RECALL WITH AN INTERVENING ELECTION

RECALL WITH AN INTERVENING ELECTION

QUESTION: Less than sixty days before our annual meeting a group of homeowners submitted a petition to recall the existing board. As required by statute, the board gave notice of a special meeting. It will take place a month after the annual meeting. Under the circumstances, what is the effect of the petition?

ANSWER: In my opinion, it's voided by the intervening election.

Pre-Election. Recall petitions submitted close to an annual meeting are the most ill-conceived kinds of petitions. The petitioners should have their heads examined. If a recall is held prior to the annual meeting and is successful, the new directors only fill the remaining terms of the ones they replaced. That means they may be up for reelection in thirty days. It's a huge waste of time and money.

Post-Election. If the recall is scheduled to follow the annual meeting (as you described), the petition is no longer valid. The board for which the petition was submitted no longer exists. Even if the same directors are elected, it's a new board with new terms in office. If the petitioners want to recall the newly elected board, they need to submit a new petition (and then explain why members should recall the board they just elected).