Your bylaws should outline the procedure. Typically Secretary is responsible for receiving all notices on behalf of the association, so you have to give the petition to her. The bylaws then define when the special meeting has to be called, typically within 30 days from receipt of the notice. Has it been longer? 
 
Association's attorney represents all members of the association, but the board is your liaison.

Put your Assoc.Secretary and Attorney on notice with a deadline for a Special Meeting to be called.Try to get more of your owners to sign the petition. Our bylaws stated 25%. Check your bylaws on the percentage required.

The key question here is "why do you want to remove Board members?" If they are doing a bad job, vote them out at the next election. By the time you get thru all the hoops of a Special Election, it will take just as long as waiting until the next scheduled election. 
 
I doubt the attorney will answer. While he represents "The Association", only the Board can approve payment.  
 

I don't think waiting till next election is necessarily more efficient than calling a special meeting for recalling the board of directors. Check your bylaws, as they may also allow the homeowners to call the meeting, as opposed to relying on the board to do so (although if your petition is valid, the board has a legal obligation to comply). Check your state's condominium Act for applicable deadlines, though they would normally be listed in your bylaws. Make sure you talk to all the other owners as well and get them on your side. 
 
If you call the special meeting yourself and distribute notices to all the owners, you are much more likely to hear from the board and the association's lawyer right away, as they would try to dispute the validity of your notice. I would not do this till you know the board is not going to act on your petition.

Please remember, every time you contact the lawyer it will cost you money! We had aunit owner do this and the back and forth cost us $1,200. Lawyers don't care if the board OK's payment. The charge! My experience is that lawyers and management co. act as if they work only for the board, and not the entire assocation. While it is true that they cannot talk to everyone all the time, it is, in my experience, the truth. Yes, the board is to act on behalf of the entire association, they are elected to do so, when dealing with lawyers, and management companies. It is too bad that when the association is forced to step beyond the current board that we get a bad taste in our mouth. 
 
 
 
Our association has been were you are, we called a special meeting and removed the entire board. We felt we had just cause to do so, and after recieving full disclosure of accounts, we did in deed. Good luck

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There are many avenues for removal of directors,with or without cause. Those avenues are through: 
1.Yours state's corporations code's index page for "Derivative Action" "Inspection of books and records by shareholders" 
2.Your state's small claims courts statute concerning complaints or motions for "inspection of books and records" 
3. Your state's civil code concerning "homeowners association inspections of books and records, mandatory books and records". 
4. Your own method of discovering financial irregularity by re-compiling your association's financial statement to detect embezzlement, commingling of funds, etc. followed by application for "Receivership". 
5. Let me know if you need research and drafting help?

A brave homeowner in the condominium association obtains his courage from knowing the law and knowing how to obtain sample pleading and notices from the Internet.  
A board member or officer of the condo association can appear to be menacing to a member of the Association for being able to fine and to harass fellow homeowner. However, a board officer and director has no bravery other than pretending to be brave. He or she or they are mortified and very worried if someone among the homeowner can show evidence of embezzlement and can show what laws are violated.

We went thru the process of collecting signatures from unit owners, sent the secretary the copy of the petition for the removal---to no avail---we then sent the unit owners our notice for the special meeting to vote the three board members off. Now the current president who is one of the three is stating that the meeting will be illegal.Any advice?

I answer the following message: 
"We went through the process of collecting signatures from unit owners, sent the secretary the copy of the petition for the removal---to no avail---we then sent the unit owners our notice for the special meeting to vote the three board members off. Now the current president who is one of the three is stating that the meeting will be illegal.Any advice? " 
I am guessing your problem to be your unable to make the board to comply with your notice or request for a special meeting. (According to most bylaws, special meetings can be called by either the president or 5 % of the homeowner. The corporations code may also have such a special meeting rule if your association's bylaws does not have special meeting rule. 
Next, I am assuming that your association's board have ignored your request for a special meeting, or that the homeowners are afraid to come to a meeting that is not called by the board, for fear of gossiping or retaliation against "Trouble makers", as the board call all those who oppose the board. 
Then, if that is the case, have you considered two more choices? 
(1) Gather all the monthly financial statements of say a year or more to add up all the income to make a total income for the period. Then add up all the expenses to make up the total expense of the period. You will have proof the the board have mixed or mingled association's fund with personal funds (another word for grant theft embezzlement)if you have found that the total expenses is greater than the total income, which means it is impossible to pay expense without money in bank unless the culprit(s) has another bank account to do that, i.e. his/their own. Also you can check the total income of a year or more and see if there is an amount uncollected. If so, is there an Account Receivable on the book to reflect that same amount? If not, the culprit(s) have siphoned income of the Association. 
The second method, or alternative, in addition to the above forensic accounting method, is to require the board to come to a mandatory dispute resolution meeting. That is a new laws on California condo (If you are in California), in California Civil Code section 1363.840 (Use the part of the section most helpful to you and tell the board your absolute right to call such a meeting). Another new law is to require the board to show "Enhanced" association records to prove particular items of expenses that you suspect to be overcharging or  
have not occurred at all, pursuant to Civil Code sec. 1365.2 
Disclaimer:  
You should verify the above with an attorney to see if I am correct. This is not a legal advice.