VOTING IN EXECUTIVE SESSION

The authors of an L.A. Times article offered their opinion that boards could not vote on issues in executive session. Many disagree. If a board meets in executive session to discuss pending mediation and votes to authorize settlement within a certain dollar range, any vote on such matters should be done privately. To require that this vote be taken in open session would make negotiations impossible since the board's negotiating position would be published to the entire community. As the Court of Appeal noted:

It is no secret that crowds cannot keep them [secrets]. . . . "[o]ne can only imagine the sleepless nights an attorney and the Board of Directors may incur if privileged information is placed in the hands of hundreds of homeowners who may not all have the same goals in mind."  Smith v. Laguna Sur Villas Community Assn

Accordingly, boards can meet in executive session apart from an open meeting and can vote on matters in executive session, which are then generally noted in the minutes of the next open meeting (such as: the board discussed issues related to the pending mediation). Civil Code §1363.05(c)

Updated by ADAMS KESSLER 5/27/2008