees.”
To be Continued....
2) ARTICLE VIII
COMMITTEES
B. NOMINATING COMMITTEE
(PRESENT TEXT)
1. In December of each year the President with the approval of the Executive Board shall appoint a Nominating Committee consisting of a chairman and ten (10) members. There shall be not more than one (1) member from any area. Not more than five (5) members of the committee may be members of the Executive Board.
2. The function of the Nominating Committee shall be to compile a slate of nominees for the election of a President, four (4) Vice Presidents, a Corresponding Secretary, a Recording Secretary, and a Treasurer, as well as the regular members of the Executive Board and submit same at the February meeting of the Delegate Assembly. They may submit more than one (1) name for any position.
(AMENDED TEXT)
SEARCH/NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE
1. The President shall appoint a Search/ Nominations Committee consisting of a chairman and not less than ten (10) members. There shall be not more than one (1) member from any area serving on this committee.
2. The function of the Search/Nominations Committee shall be to compile a slate of ALL eligible nominees for the various offices and the twenty (20) Executive Board positions for which elections are to be held at the annual meeting and to submit same at the February meeting of the Delegate Assembly. This committee will develop and implement a plan to seek out and encourage UCO members who are ready, willing and able to come forward as candidates in the annual UCO elections.
* * *
In the event that the Nominating Committee becomes the Search/Nominations Committee, then the report from this new committee shall be a list of ALL eligible nominees, and the criteria for nominations from the floor would be the same as any motion made from the floor, that of requiring only one second.
(PRESENT TEXT)
A. ANNUAL MEETINGS – The Delegate Assembly shall meet during February of each year for:
1. The report from the Nominating Committee of its nominations for Officers and Executive Board members.
2. Nominations from the floor.
3. Such other business which may come before the meeting.
B. NOMINATIONS FROM THE FLOOR – Nominations may be made by a Delegate from the floor at the Annual Meeting provided that:
1. The nomination is seconded by ten (10) or more delegates.
2. The nominee accepts the nomination.
3. Any nominee who has already been nominated for another office or for Executive Board membership shall openly decline one nomination and elect to accept the other.
(AMENDED TEXT)
3) ARTICLE IX
MEETINGS OF THE DELEGATE ASSEMBLY
A. ANNUAL MEETINGS – The Delegate Assembly shall meet during February of each year for:
1. The report from the Search/Nominations Committee of the compiled list of ALL eligible nominees for the various offices and for the Executive Board.
2. Nominations from the floor.
3. Such other business which may come before the meeting.
B. NOMINATIONS FROM THE FLOOR – Nominations may be made by a Delegate from the floor at the Annual Meeting provided that:
1. The nomination is seconded by one (1) delegate.
2. The nominee accepts the nomination.
3. Any nominee who has already been nominated for another office or for Executive Board membership shall openly decline one nomination and elect to accept the other.
To be continued.......
Current provisions contained in Article VIII, “Committees”, Section E., “Election Committee”, Paragraphs 3. and 4. respectively, are presented immediately below in order to demonstrate both the need for a clarifying amendment to Paragraph 4, and the need to reverse the order of the paragraphs in order to establish a continuity of purpose with the adjoining provisions.
3. Any member of the Election Committee shall resign immediately from the Election Committee should he accept a nomination to an office or to the Executive Board, and the President shall immediately appoint a replacement.
4. No candidate for office or member of the Executive Board may tally votes.
The following are but a few of the confusing issues regarding these two paragraphs:
Why would Paragraph 4 preclude a “candidate for office” from tallying votes if Paragraph 3 prevents him from even serving on the Committee?
Paragraph 4 only mentions that a “member of the Executive Board” cannot tally votes. Does this mean that a current Executive Board member (who is not running again for the Executive Board) may serve on the Committee but just cannot tally votes?
Officers are not ex-officio members of the Election Committee, yet these provisions do not speak to whether they may be appointed to the committee, tally votes, etc., if they are not candidates.
