DATE: Saturday, July 26, 1997               TAG: 9707240282

SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY      PAGE: 34   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: COMMON GROUND 

SOURCE: G. ROBERT KIRKLAND and MICHAEL INMAN 

                                            LENGTH:   72 lines

WHAT ABOUT GOSSIPY BOARD MEMBERS?

Q. We have a couple of board members who tend to go out to their particular constituents in the community and talk about what happened at the board meeting and who said what to whom about what or whom. That conduct often results in the fostering of ill feelings about other board members by these constituents. This leads to disharmony and often lack of progress on different issues.

What can we do to get these board members to ``button up'' and respect the need for some level of confidentiality on the part of board members? These offending members often take things out of context and engage in selective listening, not to mention selective reporting.

A. Some readers are probably already saying, ``How can you do anything about it when board meetings are open to anyone to attend?'' This would seem to validate the right of the board members to go out and repeat anything they wish about what went on at the meeting as long as it's not something that occurred or was stated in a closed session, which is permitted by the Condominium Act and the Property Owners Association Act.

But there is a difference between getting information first-hand as a homeowner attending a board meeting and getting it filtered or otherwise diluted by repetition by a board member. If a homeowner is interested in the issue being discussed at a meeting, he or she should attend the meeting and listen to all sides of the debate.

Often an issue comes before the board that has the potential for being, or already is, a controversial matter. In these situations, different board members may have opposing opinions. The board can function properly only if each member feels free to express his beliefs. Thus, board members must respect one another's views and not run back to some of their neighbors with comments like, ``You can't believe what so-and-so said.''

No valuable input is going to be obtained from a homeowner who is informed of half the facts by a board member who intends to vote on an issue at the next meeting. This is not meant to imply that controversial issues should not be discussed with homeowners so that the board members can get a feeling for the will of their constituents.

Important controversial issues deserve investigation and debate and all persons who are going to make the decision, i.e. board members, should be present for the entire debate so that all pros and cons can be heard and deliberated on before a vote is taken. This is the only way to insure reasonable good decisions for the benefit of the homeowners.

Where an issue to be discussed and decided is particularly complex, such as a maintenance project whereby the board has to rely on expert opinions and review a variety of bids, it is relatively important for the members not to discuss that particular issue with the folks who are not willing or able to become fully educated on the issue and its pros and cons.

Also, for boards to function effectively, the members must feel free to openly and candidly express their opinions. Conduct as described in the question only defeats the reasonable expectation that every word uttered will not be repeated to others. Board members should show their colleagues the respect and confidence that they would want shown to them. It is normal and healthy for board members to have different points of view on the same issue. Hard controversial decisions need not have or create discord so long as each side respects the other's opinions and statements.

Therefore, the only thing you can do perhaps to facilitate some change of conduct on the part of the board members you have described is to give them a copy of this column and hope they take some of it to heart. We wish you the best in your future endeavors. MEMO: G. Robert Kirkland, president of a Virginia Beach property

management consulting firm, and attorney Michael A. Inman specialize in

Virginia community association issues and are affiliated with the

Southeastern Virginia chapter of the Community Associations Institute.

Send comments and questions to them at 2840 S. Lynnhaven Road, Virginia

Beach, Va. 23452. To submit questions by phone, call 430-3381; by fax:

431-0410; by E-mail (turk(AT)norfolk.infi.net).

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