Is the new 'abstain' Tabled?

WATCHDOG © 2011

Someone recently asked, "Do you suppose the new 'abstain' is 'Tabled?'" Hadn't thought of that but it seems to have been used a couple of times by a director whose previous voting record reflected 'abstain' frequently.

There is nothing wrong with 'tabling' something. If used properly, it is actually an effective way of disposing of a time consuming issue which may need further research, which may need to be sent to committee, or any number of time consuming reasons. Really, the monthly meeting should be confined to business that can be addressed in a timely fashion. One has to ask, why slam the Agenda when you know you will only have a 2 hour meeting? When the next Agenda has 9 tabled items in the general portion of the meeting and 2 tabled items under the 'Minutes' there would be little room for any 'new' business that may need to come before the Board because the meetings are only 2 hours and the portions of the agenda to be discussed which have been tabled will likely eat most if not all of that time!

It should not escape anyone's notice however that when you inundate an agenda with list of aggressive goals and you state that you 'are not inclined to conduct meetings longer than 2 hours' then you will create a meeting which will be largely tabled. So, what was tabled at the March Regular Board Meeting? Great question. It is time for a recap of the last meeting so let's take the Agenda and just proceed through it line by line:

Adoption of the temporary agreement for recordation of the Minutes by and outside firm. √

Jan 2010 Annual Membership Minutes [Address the corrections] √

Jan 2011 Annual Membership Meeting √

Feb 8, 2011 Reg Board Meeting - Tabled

Feb 19th, 2011 Adjourned Membership Meeting Minutes √

Feb 28th, 2011 Special Meeting of the Board --Tabled

Feb 19th, 2011 Annual Meeting of the Board --Not on the agenda *

Clarification on submission of items for a Meeting Agenda √

Director of Operations and Management Report √

Required Addendum to the Dir. Ops and Mgmt report --Tabled

Request for a Member to review the 2 Petitions submitted to the President from a member on Feb 19, 2011 to recall two seated directors. √

Responses from corporate counsel [we now have 2 to do the work one has done for 15 years] √

Action on tabled motion regarding current counsel --Tabled [it was tabled once on Feb 19; once on Feb 28 and once on Mar 12.]

Status of transfer of power to financial institutions and cost comparison between current and other institutions--Tabled

Website and Blog policies--Tabled

Cost incurred for 2nd ballot election √

Question about Dir. of Ops and Mgt sitting at the Director's table. -- Withdrawn [Now, this was an interesting one. The question was posed to the Board in written form and and received by the former Board. However, the agenda item came up under the authority of the new Board and the member who submitted the question did not require the new board to answer the question despite the fact that the Dir. Ops & Mgmt has been seated at every one of the 3 Board meetings they have conducted. The member clearly stated he wanted the 'old board' to answer the question. Reasonable assumption could cause someone to conclude that the member was not actually looking for an answer. So, what was the intent of such a question?]

Stable Demolition discussion -- Tabled

Petty Cash fund and policies regarding reimbursement to staff members who use their personal credit cards  for purchases for HSCA ** -- referred to the Finance Committee

Develop Search Committee to for new accounting services -- referred to Finance Committee

Establish Schedule for Water Board Meetings --- Tabled

Notification of members regarding board and committee vacancies -- Tabled

Appoint Committees √

Request to review annual assessment and monthly water fees --- Tabled

Submission of Tax Appeal for HSCA Ocean Park properties -- Tabled

Decision on proposal to sell coconut palms √

What is still outstanding but has not found its way to the Agenda yet?

Proposed By Law change that would address 'appointments' to the Board

Proposed By Law change submitted by election committee

PGV Presentation

Unfinished House issue

Sale of large equipment

Quotes for Pool remodel and ADA compliant restrooms

What does this mean for the next Agenda? Under 'old business' there will be 9 [tabled] items to discuss before ever getting to new business. Yet, we have outstanding business from Feb 8 that has not found its way onto the busy agenda. The committees have been formed now and it is a matter of time and having the different committees begin their meetings to move the business along. For instance, the two items for the By Laws committee should be taken up before any new business for the By Laws committee and referred on to the Board with recommendations. The changes under discussion relate to elections and should be done and out to the Membership with the mid year packet.

NOTE:

* Feb 19th, 2011 Annual Board of Director's Meeting. These Minutes were amended on Feb 28th to reflect something the video of the meeting does not support. When presented with the information so the Minutes could be amended to reflect the accurate record -- deflection from the discussion about the correction was made by accusations of infringement on proprietary rights, video being posted online, and then an attempt to convince one of the directors that Minutes were approved and agreed to by everyone when in fact the record does not reflect that. A motion was made to review the video before the next meeting. Once viewed, this will allow further discussion as to whether or not the previous secretary will leave the Minutes in question as they are or will request an amendment to correct them to reflect the actual record of that meeting. 

** For the years 2008, 2009 and 2010 the office staff have used their own personal monies to purchase goods required to manage and maintain the business. This is not because there are insufficient funds available but because the account that had been historically used for petty cash was frozen in January 2008 by the bank in due in part to the instigation of meddling members who were upset with the duly elected board and the power change that election brought. Other venues were investigated. The staff was always reimbursed as quickly as they wanted reimbursement. They were never asked to use their own finances. Now, the Board has decided to create a policy to dictate to the staff how they will use their own credit cards? The matter has been referred to the Finance Committee then on to the Board.