In most buildings and associations, it’s often a challenge to find residents willing to serve on their board. The reasons for this are well-documented; board service takes time, energy, and diplomacy that the average shareholder or unit owner may be unable or unwilling to invest on a volunteer basis. Rather than get deeply involved, they opt out entirely, trusting that neighbors with more time and expertise will step up. 

This pattern not only leaves the governing of the community up to a small handful of its members, but makes those members’ job all the more difficult for having to wear multiple hats and juggle everything from managing the lobby renovation project to planning the annual holiday party. 

Divide & Conquer

One potential solution for both the problem of resident apathy and that of overburdened boards is to make use of committees. Appointing smaller groups of board members, non-board residents, or a combination of both can help take some tasks off the board’s plate while encouraging residents to take a more active role in their communities and get a first-hand taste of how things work from the inside.  

Appointing a special committee whose focus is on a specific, tightly-defined mission “really helps streamline a project,” says Joe Magid, an account executive at Maxwell-Kates, Inc., an Associa company based in New York. “You don’t have to get into all the details again,” and it’s a great way for residents who aren’t ready to run for a board seat but want to lend a hand to contribute to their community.  

But to be successful, a committee needs a few key things—among them a defined assignment, an open channel back to the board, and members willing to do the work. Without those, delegation of tasks can produce just another set of meetings and another source of demands on the property manager.

Which Jobs Belong There?

Committees can take on recurring work, or a single project. For instance, a finance committee might be tasked with doing research for an underlying mortgage refi, or weighing the need for an assessment, while a decorating committee might narrow down the paint and upholstery choices for a lobby renovation before the whole board considers them and makes the final decision.

Stuart Halper, vice president and co-owner of NYC-based Impact Real Estate Management Inc., has seen finance committees work particularly well when a co-op needs to refinance its underlying mortgage. 

“Two or three people can research lenders and collect bids with the managing agent, rather than asking every director to make every call,” he says. “I’ve also seen small interview committees meet prospective co-op buyers and report back to a board whose seven or nine members would struggle to schedule every interview together.”

While a standing finance or admissions committee does recurring work, other committees are formed to see a single project through to completion, and then disband. Either way, the purpose of the group and the scope of their tasks should be made clear to both the committee members and to the board they’re reporting to. 

“Standing committees are created for recurring issues such as interviews or communications,” says David Berkey, a co-op and condo law attorney and partner at Gallet Dreyer & Berkey. “In all cases when a committee is created, the board should specify the types of issues the committee is created to review and report to the board about.” 

At Magid’s seven-member condominium, the construction committee keeps tabs on all major capital work, while a legal committee tracks any ongoing legal matters. That means on a construction job, such as a recent water tower renovation project, the manager and engineer can brief the smaller group as work progresses, rather than convening the entire board, or forcing one board member or the manager to receive the information and then disseminate it to everybody else. 

“If a change order arises, the committee already knows the project history and can explain its recommendation to the board,” he says. 

At another property, Magid notes a co-op undertaking some sidewalk vault work has an engineer and a designer among the board members following the project. “They can read drawings and change orders without needing an introduction to each document,” he says.

Some jobs need more enthusiasm than formal technical training. Josh Koppel, CPM, president of H.S.C. Management Corp. in Mount Vernon, New York, recalls a gardening committee at a two-building property in Harlem whose large courtyard had been redone. 

“I’ve seen gardening committee volunteers use a board-approved budget to select and install plantings themselves,” he says. “Lobby and hallway decorating committees can similarly involve residents who have a useful eye and the patience to compare options.”

And not every building needs the same structure when it comes to committee appointments and assignments. Indeed, sometimes breaking out into committees can be counter-productive. Koppel notes that in a 12-unit property, having too many people weighing in on a small task could mean that task never gets done (or never gets done satisfactorily), while a 100- or 200-unit building might benefit greatly from appointing a maintenance committee. “One resident can keep a record of problems and relay them to management, instead of having dozens of residents separately approach the superintendent,” he says.

Still, finding actual volunteers who will actually show up is harder than drawing up a committee list. At a recent client community board meeting, for example, Koppel suggested establishing a group to raise money for new decorations after the building’s holiday lights stopped working. The board liked the idea, he says, but he isn’t sure anyone will actually take it on.

Start With the Authority

Before inviting residents to join a committee or assigning it powers, a board should consult its governing documents to make sure it actually has the ability to do so.

“Most documents permit an executive committee and other groups,” says Berkey, “but their provisions can differ. If a co-op’s bylaws do not authorize the desired committee, the board may need to amend them accordingly. In a condominium, adding an unprovided-for committee may require a supermajority of unit owners to amend the bylaws.”

