Club voting?

[Mike_Young]

How many of you are members of private clubs where members can vote proxies?  And with all of the new technology out there .....how many are members of clubs where voting procedures have gone to email, mail etc......

[SL_Solow]

Proxies are standard procedure at our club and at most with which I am familiar.  Very important on votes that require a minimum number of votes to approve; e.g. capital improvements.  We have not gone electronic.

[Bill_McBride]

Proxies are standard procedure at our club and at most with which I am familiar.  Very important on votes that require a minimum number of votes to approve; e.g. capital improvements.  We have not gone electronic.

Ditto at our club, traditional standard.  We had a lot of contentious meetings when deciding what to do after Hurricane Ivan wiped out both the golf course and clubhouse.  Somehow the board got the members to agree to a $10,000 assessment without losing more than 20%.  Now we are rebuilt and everybody is happy with the golf course, moderately happy with the clubhouse, and unhappy with current budget.  You can't win.

[JMEvensky]

Per our By Laws,no proxies permitted.Electronic voting was "interpreted" as allowable only for Board elections this year.My guess is we'll allow electronic voting for everything next year.

I can understand the push for electronic voting but I don't necessarily agree with it.Being able to hear/witness open debate of issues seems more informative than just an e-mailed set of issues on which to vote.I think I'd rather be "ruled" by the minority of members who care enough to come to a meeting and actually debate all sides.

I concede that frequently those who do show up have some problem with the proposal.

[Mike_Young]

Thanks....
OK  say a club has 1000 members...570 vote but out of the 570.... 295 are proxies....a major assessment of 6 mill and project passes by less than 10 votes.....what should happen?  do you go with it or wait the economy and vote again....

[Mike Erdmann]

Proxies are permitted in our club's bylaws, though no member may cast a proxy vote for more than one other member.   Elections may be conducted by mail, but not by email.

[SL_Solow]

We have always had an unwritten rule that we govern by consensus.  Generally major actions require a super majority which removes your issue.  However, I doubt that we would ever do anything important if it were supported by a small majority.  However, a proxy vote is the same as any other.  Members voting by proxy made a choice.  if you have been to club meetings there is usually a lot of heat generated and a lot less light.  A good board will distribute information well in advance and often hold informational meetings.  Thus the proxy voter has every opportunity to make an informed choice.

[JMEvensky]

Depending on your By Laws,if it's majority rules,you've passed the motion to spend the $6MM.

In practical terms,there's probably a good chance that some of those opposed plus some of the non-voters will resign.Presumably,this was factored into the financial projections and wasn't a deal breaker to the club's Board.

For a club to even think about $6MM in capital improvements/assessments in today's environment strikes me as unusual.To go through with it must mean either a very well-off membership or a suicidal Board.

[Patrick_Mucci]

How many of you are members of private clubs where members can vote proxies?  And with all of the new technology out there .....how many are members of clubs where voting procedures have gone to email, mail etc......

Mike,

Some clubs permit proxies, some don't.

Proxies seem more prevalent at resort/vacation courses

[A.G._Crockett]

I belong to a for-profit club.  They ain't asking/allowing us to vote on anything, by proxy or otherwise...