Three members of the Columbia Association board were removed for alleged ethics violations at Thursday night’s meeting.

Board members Reg Avery of Long Reach, Karin Emery of Oakland Mills and Eric Greenberg of River Hill are no longer members of the board of directors, according to a news release from the Columbia Association.

The association’s ethics panel recommended the board members’ removal after board Chair Collin Sullivan, who represents Town Center, filed a complaint alleging they had violated the association’s code of business conduct. The panel investigated the complaint and provided a report to the full board April 9.

“This recommendation was based on their professional opinion that those three board members violated the code of business conduct and failed to uphold their fiduciary duties to the Columbia Association,” Sullivan said at Thursday’s meeting.

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Sullivan said the three were found to have filed “a frivolous and retaliatory ethics complaint.”

Each of the 10 villages has a representative on the board of the Columbia Association, a massive homeowners association that functions much like a local government.

The association’s ethics panel, established in 2023, consists of three attorneys who, according to Sullivan, “have no affiliation or interest” in the association. The panel’s purpose is to ensure that association leadership, including board members, is held to the highest ethical standard.

“I recognize this is an unusual moment,” Sullivan said. “I want to acknowledge that directly. This board takes its obligations to the Columbia Association and the Columbia community seriously, and that includes maintaining the integrity of our governance. Tonight’s action reflects that commitment.”

He said none of the three elected to provide written requests for reconsideration. The three were present when their removal was announced, and they left the board table.

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The association has a $91 million budget that comes from a 68-cent annual charge on every $100 of state-assessed property value. The money pays for the amenities — the pools, paths and programming — that help Columbia consistently rank among the best places to live and raise a family in national surveys.

This article will be updated