Creating a committee

Who can create a committee

Most committees come from a plain board vote, not a separate legal filing. A practitioner source describing this puts it directly:

"The board of directors of a community association may, subject to the association's governing documents, vote to form one or more committees that serve at the pleasure of the board."

Source: Creating Committees, HOA Law Blog, SwedelsonGottlieb

Check the declaration (CC&Rs) before you assume a vote is even the starting point. Some committees, most often an architectural review committee, may already be created and given authority by the declaration itself, rather than waiting on the board to stand one up. See Architectural committees for how that works.

How much advance notice a board must give before a meeting where it votes to form a committee, and whether that notice must be posted publicly, varies by state and by your bylaws. Check both before you schedule the vote.

What the creating vote should settle

A committee has no authority of its own; it only holds what the board that created it hands over. That makes the creating vote worth doing properly the first time. At minimum, settle two things in it, not just one:

Standing or special. A standing committee is ongoing and usually named in the bylaws; a special committee exists to finish one task and then it is done. Naming which one you are creating up front avoids an awkward conversation later about whether the committee is still supposed to exist. See Standing vs ad-hoc committees.

Advisory or decision-making. Most committees only recommend, and the board still has to act on that recommendation before it means anything. A committee only gets to decide things itself if the board specifically delegated that power. Say which one this committee is, out loud, in the vote. See Advisory vs decision-making committees and Committee authority.

If the committee's job is bigger than a sentence, write it up as a committee charter afterward rather than trying to cram it into the motion. See Committee charters.

Appointing the chair, and what if nobody calls a meeting

The same vote (or the same authority) that creates the committee also decides who leads it, by default:

"Whoever has the power to appoint members of a committee also has the power to appoint the chairman and to fill vacancies."

Source: Robert's Rules of Order Revised, Article IX, Public domain text

If the board does not name a chair, the first person named to the committee becomes chair by default. And if a chair is appointed but never calls the committee together, the committee is not stuck waiting:

"It is the duty of the chairman to call the committee together, but, if he is absent, or neglects or declines to call a meeting... it is the duty of the committee to meet on the call of any two of its members."

Source: Robert's Rules of Order Revised, Article IX, Public domain text

These are parliamentary defaults, and they only apply at all if your association's bylaws have adopted a parliamentary authority such as Robert's Rules. Many associations never do. Check your bylaws before assuming any of this governs your committee.