Can our board president take on a responsibility without anyone knowing about it

Visitor Question: What happened in our neighborhood is very disappointing to me. It seems like our neighborhood association's board president told the city that the association would be responsible for developing and maintaining a few improvements on one particular block. He even signed something to that effect. These were things like installing new planters and benches.

While we can probably afford the money, I find the principle of the thing outrageous. I'm not the only one that feels that way. It seems like no one else I've talked to on the board knew he was going to do this. Is this the way things are done in neighborhood associations? Maybe I am just behind the times, but it seems like if there is a board and there are membership meetings, we should have been asked before he did this. What do you think?

Editors Reply: We totally agree with you. To answer your direct question, no, this is not the way things are done in a well-run neighborhood association.

A board president might agree between meetings to something that is a one-time occurrence, where there are no financial implications, and probably we would think that was O.K., especially if the project aligned with ongoing priorities of the board.

However, for a board president to agree unilaterally to installing streetscape items at the association's expense and maintaining them indefinitely is really bad form. Probably it is against your bylaws. We suggest reading your bylaws closely to see if they address how to remove and replace an officer, or how a situation such as this should be handled.

If your bylaws don't say anything helpful in resolving this matter, you will need to rely on good practice in nonprofit management in general. Depending on the rest of the board's relationship with this president, the board may want to request that the president resign.

If the board does not want to pursue that, then you should look at amending your bylaws to prevent such a situation in the future and to make your intentions crystal clear. You could require that no spending at all can occur without the signatures of two board members, usually the president and the treasurer. You also would want to say that no spending over a set amount can be approved without a vote of the board. Lastly, you also should specify that no agreements for permanent maintenance or upkeep can be made without the advance approval of the board.

Throughout this whole process, do your best to remain civil and reasonable. In a neighborhood, you cannot count on avoiding someone forever, so you need to attempt to maintain a relationship, while still letting the president know that the behavior was unacceptable.

It sounds as though you have talked with at least a few people about this concern; we suggest that you quietly determine who may be on your side before you bring this matter to the board as a whole.

If you find that most people on the board will not support any action, you could and should state your objection dispassionately at a board meeting and then let the matter drop, as best you can. But we suspect that if you take the lead, others will agree that this was improper conduct and agree that at a minimum, you must clarify your bylaws.

Should this be yet another sign of problematic behavior by this board president, though, it's time to change your leadership as soon as your bylaws will allow.

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