Board Ethics/Conduct

I am a Board member @ a Townhouse complex in Florida. The President is very protective of the Property Mgr. even when he does not do his job. We have serious issue in the community where I had to call the owner of Property Mgr's company to get involved. Things are moving and getting resolved with the help of attorney, code enforcement and others. We had our annual meeting, the City now fines people parked in our community, a new owner attended the meeting to complaint that the police was called to her house while she was moving in. The President turns to me and asks before a full house of homeowners if I am the one who called the police. I reminded him that anyone can call the police and I am the one who took the newsletter to this woman's house the day she moved in to inform her of the rules of the community. I want to ask this man to be careful what he says in case he jeopardizes someone's life or home as a Board member. Give me your opinion. BellaM2

I'm with Sheila, Bella, I'm not sure of the points you're trying to make. Please breakup into at last two distinct paragraphs.

Yes, anyone can 2nd themselves for officer positions.

In my opinion, the president behaved very inappropriately and unprofessionally by singling you out in this way. If you can, based on your bylaws, etc., you could put her behavior on an executive session agenda and encourage the board to direct her to avoid such behavior in the future. Depends on what your state laws permit you to discuss in ES.

BellaM2 Would it be a good idea to have the Assoc.'s attorney send him a letter regarding his conduct?? He is not easy to talk with, especially since he would prefer if we would not call the Police Dept. He feel we should try to get along with our neighbors, he is a little off the chart. Need Advise?

Hi Sharon: I am not sure what you mean by take his advise. We have visitor's parking, emergency vehicles need to get in/out of streets. If blocked with cars they go on the sidewalks over the sprinklers and the HOA pays to repair the system.
The members of this Board are so laid back, they do not like to speak up, I am the most vocal member. Could I ask the Association's Attorney to send a letter to the President. I sent Pres. an email that I wanted to talk to him and he became very defense. BellaM2(FL)

Bella,
I'm trying to wrap my mind around the logistics of your townhome development. Do the residents have off-street parking? Are there designated parking spots for visitors? Do emergency vehicles have to drive thru your development's streets to get to other parts of your town/city? Are you saying that the streets are owned by your HOA not the town/city? Is your town/city telling the HOA to take care of the problem of cars being parked on both sides of the street? Emergency vehicles must drive on the grass to get thru?

My advice was in general terms that the President gives good advice to not get the police involved and to try to get along with your neighbors. Sometimes that is not always possible especially if the city/town is expecting the HOA to take care of the problem then some tough love is probably needed. - Sharon

Bella,
A couple of additional questions. When the new person was moving in you took the rules and regs to them that included your parking rules. Did this person then break the parking rules so you were compelled to call the police and this is what the President called you on in front of the group? I think you should just get past the President doing that as it was inappropriate but stick to the parking issue problem. I would try to keep the attorney out of it unless as I asked you before if the city/town is expecting the HOA to take care of the issue and no one on the board but you is stepping up to the plate. If it is because the Association has to replace sprinkler heads and fix sprinklers because of emergency vehicles driving on the grass, then it becomes an issue with the Association's money. Can you draft a polite letter to be mailed to all members indicating the purpose of the parking rules, explain that replacing the sprinkler heads costs the Association X amount of dollars and that we need your cooperation to keep our costs down. Draft the letter, send it to the President and the rest of the board and see what the response is. You may want to "eat a little crow" by explaining that perhaps you had prematurely called the police on the new owner but you have some real concerns about safety and the costs of replacing/repairing the sprinklers.

Hi:
This person moved in on Saturday, I gave the Newsletter to them on Saturday, indicated that street parking is never allowed, never park in the cul-de-sac. I did indeed call the Police on Monday, 3 cars parked in the cul-du-sac, the 4 car driveway & garage empty I watched that they did not move those cars for about 2hrs.
We are private roads, the city got involved most of us are happy especially for our safety, we do not need to have a confrontation with anyone. Calls to police dept. can be anonymous, they will come out and give a citation on each car.
This President most of the time is in violation by parking a car too far into the sidewalk, he has his own agenda why he does not want the Police called, but due to lack of participation we have not found a new Pres.
Therefore, he wants to play games in my opinion, I live by myself and in this mad world I do not need to be attacked or have my property vandalized. That's my concern, my safety. BellaM2 FL

Ha..

What a nightmare. Why are nightmare neighbors elevated to some kind of art form in these places?

And you wonder why..according to a recent poll by Service Magic....70% of people who live in HOAs would

consider NOT buying into another HOA scheme!

Signs are posted everywhere, no parking, These new owners had 3 days of street parking.
On the 3rd day they had no trucks, no cars in their driveways, the visitors parking lot on the cnr. was virtual empty but the cul-du-sac is a narrow street with about 6 townhomes to get in/out and around these 3 cars.
Well they have been living there about 3-4 weeks had a party this Saturday night and still parked cars on the street. I see they insist on showing us they can do what they want, even though we have Vistor's Parking spots.
Commissioner instructed us to call the office and the police will then come. We have reminded, put stickers on peoples cars and they just don't care. I personally bought here because the builder bylaws stated no street parking, and the neighborhood is beautifully kept. As Florida has been hard hit, we have experienced lots of renters and the very concerned owners are desperately trying to hold on to our community.
The Pres. has no backbone,he does not want to enforce the bylaws,CCR we do no know what to think of him. BellaM2 FL