Condo Media - August 2014 - 31

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topics boards should discuss privately,
but it's a short list:
* Ongoing, pending, or potential
litigation
* Any information covered by the
attorney-client privilege
* Personnel matters
* Contract negotiations
* Collections, rules enforcement, or
other issues involving residents that
might compromise their privacy.
The board's operations should be as
transparent as possible. When an executive session is required, the person chairing the meeting should brieﬂy explain the
purpose to owners attending the open
meeting. The board's minutes should also
note the decision to go into executive
session and summarize brieﬂy any actions
taken in it, noting, for example: "The
board discussed a management contract
and revised its terms," or "the board's
attorney described the pros and cons of
mediating a dispute with an owner."

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6

Who should take the minutes
at board meetings, and what
should they include?
Industry executives differ on the best
approach. Some managers think they
should be responsible for minutetaking to ensure that they are recorded
accurately and produced quickly. Others say the manager's job is to provide
advice, respond to questions, and
understand the board's concerns and
priorities - hard to do if the manager
is also taking notes on the discussion.
The "right" answer to this question is
the one that boards and their managers
decide works best for them.
Unlike the question of who should
prepare the minutes, there is little
disagreement on what they should
contain. The industry rule-of-thumb:
"Minutes aren't hours," meaning that
they should be a concise summary of
issues discussed and actions taken, not
a verbatim transcript of the proceedings. Association attorneys will tell you
that the details boards include in their
minutes are far more likely to create

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CONDO MEDIA * AUGUST 2014

31
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