Disgruntled Owner Runs for Board Seat, Defames Current Board Members in the Process

Dear Mary:

I’m concerned that our annual meeting and board election is going to get ugly. A disgruntled owner is running for a seat. He knows nothing about operating the building, but complains about everything nonstop. And not in a constructive way. He defames the board, accuses us of malfeasance, and positions himself as the building’s “savior.” His candidate bio is filled with outright lies and baseless accusations. Do we have to include it in the packet we send to owners? Do we have to let him talk at the meeting?

--Concerned in Canarsie

Dear Concerned:

At this point, you might be thinking: “Can someone remind me why I volunteered to be on the board?” This kind of conflict is probably not what you had in mind!

Ideally, you’ve been following the kind of advice you typically see in this column. Communicate transparently and frequently. Show respect to residents. Manage expectations and keep promises. That’s an approach that lets you build a trusting relationship with owners.

If you do have that trust, owners are likely to believe you rather than this candidate’s baseless accusations. Don’t have trust? This is your wake-up call to work on it! But you still have an immediate problem. Here are some things to consider no matter what your situation.   

Get legal guidance. First and foremost, you should speak to your building’s attorney. You must protect the building, yourself and other board members. Whatever you do, you need to be on solid legal ground.

Commit to fairness and consistency. With a minor exception (see below), don’t treat this candidate differently from incumbents. Nor is this the time to make substantive changes to existing processes. You don’t want anyone to be able to accuse you of favoring incumbents or erecting barriers targeted at insurgent candidates.

Plan to include his bio. If he missed the deadline for submitting a statement, you don’t have to include it. Otherwise you should— assuming you’ve also held your incumbent candidates to the same rules. If you waived the deadline for anyone, you must waive it for all.

Manage the length. Did this candidate submit a bio the length of the Unabomber’s manifesto? Not OK. If you haven’t already, provide all candidates with a statement template to use. Enforce margins, font and type size.

Deal with egregious language. If any candidate included profanity in their statement, you should make them resubmit an edited version. But if the issue is that the language seems to defame the board, speak to your attorney. They will give you guidance as to whether it’s possible or advisable to demand edits. It probably isn’t.

Let him speak at the meeting. Just as you manage the length of written bios, do the same for the spoken statements at the meeting. Everyone should keep it short: no more than 2-3 minutes. Exception: consider giving an extra 1-2 minutes to any first-time candidate, including this one. But remember: no one wants to hear speakers go on and on with personal attacks. The audience is counting on you to manage this meeting.   

Don’t get into a flame war. At the meeting, don’t act defensively, don’t get personal, and don’t attempt to counter every baseless accusation. Instead, focus on calmly presenting your own (truthful) version of what’s going on. Make sure all incumbent candidates do the same.

It’s discouraging when an owner takes this nonproductive approach. Keep your cool at the meeting and try the suggestions above. And when the election is over, redouble your efforts to build trust with owners. It’ll pay off!