4) ARTICLE VIII
COMMITTEES
E. ELECTION COMMITTEE
(PRESENT TEXT)
3. Any member of the Election Committee shall resign immediately from the Election Committee should he accept a nomination to an office or to the Executive Board, and the President shall immediately appoint a replacement.
4. No candidate for office or member of the Executive Board may tally votes.
(AMENDED TEXT)
3. No officer or member of the Executive Board, or candidate for any such seat, or their spouse/significant other, may be appointed to the Election Committee. Only members of the Election Committee may tally votes.
4. Any member of the Election Committee shall resign immediately from the Election Committee should he accept a nomination to an office or to the Executive Board, and the President shall immediately appoint a replacement.
To be continued....
5) ARTICLE XIII
COMMITTEES
A. APPOINTIVE COMMITTEES
1. The President shall appoint such standing committees and such special committees and chairmen thereof as he may deem necessary or advisable. Any unit owner in Century Village who is (((((in good standing as)))))) a member of UCO may be selected to serve as a member of any committee. ...
ARTICLE X
EXECUTIVE BOARD
C.A candidate must be a member of UCO, (((((in good standing))))) and he must declare his readiness to serve on at least two committees in order to be eligible to stand for election or to be appointed as a member of the Executive Board.
* * *
An ex-officio member of a committee has all the rights, including voting rights, of all other members of a committee as long as he is also member of the organization. It could easily be misconstrued that a distinction is being made between an ex-officio member and an ex-officio voting member. Therefore, the word 'voting' has been deleted from Paragraph “A”.
Whether intentionally or erroneously, the Bylaws permit Vice Presidents to be ex-officio members of the Ombudsman Committee, yet has denied the President the same membership right. In an effort to eliminate this unwarranted inconsistency, ex-officio membership in this Committee by Vice Presidents is proposed to be eliminated.
In the event that the Search/Nominations Committee amendment passes, it will become an 'open meeting' committee, and therefore, the President and Vice Presidents should not be excluded from membership.
6) ARTICLE VII
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF OFFICERS
(PRESENT TEXT)
A. PRESIDENT -
He shall, ex officio, be a voting member of all committees other than the Nominating Committee, the Election Committee, and the Ombudsman Committee.
B. VICE PRESIDENTS -
…
Vice Presidents are ex-officio members of all committees, except the Nominating Committee and Election Committee.
(AMENDED TEXT)
A. PRESIDENT -
...
He shall be ex officio a member of all committees other than the Election Committee and the Ombudsman Committee. ...
B. VICE PRESIDENTS -
…
Vice Presidents are ex-officio members of all committees except the Election Committee and the Ombudsman Committee. …
To be continued......
7) ARTICLE XI
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
H. The UCO Sunshine Amendment
Section 1: The Sunshine Laws as promulgated by the Federal and/or State authority shall be used as a guide for any and all meetings with the following exceptions:
1. dealings with UCO’s attorney and/or any other official entities or third parties which are privileged, confidential or otherwise may be considered sensitive in nature; and
2. meetings of the Ombudsman Committee; and
3. meetings between UCO Investigations personnel and prospective new unit owners/occupants, Association Board Members, real estate agents, etc.; and
4. meetings to discuss issues pertaining to paid employees.
Section 2: 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 3: The Sunshine Amendment to the UCO Bylaws applies to meetings at which ((((((discussions or deliberations as well as )))))))formal action is 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 4: The Officers’ Committee shall be exempt from these meeting provisions in order to make the mundane and low impact decisions necessary to be made on a regular basis or to hold meetings for the purpose of information sharing and informal discussion on matters of importance; except, that the monthly meetings or Special Meetings or informal meetings on any matter that requires AND produces a final Officers’ Committee recommendation to the Executive Board and/or the Delegate Assembly shall be bound by the provisions of this Resolution. The 'unapproved minutes' of each of these meetings, except for meetings with an attorney regarding proposed or pending litigation, shall be (((((presented in written form )))))))reported on in detail to the Executive Board and Delegate Assembly on a monthly basis and be made readily available in written form at the UCO office; and
Section 5: 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.
