Rancho Cielo Home Owners Association
Your Ballot Makes a Difference
On October 21, 2024, ballots were mailed to Rancho Cielo homeowners asking them to approve or disapprove proposed Amended Bylaws for our Association. A Town Hall meeting was held on November 20, 2024 to provide homeowners with additional information and an opportunity to ask questions.
Nearly two years later, the process remains unfinished because the Association has not received the affirmative votes required to approve the Amended Bylaws.
Approval requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the Association’s voting power — 50% plus one. The proposed bylaws themselves retain that majority requirement for future amendments. 240815 Track changes and commen…
The purpose of this page is not to tell anyone how to vote, but to provide a brief explanation of the proposed changes and encourage every homeowner to participate.
What Would Change?
The existing bylaws were written many years ago, and much of the proposed amendment updates their language and procedures to reflect current law and the way the Association operates today. Among the changes:
- Board terms are updated. The Association continues to have five directors, but directors serve staggered two-year terms, with three elected in odd-numbered years and two in even-numbered years.
- Meeting procedures are modernized. A number of detailed requirements concerning the location and conduct of Board meetings are replaced with provisions allowing meetings to be conducted as permitted by applicable law.
- Board vacancies are clarified. The revised document spells out how vacancies may be filled by the remaining directors or by the membership, including different treatment when a director has been removed by the members.
- Financial reporting and budgeting requirements are updated. Rather than retaining outdated procedural requirements in the bylaws, financial statements, annual reports and budgets are to be prepared as required under applicable law.
- Member voting and ballot procedures are retained and clarified. Each lot continues to have one vote, and written ballots must provide homeowners the opportunity to approve or disapprove matters being voted upon.
- The five-member volunteer Board remains in place. Directors and officers continue to receive no monetary compensation for serving the Association, although legitimate Association expenses may be reimbursed.
- Homeowner access to Association records remains protected. The bylaws continue to provide members access to Association governing documents, financial information, minutes and other records, subject to reasonable procedures for inspection and copying.
- Numerous provisions are cleaned up or updated to reference current applicable law rather than leaving detailed procedural requirements in the bylaws that can become outdated as California law changes.
Please Return Your Ballot
Whether you support or oppose the proposed Amended Bylaws, your vote matters.
If you still have your ballot, please complete it and return it according to the instructions provided with the ballot.
If you no longer have your ballot or never received one, a replacement can be requested from:
Chad — Advanced Election Services
chad@advancedelectionservices.com
After nearly two years, we’d like to finally have enough homeowners participate to complete the process and reach a decision.