PART TIME DWELLERS

Why do you keep electing them?

It seems that every year, your owners have a simple solution to the problem. Cast a ballot, and elect someone who DOES live there in the community. Do you really need a LAW to make you stop voting them in?

Simone

I see it now. A very positive campaign on why one should vote for you to be on the BOD. Be positive, take the high road.

Our past BOD's have done the best they could in their part time. I thank them.

The times are changing. Becoming more difficult, requring more attention and time. I am here full time, year round folks. I can better represent us all at all times.

Simone For All Times

Even those that do not live there year round, want their interests look after year round.

Simone 24/7

Simone is Here

LOL....LOL

Simone,

You start by contacting your legislative representative and explain the issue. Give both the pros and cons with as much documentation as possible. Then you provide them with a possible solution (written language for a law). Doing this in person is typically better than via letter or e-mail. You will have to "sell" the idea to whomever you first speak to in order to get an appointment with your representative.

Have some questions handy for them to show you have done your homework. Perhaps starting with whomever sponsored the recent HOA laws or amendments to those laws.

Tim

This also does not answer my question. I do not agree with your statement, "A bad board member is a bad board member, whether they live there year round or not.". YOU don't live here, so you would not understand all the problems we have. Thank you for your reply.

@LarryB13: Yes, they hire people to look after THEIR own interests. When we got hit by Wilma, they only "assisted" one side of the park-THEIRS. Noone came to our area for ANYTHING. We had one neighbor in our area with a truck to hand out ice and food for those that could NOT do for themselves: car smashed, home unlivable,etc. We appreciated his efforts, and think very highly of him. Also, the previous manager that we had did do something to help at that time. She went around the neighborhood and spoke with people, and also handed out water and ice, the present managers already stated they won't do this, and other things. So, time for a HUGE change, LOL! Thank you for your reply.

Simone,

You would need to look at the bill itself (or perhaps pending bills).
You should be able to do this via your State legislators page.

So, out of 450 homes/owners, at least 375 of them are very happy with the current board, and see no reason to change it. That's not too bad a percentage!

Good luck next year!

Simone

Many states/municipalities like older folks as they generally contribute far more then they use. One of the biggest economic effect is they generally do not have children in the school systems. Some states are looking to cut tax deals on retirement income to encourage older folks to move there.

I would say you do not have snowball's chance in he!! of changing anything at any level of government concerning "part time" residents epecially if they do not bring nippers....LOL

I suggest you spend your time and effort on your own association.

Hope this helps.

@Everyone: I came to this site because it was recommended. Someone thinks very highly of this website. They said that people are very professional and very knowledable. When I ask a question, I expect answers to that question. I don't need someone making light of our situation by saying "....I see no reason to get all riled up about it." Or "Why do you keep voting for them?" If I need to understand someone better, I ask them more questions. I do not make them feel like their feelings or thoughts do not matter. Or maybe it is just the tone or the attitude that came through. I apologize if I ruffled some feathers. So, moving forward:

Hello BrianB: No, actually they are not happy. But, unfortunately, work schedules do not ever make it possible for many people. Management also says that they would not make their employees come on weekends because they won't get paid. So, no meetings have ever been held on weekends. The economy being the way it is, many are afraid to approach their bosses about taking a couple of hours off since many are being pushed to work more than they did before. Many are afraid to lose their jobs if their bosses feel they are not reliable. BUT, we (there are five of us-one Irish, one Hispanic, two white American and one Italian)that have been going around the neighborhood speaking with people who want to see changes, and letting them know how important their involvement is, and to make it to the meetings quarterly or so if they can't do it every month. Thank you for your reply.

Brian

You are correct. But, I have been there and done that. I understand how they feel since I went through the experience of losing a job and NOT finding work for six months! Now, I am single, have no children and this was very stressful indeed, so when you have children, it is a very different story. I, we, do NOT want symphathy. We want to find solutions to our problems. I am just stating what we have to work with. We are now trying to do something about that. Two of us started going around the neighborhood last year to meet neighbors. We are both disabled. With just the two of us, it is time consuming to do that with 475 homes. Sometimes they are not home. We could not do anything this year in regards to proxies because I was very sick at the beginning of the year, and my friend had an emergency and needed to go to Connecticut to assist her daughter. We are trying to also educate our neighbors about how a board, voting, and meetings go. Some do not understand the system. Now, I wrote a letter for our community in regards to that to be published in our newsletter, and have met with some resistance with the board. Meaning, that it has been almost two months since I put in the request. We already had a "meeting" about this in February, and now we have to wait until our next board meeting on Tuesday, March 6. My question is, is there always some "red tape" just to publish something in the newsletter? What exactly is the community newsletter for? Thank you for your reply.

Hi Carol.

I agree. We have been trying to improve our HOA since last year. Our problem is not so much with our management company, as it is with our board. Two of us just started asking questions about statutes, and are researching it. Even if we get nothing accomplished with statutes, it does not hurt to learn about how laws come into existence, and how they get implemented. There were laws that a group of people could not enter a restaurant, and that was changed. And many told the Wright brothers to stop what they were doing, because man would never fly, etc. If one does not try, one will never know. Thank you for your reply.

Hi Jeff:

I already answered your first statement in another posting. These people are NOT USA citizens. They are Canadians first and foremost. They have their home in Canada. This is only their vacation home. Many have their own firms or companies in Canada. Don't they pay most taxes in Canada? They do not vote here. In this community, they are not the majority, out of 475 homes, they are only about 98. I like Canadians. I have some friends that are Canadians. They are very clean, and maintain their property. The group that we have here are very snubbish and look down upon others different than them. Some do not even say good morning when you greet them. This attitude is not American. Thinking that noone else speaks french, they have said, "These are very stupid Americans". Why should people that are not USA citizens have more clout or rights? Just asking.

JohnC46:

We have no committees in our association. The only thing they have is a French Club. We want to start some. The newsletter here gets reviewed and accepted by the board. We want to inform our community about what is going on in our community. Explain why we could not vote since we did not have enough representation from the community. It goes without saying that negative garbage should NOT be published. I do have a problem with them in regards to writing things in French and publish it in the newsletter, but not in Spanish. Just like Canadians that do NOT speak English, we have some Hispanics that do not. I also translated what I wrote in Spanish. One employee that works in the office is from the management company, she speaks Spanish and can verify if the translation is correct. Thank you for your reply.

Simone, remember that according to the 2nd Amendment, you are free to publish your own newsletter, and even distribute it.

Good luck with getting the others in the community to become aware, interested, and active!