Boards Behaving Badly: What can you do?

Is it appropriate to fine board members for incivility? What is the process for censuring board members for inappropriate behavior?

A community association is a melting pot of residents of all shapes, sizes, cultures, backgrounds, and temperaments. Tolerance is critical. Encouraging residents living near one another to behave as adults is often impossible. Community leaders can set the standard by modeling behavior and adopting rules as to what is unacceptable.

Rules regarding speech are a challenge in the face of the First Amendment. Determining what is profanity or offensive is subject to varying interpretations. While a board cannot control what a resident says in their home or on their driveway, a board can control acceptable behaviors during board and annual meetings, town halls, and in common area facilities.

For example, a conduct policy should contain acceptable behavior for directors, as well as residents attending meetings. A board member behaving badly sends a message to residents that they too can act out. Threatening, hostile, and harassing language should be discouraged. Profanity should not be tolerated. Anyone engaging in such behavior should be warned or removed from the meeting if necessary. The policy should include fines following a due process hearing. It should be communicated regularly with residents.

Similar behavior in common area facilities and amenities should be prohibited, and the rules of use should include fines for violations of conduct or profanity.

Lastly, censuring board members can be effective. Make sure your board conduct policy includes censure in addition to fines as an enforcement method. Boards often handle censure in executive session. A fine accompanied by censure may be appropriate depending on the nature of the incident or whether the conduct is being repeated. It also may be appropriate to censure a director in an open meeting depending on the situation such as lashing out or using profanity during a meeting or acting inappropriately in a common area. Caution should be exercised here so as not to unfairly embarrass the director. Association legal counsel should be consulted prior to censuring.

Adopting CAI’s Civility Pledge sets the standard for acceptable community behavior and elevates the discourse throughout the community. It can encourage residents to tone down the rhetoric when engaging with neighbors who have one common goal — to coexist peacefully and independently in a quality shared living environment.

Civility starts with us. Take the pledge today.