Condo Association Management Blog

The unit owners vote for nwenbers of the Board of Directors. Once that event is completed the newly elected Board then votesd on selecting their officers sych as President, Treasurer etc. Foes the bylaws specify what officers the board shouled encompass??

Owners do not run for a particular office, such as president. They run for a seat on the Board. Those who are elected meet and vote to decide which Board member does which job - president, secretary, or treasurer, and whatever jobs there may also be. These job holders are what are called officers.  
 
You say that you have a president, VP, and treasurer. You should also have a secretary to keep minutes to be responsible for Association records.  
 
Since your governing documents appear to be giving the Board the authority to determine who fills what office, not owners themselves, owners do not have the authority to change out the president and vice president. 
 
What owners can do are (1) remove members from the Board, but not from a specific office (2) sign a petition requesting what you would like. But that petition has no authority to require the Board to vote which person into which office. If your Board is unresponsive to the wishes of the majority of the owners, it may be time to vote in new Board members. I personally think that ten years is too long for one group to be on the Board. (3) You could amend your governing documents to give owners the right to vote for who serves in what office on the Board. To do so you would fist need to determine how amendments are made. This is found in your governing documents and state law. Ours require 75% of the total voting power to ratify the amendment, but does not allow owners to propose an amendment. The Board most propose it.  
 
Sometimes a brief consultation with an attorney can be of great value! 
 
Good luck. I hope this information was helpful, even if it did not give you an easy way to accomplish what you want.

To replace the existing board members just nominate another resident and hope they can get a majority of the votes. Our by-laws specify how long any one person can serve on our board.

We live in a 150 unit development with a board made up of five members; president, vice president, treasurer, clerk and member-at-large. Elections are held each spring and the two year term of members is staggered. For example, there were two vacancies this year. Owners interested in running for the board submit their nomination form about three weeks prior to candidate’s night which takes place a week before the actual election. 
 
Voters (owners) are required to provide their name and address on their ballots. This is so the property manager, who is responsible for tabulating the results can tabulate them according to each owner’s beneficial interest. There are five unit types in our development, each with their own beneficial interest. There is less than 3/100ths of a percent difference between the highest and lowest. Several, including me, have suggested we use colored ballots so as to eliminate the need for voters having others know who they vote for. Our Board president wrote back and among other reasons it cannot be done is it would be against the U.S. Constitution! Can you believe it? There are several changes that need to be made to our by-laws and this is certainly one of them. 
 
Once elected, the newly constituted board decides who will fill which of the five positions. 
 
In the event that a member cannot fill his / her entire term, the remaining members get to select the replacement. Yet another by-law change. 
 

In our bylaws in Farmington, CT, Article II deals with the "Executive Board" (comprised of 3 Directors)and Article IV deals with "Officers." Article III is "Unit Owners" and it includes "Voting" and "Quorum" and "Majority Vote" 
 
The EB elects the Officers among themselves and also may appoint other Officers as the EB sees fit. I was appointed Legal Officer of our Association because I am an attorney who became interested in Association affairs. But I don't make decisions. 
 
It's only the EB (3 Directors) that makes the decisions, not all the Officers. The EB is the responsible entity. 
 
Your Post indicates that you want to run a candidate for the Board - good idea if you want change! Prepare for the annual meeting by understanding the election process. Plan to get your supporters to the meeting AND study your bylaws with respect to PROXY VOTING. Know what it takes to win the vote - in our bylaws, the winning candidate has the most votes of total votes cast by 1) owners at the meeting AND 2) by PROXY votes. To obtain proxy votes, prpeapare a proxy form that gives you voting power for the election at the annual meeting. Knock on doors ahead of time and ask owners to sign a proxy for your as a candidate. Bring the proxy to the meeting and it's the same as having the person there voting for you. 
 
In our Association, the Director elections are "rolling," that is one Director comes up for election each year. After each election the EB should vote to elect its Officers. On other words, at each annual meeting, it's a Director slot that becomes available, not a President slot or a Vice President slot of a Secretary slot. Follow? 
 
Your main concern is to get a proxy form that is legally sufficient, so that the entrenched Director-candidate cannot legitimately call "foul."