END OF PROPOSED (NON-CONTROVERSIAL AMENDMENTS)
thank you Randall, I realize the time and effort that you just put in.
And the anon poster is correct- in a live meeting setting, most of us "spectators" would indeed "zone out" after ten minutes of unfamiliar language. Having something in print gives a person who is not accustomed to this type of language (me) something to chew on and the opportunity to get up to speed at ones own pace. I would feel stupid and inappropriate opening my mouth at the actual meeting, never mind that I am in Queens anyway.
A BIG THANK YOU, RANDALL, Not only for the tremendous amount of hours you have put into this but, also for your genuine concern what is best of the village.
BARBARA
Thank you for the kudos folks. You've gotta realize though, that I have selfish intentions... I just love what I do; every new day brings with it new knowledge which I can then am able to share with all concerned and interested parties.
Over the next few months, with the assistance of my Advisory Committee, I intend to draft Bylaw Amendments, many of which will be controversial. Sounds like fun, eh? What I need from my fellow bloggers are your well thought out comments and concerns as we all take the "Bylaw Amendment Journey"... together. Chew at your own pace. Being up North or wherever makes no difference at this time... you can be part of the amendment process wherever you may be. I cordially invite you all to be a 'member' of the Advisory Committee... a "committee of the whole" if you will, taking place right here on the Blog.
In due process, perhaps the now
"Executive Board" could become the
"Advisory Board" -- Executive Boards in common layman's terms have only been reserved for the top
5 positions..along with your proposed changes,which I endorse
and will cast our bldgs., vote accordingly, urge each blogger to
print/read/discuss/digest and re-read,inform your delegate to accept
these sorely needed ammendments!
Thanks Randall!
BettieL
Randall as always you have gone to the limits and for that I thank You.What I would like to comment on , for those residents who think the conversation is unfair cause you have no way of reading about, Randall is more then generous to put on the blog but a a few dollars the UCO reporter can be delivered to wherever you are.Just a thought.Once again Randall and the advisory committee. And alot of others that have kept us informed.GOD BLESS YOU ALL
In my rushed attempt to give you all a taste of that which is to come, I failed to offer you my soliloquy on "good standing" and why it needs to be removed. (Amendment #5)
It is proposed that the phrase “in good standing” be struck in the only two remaining sections of the UCO Bylaws, Article VI, A.“Appointive Committees”, Paragraph 1., and Article X, “Executive Board”, 1st Sentence, for the following reasons:
“Good Standing” is currently not a requirement for Officers but remains a requirement for Executive Board and Committee members;
"Good Standing" must be clearly defined in the Bylaws to be properly used (and it never has been);
The phrase applies to direct dues paying organizations who deny certain membership rights to delinquent members; and
Each Association is ultimately responsible for the payment of UCO dues regardless of the delinquency of a unit owner in the payment of regular assessments.
Love that search engine David. Here's "a blast from the past".
Nominating Committee Rejections
Is this committee exempt from an explanation as to why a particular individual was not given their endorsement, or is it "Business as usual" "Player or non-Player"
--------------------------------------------------------------
Your BLOGMEISTER replies:
Hi Betty,
I am taking the unusual step of inserting a reply here because this is a Pet Peeve of mine:
I sat one cycle as a member of the Nominating Committee, perhaps two or three years ago; and I was not happy with how it functioned.
--
I asked for the written criteria used in evaluating applicants; there was none!!
--
Then proceeded a totally AD-Hoc process with no real validity whatsoever.
--
Highly qualified applicants (IMHO), were eliminated because they did not agree with the Administration. This I found totally unacceptable.
--
The process is highly flawed and needs to be revamped or eliminated.
Dave Israel
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