QUESTION: Can I, as a director, invite our landscape contractor to a board meeting? I am concerned about the need to spend extra monies to plant a slope. The landscape chair and the president are refusing any access to the contractor's expertise or to allowing us to ask related questions of him.

ANSWER: Even if you invited the contractor, he could not address the board unless the board approved. Also, it's not fair to put the contractor in the middle of a fight between board members. You can raise the issue in an open meeting and try to persuade your fellow directors to invite the contractor as part of their due diligence.