Board Meeting Participation and the Evolution of Being 'Present'

March 9, 2015 — Serving on a board, not even necessarily as its president, requires a lot of time and work. Because it can be a very demanding role, you often, though not exclusively, see board members who have retired from their fields and can dedicate themselves to the smooth running of their buildings. One of the perks of being retired, however, is the ability to take a look at New York in the winter and say bye-bye to treacherous sidewalks and mucky slush pools. And if you had the means, wouldn't you take off to Florida or warmer climes while this nuisance weather finally gives way to spring? Well, that's what one board member in a New York City co-op does. He regularly takes a three-month trip to Florida during the winter. Lucky fellow! But here's the thing. Despite being on a holiday, he doesn't shirk his board-related responsibilities. So when the board has a meeting, he participates via conference call. And understandably, because he could easily be difficult and simply be absent, he is listed as "present" when he calls in. It's clear that someone on the board has an issue with marking him present, because one of his fellow board members writes to Ronda Kaysen in this week's "Ask Real Estate" column in The New York Times: "A neighbor suggested including him in the meeting through Skype" and he wonders whether doing so "is this truthful and legal." No good deed goes unpunished, eh? Well, Kaysen astutely recognizes that although the board member may not be physically present, it sure "sounds as if he is there in spirit." She adds that Skype is a terrific idea, offering real-life examples showing how others use video conferencing effectively, and noting that it would be an improvement over a conference call particularly if there are ever any presentations with visual aids. "Unless the proprietary lease expressly forbids conference calls as a method of conducting board meetings, it would not be untruthful to count him present, so long as he can hear the other board members throughout the meeting," concludes Kaysen. "Present means participating," adds Robert J. Braverman, a lawyer who represents condo and co-op boards, who's had to resort to video conferencing himself. It's a brave new world, and some flexibility is to be considered as we adapt to a changing landscape where people have busier and busier schedules — until we figure out that cloning thing, anyway.