June 2021 Member Meeting: Bylaws Revision Vote
The 2021 HLA Member Meeting will be held outside of Rossi Hall on Saturday June 26 at 9:00AM. The rain date is Sunday June 27. All HLA Members are encouraged to attend.
In addition to our normal updates and elections, we will be voting on a revision to our Bylaws. The proposed Bylaws revision can be found below along with a link to the current bylaws. Below that you will find a brief history along with some additional context of this revision.
In addition to our normal updates and elections, we will be voting on a revision to our Bylaws. The proposed Bylaws revision can be found below along with a link to the current bylaws. Below that you will find a brief history along with some additional context of this revision.
| hla_bylaws_revision__2021_.pdf |
The HLA Ethics Policy for Directors & Officers (approved by the Board at the June Board Meeting) is attached below:
| hla_-_ethics_policy_for_directors___officers.pdf |
Current Bylaws can be found HERE
Bylaws Revision History and Context:
Our current version of Bylaws was adopted on August 31, 2019 and this revision of the Bylaws included limitations on board members who are real estate agents.
Shortly after those Bylaws were approved, a buyer whose real estate agent was on the board decided at the last minute to look at a property within the HLA. The agent, who had a contractual obligation to the buyer, showed the property, and only after an offer was made did she realize she had taken action that had not conformed to the brand-new bylaws. That started a discussion about the wording of the bylaws and if this section should be further revised as we made other, minor revisions that had not made it through on the first round of changes. In the end, both the bylaws committee and the board were split on how this section of the bylaws should be worded going forward. At that time, the majority of the board felt that real estate agents should not be on the board because of the increased likelihood of a conflict of interest but conceded that the knowledge and skill sets of real estate agents is also beneficial to the board. As a result, the board and committee chose to distribute two versions of revisions at the June 2020 Member Meeting for members to vote on at the August 2020 Budget Meeting.
Those previous revisions can be found linked below:
Bylaws Revision History and Context:
Our current version of Bylaws was adopted on August 31, 2019 and this revision of the Bylaws included limitations on board members who are real estate agents.
Shortly after those Bylaws were approved, a buyer whose real estate agent was on the board decided at the last minute to look at a property within the HLA. The agent, who had a contractual obligation to the buyer, showed the property, and only after an offer was made did she realize she had taken action that had not conformed to the brand-new bylaws. That started a discussion about the wording of the bylaws and if this section should be further revised as we made other, minor revisions that had not made it through on the first round of changes. In the end, both the bylaws committee and the board were split on how this section of the bylaws should be worded going forward. At that time, the majority of the board felt that real estate agents should not be on the board because of the increased likelihood of a conflict of interest but conceded that the knowledge and skill sets of real estate agents is also beneficial to the board. As a result, the board and committee chose to distribute two versions of revisions at the June 2020 Member Meeting for members to vote on at the August 2020 Budget Meeting.
- 2020 - Version 1 of the proposed bylaws says that a real estate agent can be a board member, but cannot be a listing agent or buying agent for neighborhood properties. If a situation like the one described above happens again, they would need to either have another agent take over the deal, or step down from the board.
- 2020 - Version 2 of the proposed bylaws was stricter: it simply states that real estate agents are not allowed on the board. At that time, a majority of the board recommended this revision, with concerns that Version 1 is not restrictive enough to avoid conflict of interest.
Those previous revisions can be found linked below:
| 2020_-_bylaws_revision_v1.pdf |
| 2020_-_bylaws_revision_v2.pdf |
In the message to the membership at the June Meeting, the Board shared: "This is a tough subject and the board is trying to make decisions to protect the association from issues in the future. This topic is presented only from that perspective, it isn't a reflection of performance by current board members, whatsoever."
At the August 2020 Member Meeting, the decision was made to postpone the vote on this revision due to the fact that most attending members had not reviewed the proposed revisions.
During the late Winter/Early Spring of 2021, the Bylaws Committee was reconvened to review the previously proposed Bylaws revisions. At that time the Bylaws Committee opted to simplify and strengthen the proposed bylaws to one version that includes an "Ethics Policy for Officers and Directors" that applies to all HLA Board Members instead of specifically targeting real estate agents. This revision and the proposed Ethics Policy applies a higher standard of ethics and decorum to all Board Members and seeks to protect the association and it's assets from self-dealing and legal risk. The Ethics Policy also defines a process for reviewing and resolving ethics violations. In practice, this revision and the associated Ethics Policy aligns closely to Version 1 from 2020 but applies that standard to all Board Members regardless of their profession.
The Board of Directors and Bylaws Committee both recommend that this version of the Bylaws is adopted at the June 2021 Member Meeting.
If you have questions about the proposed revision ahead of the June 2021 Member Meeting, please forward them to Secretary@Hiddenlakeassociation.com.
At the August 2020 Member Meeting, the decision was made to postpone the vote on this revision due to the fact that most attending members had not reviewed the proposed revisions.
During the late Winter/Early Spring of 2021, the Bylaws Committee was reconvened to review the previously proposed Bylaws revisions. At that time the Bylaws Committee opted to simplify and strengthen the proposed bylaws to one version that includes an "Ethics Policy for Officers and Directors" that applies to all HLA Board Members instead of specifically targeting real estate agents. This revision and the proposed Ethics Policy applies a higher standard of ethics and decorum to all Board Members and seeks to protect the association and it's assets from self-dealing and legal risk. The Ethics Policy also defines a process for reviewing and resolving ethics violations. In practice, this revision and the associated Ethics Policy aligns closely to Version 1 from 2020 but applies that standard to all Board Members regardless of their profession.
The Board of Directors and Bylaws Committee both recommend that this version of the Bylaws is adopted at the June 2021 Member Meeting.
If you have questions about the proposed revision ahead of the June 2021 Member Meeting, please forward them to Secretary@Hiddenlakeassociation.com.