To Zoom or Not to Zoom? Adapting to challenges during and after the pandemic
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he past 18 months have presented HOAs with several new challenges and more than one opportunity to do things differently and still be successful. The homeowners association industry was one that took quick action when presented with the issue of holding meetings in person during the pandemic. Direction came down through the state government that boards could not meet in person with shelter-in-place orders in effect, thus the need for an immediate solution. Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-29-20 on March 17, 2020. Paragraph 3 of the order provides, in relevant part: Notwithstanding any other provision of state or local law (including, but not limited to, the Bagley-Keene Act or the Brown Act), and subject to the notice and accessibility requirements set forth below, a local legislative
body or state body is authorized to hold public meetings via teleconferencing and to make public meetings accessible telephonically or otherwise electronically to all members of the public seeking to observe and to address the local legislative body or state body. In particular, any otherwise applicable requirements that… at least one member of the state body be physically present at the location specified in the notice of the meeting … [a]re hereby suspended. (Emphasis added) The Common Interest Development Open Meeting Act (“Open Meeting Act”) as outlined in Civil Code section 4090 et seq. is modeled after the California Ralph M. Brown Act and the Bagley-Keene Act (herein referred to collectively as the “Brown Act” for convenience), which are bodies of law that
require public and governmental entities to conduct business and discussions in meetings that are open to the public, in the interest of transparency. As such, the Open Meeting Act, like the Brown Act, permits a board to meet via teleconferencing, but requires that at least one director or another designated person (such as the manager) be physically present in an identified location where members can attend in person and hear the board discuss and deliberate on items of association business and address the board during open forum. (Civil Code section 4090(b)). Due to the shelter-in-place orders during the pandemic, associations ceased providing notice and a physical space for members to participate in meetings and began using remote technologies exclusively. This practice was legally supportable
California Civil Code §4090 – “Board Meeting” Defined “Board meeting” means either of the following: (a) A congregation, at the same time and place, of a sufficient number of directors to establish a quorum of the board, to hear, discuss, or deliberate upon any item of business that is within the authority of the board. (b) A teleconference, where a sufficient number of directors to establish a quorum of the board, in different locations, are connected by electronic means, through audio or video, or both. A teleconference meeting shall be conducted in a manner that protects the rights of members of the association and otherwise complies with the requirements of this act. Except for a meeting that
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ISSUE FIVE 2021 | ECHO journal
will be held solely in executive session, the notice of the teleconference meeting shall identify at least one physical location so that members of the association may attend, and at least one director or a person designated by the board shall be present at that location. Participation by directors in a teleconference meeting constitutes presence at that meeting as long as all directors participating are able to hear one another, as well as members of the association speaking on matters before the board. (Amended by Stats. 2013, Ch. 183, Sec. 10. Effective January 1, 2014.)
