Academy/Committees & Volunteers
Removing committee members
The board usually doesn't need a reason, but your bylaws might disagree.
In most associations, the board can remove a committee member the same way it appointed them: by a vote, without a formal hearing, because committees generally serve at the pleasure of the board. Check your bylaws and any committee charter first, since either one can require a different process or vote threshold.
The default rule: at the board's pleasure
Committees don't have tenure. A committee exists because the board created it, so the same authority can end a member's seat on it. There's no requirement to prove poor performance, a rule violation, or any other cause first.
"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
That means the same vote that created the committee, or added a member to it, can just as easily take a member off it. A finance committee volunteer who never shows up, a landscape committee member who starts negotiating with vendors on their own, either way, the board typically doesn't need a special procedure to make a change.
Who actually holds the power
Removal power tracks appointment power. Under the parliamentary default most associations start from:
"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 1915 edition
In most associations that's the board. Some bylaws hand appointment authority to a specific officer instead, often the board president, and where that's true, removal authority typically travels with it. Check who your bylaws name as the appointing authority before assuming a full board vote is required.
What can override the default
The at-pleasure default only holds if nothing above it says otherwise. A board-adopted committee charter can set its own removal process, for example requiring a written warning before removal for poor attendance, and if it does, the board has to follow its own document, not the default. Bylaws can do the same thing at a higher level, naming a specific vote threshold or a for-cause standard the board must meet.
Whether either document imposes a different process is specific to your association. Read your bylaws and any committee charter before removing a member.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
A landscape committee member has stopped showing up, and the board wants someone else in the seat. Absent anything to the contrary in the bylaws, what can the board do?
Your bylaws give the board president, not the full board, the authority to appoint committee members. Who most likely holds the power to remove one?
A committee charter says members may only be removed for documented poor attendance after a written warning. The board wants to remove a member for an unrelated reason. What controls?
Sources
- Robert's Rules of Order Revised, Article IX, "Committees and Boards", public domain 1915 edition
- Creating Committees, HOA Law Blog, SwedelsonGottlieb
Committees & Volunteers
Not sure your committee even has a written charter? See what one covers before you assume the default rule is all you've got.
Whether a committee member can be removed by a simple board vote or only through a specific written process depends on your bylaws and any committee charter the board has adopted; both can override the default described here.