The three-member rule Magid describes at one condo illustrates why the particulars matter: The building’s bylaws call for the board to appoint at least three members to any committee, and to vote to adopt a resolution spelling out the scope and purpose of the committee’s powers. For example, it may allow the construction committee to handle project scheduling questions, or to approve expenditures below a specified dollar threshold, while requiring larger costs to be considered and approved by the full board. Other communities’ documents may spell out different parameters and protocols for establishing and empowering committees.

Berkey draws a further distinction between researching a choice and making one. For example, if a co-op’s bylaws require the board to approve the sale of shares and assignment of the proprietary lease, an interview committee can meet applicants and recommend approval or rejection, but it cannot take the final vote. A board may have more room to delegate lower-stakes decisions about groundskeeping or interior decoration when its documents do not reserve those decisions to the full board. Regardless of how power is allocated, it must be decided and understood exactly where that authority begins and ends. 

“In all cases when a committee is created, the board should specify the types of issues the committee is created to review and report to the board about,” Berkey says. The board should also delineate the committee’s decision-making authority, its size and composition, expected duration, and its first chairperson. Those details give committee members a job description and give the manager a way to verify that a request is coming from someone empowered to make it.

Membership matters, too. Berkey advises verifying whether your bylaws require committee members to be directors, or whether non-board residents can serve as well. Either way, he says, the chair generally should be a board member. Where the documents restrict formal membership, a board can still invite a non-board shareholder or unit owner with relevant expertise to participate, just without a vote. He also notes that anyone reviewing personal or financial material needs to understand the legal obligation to keep that information confidential.

Make Room for Residents

A committee appointment can be a practical way for boards and residents alike to find out whether a community member might be interested in taking a larger role in building governance. Halper says he looks for residents who care about the property, have time to show up, and bring expertise the board may lack. For instance, a finance professional may be a huge help in assessing lender proposals, while a master gardener may contribute their passion and talent to beautify their building’s outdoor common areas.    

In the end though, willingness to listen counts as much as credentials. “[Committee participation is] a great methodology to bring in and to cultivate potential new board members,” Halper says. “Working on a defined task lets residents see how the board and management operate, while directors see how prospective colleagues handle disagreement and deadlines.”

Streamline Communication

The board should settle the committee’s charge before its first meeting, and ask itself several important questions: Does the committee have a budget? What information can it request? Can it authorize any expenditure, or only recommend one? If the committee is tasked with submitting a report to the full board, when is the report due? 

Magid urges drafting a clear agenda for each meeting, with decisions and unresolved questions recorded as the meeting progresses. That helps keep the discussion of a boiler project from turning into a sprawling, open-ended debate about every aspect of the building.

Berkey also stresses the importance of limiting the lines of communication between committees, management, and the board. He says the committee chair should act as the group’s spokesperson, rather than having multiple—and possibly conflicting—threads coming from multiple committee members. Similarly, when an outside professional, like a contractor or service provider, is involved, Magid advocates for boards using the relevant committee as their channel for questions and updates. This spares the engineer or project manager from having to take time away from the actual project to field separate, repetitive requests from every board member. 

And because information has to move in both directions, it’s important for boards to provide committee members with the information they need to do the job they’ve been assembled to do. Koppel has seen committees undertake projects without fully understanding their building’s finances, only to find that the proposed work costs far more than the board can spend. Likewise, Halper notes that a committee’s grasp of its budget is often the difference between an actionable recommendation and work the board cannot move on. 

Of course, even a well-defined assignment can go sideways. Magid recalls a committee of four board members overseeing an oil-to-gas boiler conversion. 

“Even without having the relevant technical backgrounds to do so, they examined every detail at length, instead of letting the engineer and managing agent manage the work,” he says, “and this slowed down approvals. The committee’s role was to follow progress and advise on changes, not redo the professionals’ jobs.”

Clearly defined roles and parameters can also prevent committees from exceeding their authority, disclosing confidential information, or pursuing personal financial interests in the course of their membership. Halper reiterates the importance of explaining those boundaries at the outset and removing a member who will not respect them. 

The most effective committees leave a board better informed and residents more invested, without obscuring who is accountable for final decisions and outcomes. A courtyard planting, a lender search, or a capital project review can give willing neighbors a manageable place to start. Koppel’s advice to those who take it on is direct; “Communication’s always key,” he says. “Don’t be afraid to share the information. Don’t be afraid to get people’s ideas.”

Keith Loria is a freelance writer and contributor to CooperatorNews.