I’m not sure about anywhere else, but here in north Georgia, there’s the slightest tinge in the air that promises the heat of summer is about to break and the joys of autumn are about to take the stage. Already, one tree in the forest behind my home has one branch with a handful of red leaves. School buses growl their way through the neighborhood each morning and afternoon, and for me, that means a return to the university and one of my places of joy and happiness, my own classrooms.
In preparation for the year, faculty always gather the week before classes start and have a slew of meetings for the university, individual colleges, departments, sub-groups for specialties that we teach, committees, and workshops in which we share the latest things that we’ve learned or discuss topics which are challenges we all face as citizens and educators. For instance, this year one of the bigger topics we’re all still wrestling with in the English and Composition world is that of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), such as ChatGPT, which can essentially spit out an essay when given a prompt. As you can imagine, there are a plethora of perspectives, opinions, and experiences among us. The range goes from being completely against it and that AI is the harbinger of the end of the world of intelligent thought and the creative process of self-expression to the perspective that it is an exciting tool and that we are fortunate to be on the forefront of discovery and invention in its use.
I present this detailed example because it is easy to understand how there are a number of different “camps,” so to speak, as to how our department, the university, academia, and the world at large should handle the challenges that GenAI presents. And this is where I present to you a model of what self-governance should be. Every time I attend a meeting and the parliamentary process unfolds, I feel a sense of pride and deep satisfaction. I feel more dedicated to the whole because I am part of that whole, on equal footing with everyone there, including anyone who holds higher rank in the hierarchy of management (note, not power per se) or those who have been there for decades. When you witness true parliamentary procedure in action, it is dignified and full of respect for what the gathering of people creates in our united goals and ambitions. It is true democracy, and it’s downright elegant.
Contrast this, on the other hand, with the procedures and actions of toxic and abusive HOAs, and you see a horrible disfiguring of what is supposed to be beautiful. It may actually make it worse for me that I witness and partake in a healthy and model example of self-governance, but I am then subjected to the whims of a group of petty dictators who need no training or qualifications than having bought a house in our neighborhood and who have absolutely no means of oversight or accountability. They are supposed to be accountable to the neighborhood, but they clearly do not respect that aspect of their position, and they clearly do not respect their neighbors and fellow citizens. As I watch the grace of true self-governance, I sit and seethe that what I am seeing is what self-governance is supposed to be in an HOA, and so very many of us are not allowed our proper rights and respect, again, not from an employer or a government body, but an ad hoc group of random members of the hoi polloi.
Here is what self-governance is supposed to look like. (For more information, see the resources posted at the end on Robert’s Rules of Order.)
The meeting begins, there is a welcome, and the minutes of the previous meeting (which have been distributed to all members after the previous meeting) are displayed. There is a motion to approve the minutes (that is, a detailed record of everything that happened, who said what, what the answers were, questions that came up, etc.). One person motions, another seconds. The head of the meeting asks if all are in favor, to which there are “ayes.” Then the leader asks if any are opposed, silence being no dissent. The leader declares the minutes approved and the meeting moves on to the next item on the agenda, which has also been distributed prior to the meeting with a request that anyone who wishes to add a topic to the agenda can do so. The agenda is followed to the letter and in order. When a topic seems to be exhausted, the leader again asks if anyone has anything to add or if they wish to present another point of debate or question. There is a pause, then the topic is closed, and the meeting moves on. At the end, the leader asks if there is any new business, meaning something not on the agenda that someone wishes to bring up, and it is discussed, and if more is needed, it is added to the next meeting’s agenda.
In the process of approving changes to legislative documents, such as bylaws, those are reviewed, each point explained, and the group is asked for feedback, questions, and challenges as the document is reviewed. If something comes up that requires more time, deliberation, and research than the meeting timeframe can allow, the motion is tabled, and the topic is discussed by interested or responsible parties in the interim before the next meeting. For emphasis, I will note here that these documents and changes sometimes are not just internal to the department. They can work their way up the chain of management to the university president, and sometimes to the Board of Regents for the state university system itself. In that way, a concern of a faculty member who started just a semester ago is heard and acknowledged by everyone in a position of responsibility (note again, not power, per se).
Compare this to toxic and abusive HOAs who hold closed meetings, who do not take minutes (let alone share or ask for input), who make decisions which could cost people their life savings and their very homes with no input or compromise, who tell resident attendees they cannot speak except to say “yes” or “no,” who schedule meetings at inopportune times or at the last minute because they know no one can or will attend, who do not have open elections and maintain control of the ballots, and who flat out ignore their responsibility and position to use it as a way to dominate others.
HOAs have been given too much power and have too little oversight and accountability to be trusted in their positions.
It must change.
The very reason we have government from the federal to the municipal levels is that people in positions of power and responsibility simply cannot be trusted to govern themselves. Of course, many people in civil service positions can and do act with integrity and ethics and likely don’t need that oversight. Yet for those who don’t, there must be a system of checks and balances to prevent them from causing harm, from committing criminal acts, and from abusing their position. It simply must be in place.
As per my fourth lecture, “Neither Fish nor Fowl, but Often Fishy and Foul,” HOAs can skirt the law by being a “private” entity. Courts and law enforcement brush off concerns as a “civil” matter which residents must fight essentially on their own in court, even though HOAs are corporations. Imagine any corporation or governing body acting in this manner. Yes, I know that they do sometimes, but when someone steps up and blows the whistle, or when an overseeing agency looks into it and discovers the discrepancies, there are consequences.
Not with HOAs. The only hope homeowners have is if they go to court and win (which drains their finances regardless, and unless the judge overrides it, residents are often charged the HOAs legal fees as well) or if they can convince law enforcement of actual criminal behavior, such as embezzlement, racketeering, and the like. Yet even that often becomes a legal battle the homeowner must fight, and it must be on the level of the Hammocks Community Association in Florida (story HERE) for any true authority to step in on behalf of the homeowners.
I have seen countless comments on social media boards and posted videos on the subject of HOA abuse in which internationals viewers generally respond with: “Really? How is this possible in America?”
Exactly. Isn’t this America? And aren’t democracy, freedom, and individual rights paramount?
The Founders created a system of democracy that included checks and balances among all governing systems (given all structures are subsumed under and subject to the Constitution), that no one branch of government is more powerful than the others and each can hold the others accountable, and that puts the rights of the people first. Even though boilerplate governing documents of HOAs pay lip service to this structure, in practice, they are allowed to do as they wish. In the very documents that declare they are subject to federal and state governing documents and laws, they will include a paragraph which allows a board to supersede those laws and revoke the rights of their American citizen subjects.
Again, it must be changed.
If you agree, you have to act. You have to fight. We all do. We have those rights. We must claim them back and demand them. Our state and federal legislators work for us. The model of governance I described above is exactly how governance at the highest level of this nation is and should be run. But that only happens when we, the people, exercise our right to speak and be heard. Otherwise, they won’t know.
It is up to us to make the change, to be the change. The more voices who join, the more they will be heard. It can feel like no one is listening or that no one cares. But as long as we keep seeking each other out, keep encouraging each other, and keep speaking, we cannot be silenced.
Together, we can do this!
For a quick guide on Parliamentary Procedure and Robert’s Rules of Order, see the link on my website under “Resources.” For more in-depth information, a google search returns many good results. You can find a website for Robert’s Rules HERE and a simplified version from Cornell HERE.
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(Any errors and omissions here are unintended. Corrections are always welcome!)
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