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Good Article and Good advice for anyone serving on thier Board

Started by TimB4 • 9 replies • 1462 views

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TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059
Posted:
I don't know if you have taken the time or not to read the news article titled The Art of apologizing.

I thought it touched on many of the points everyone here has stated in various threads. Those points being that it's not always the message but the delivery of the message.
FrankS10 (Kansas)
Posts: 276
Posted:
Tim,

Being newly elected, this was very timely for me. I thank you!
CarolR11 (Colorado)
Posts: 2,563
Posted:
This article inspires me because I've been trying to explain a very complicated budget and reserves matter to our 7-member Board on which I've served for 7 years. It's something I did a lot of research about late last year. One director grasps my findings.

Anyway, I'm going to approach the Board again in January and apologize for not explaining this topic more clearly and carefully in my previous attempts. And I'll show a few different charts & graphs that'll help me explain it better. I really think that my apology will be my foot in the door!

By the way, I never have lost patience with the Board, an patience was referred to in the article. by, the January meeting covering some items that I'd "left out" (but hadn't really). which is an apology in and of itself, but the article helps me with my strategy a lot! The point is that it's not the Board's inability to understand this topic & its intricacies. I've fail to communicate it clearly.

I'm not being coy about not trying to explain the levels of complexity embedded in this topic--it's extremely local to my HOA and our MC, that manages a whole lot of properties, says no other HOA they manage has this issue.
SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,964
Posted:
Don't be too hard on yourself, Carol - it seems to me the other Board members should be doing as much research as you, if only to get an understanding of what reserves are and reserve study basics - why they're necessary, how they're conducted, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if even understanding the basics is too much for your colleagues to handle and so they yell at you because you did what THEY should have done.

If you have had a reserve study done, see if you can get the specialist to come in and explain what's going on - the good ones may even have a Power point presentation to take everyone through the process step by step. If not, and you're about to have one (or feel you should), get the specialist to come in and explain the process first. Then people can ask questions and hopefully feel more comfortable so they can make better decisions. Good luck!
If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius
CarolR11 (Colorado)
Posts: 2,563
Posted:
Thanks for your support, Sheila! Sorry that part of my writing was virtually incoherent. Woke up at 3am and couldn't go back to sleep so wrote here.

What I didn't make clear in my above post is that I'm not beating up on myself. I though my previous presentations were logical, rational and and well-organized.

My "apology" approach combined with my "oh, here's data that I previously didn't clarify very well," will be in my attempt to get the topics back on the agenda. In addition, it finally came to me to me we have actually been violation our CC&Rs. So pointing that out may be helpful.

Ah, Sheila, if only there was one reserves study. But we have three:

(1) the commercial owner and those elements to which only he contributes to reserves for repair/replacement, etc., because only he uses them. E.g. a couple of heat pumps, certain valves; two elevators that of one floor from the underground garage to the street level.
(2) The towers, which are nearly 200 high rise units. They possess certain reserves elements that neither the commercial owners contribute to, or do the 2-dozen ground level units.
(3) The Base. All owners contribute to it. The commercial owner's contribution is calculated from a percentage that's in our DRE budget that was filed with the state. The % is based on the sf of the commercial area.

None of the proportions of contributions from each is specified in our CC&Rs, only in the DRE Budget. To make things even trickier, There are the same three categories in our operating budget.

I guess it really isn't too difficult to explain, but I have been told that we do need a forensics reserves specialist to straighten out the contributions by the towers (too much) and by the commercial owner (too little). Our large MC with lots of resources has no such expert on its staff. Also, I'm sorry to say, that it benefits the MC if everything stays exactly as is.
JoK2 (California)
Posts: 198
Posted:
It is amazing how far an apology can go, its just too bad that most people don't apologize or worse take responsibility for their actions. These day's most people say that about the Y generation/Millenials, and sadly it's those very people who have taught them to not take responsibility.

I've been preparing for a special meeting that is designed to get our board on the right path, whether again or for the first time I do not know. Our first order of business is to do just that, publicly apologize for removing a board member incorrectly. Our PM said we could do it that way, and we took his word for it, and I misread

What I have learned is immense, however one thing that I will be doing from here out, is to spell out the exact location in our documents that support what it is we are discussing. It's on the agenda with each item. My goal is that the homeowners can then go home and research the very item they have questions or concerns about and see that we have not only done things correctly, but also legally.

As I have studied our documents, it's easy to see why most people don't take the time to understand them to their full extent. So I am taking the job of helping them understand it better as well by listing all Articles in CCR and By Laws that back up our decisions. If we had done that to begin with, we wouldn't of made the mistakes we did.

JFK
TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059
Posted:
Quote:
Posted By JoK2 on 12/09/2013 4:33 AM

one thing that I will be doing from here out, is to spell out the exact location in our documents that support what it is we are discussing. It's on the agenda with each item. My goal is that the homeowners can then go home and research the very item they have questions or concerns about and see that we have not only done things correctly, but also legally.

That's an interesting idea.

However, instead of putting it on the agenda, I think I'll start writing articles about each section of the governing documents for the news letter. I've already done generalized articles about what each document does but the idea of breaking down each section is a good one. Thank you.
JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265
Posted:
I am on an advisory BOD working on we owners taking over our HOA. It is a very amicable transition so no problems there.

We are 113 standalone patio homes with no amenities and very little common ground. Our association does all outside (land and house) maintenance.

We had a conversation about covenant violations. We do not have that many violations and we all agree that we will not come in heavy handed. We will take a slow and polite course of action. Many violations are one offs as in only one person doing such and will be treated as such as in one on one.

I emphasized we take a polite, friendly, courteous approach so we do not upset people during the transition.

Our biggest issue has been trash barrels. I have suggested we assume it is our fault as we have not done a good job of informing people about the regulations. I have suggested we send a polite notice to all outlining/explaining the regulations and asking people to abide by them. I suggest we then sit back a see what happens before we take any additional action.

My point is to be polite, professional, considerate, inform people, apologize for not making things clear....then attack.....LOL
FranP (Maryland)
Posts: 5
Posted:
Quote:
Posted By TimB4 on 12/09/2013 5:59 AM
Posted By JoK2 on 12/09/2013 4:33 AM

one thing that I will be doing from here out, is to spell out the exact location in our documents that support what it is we are discussing. It's on the agenda with each item. My goal is that the homeowners can then go home and research the very item they have questions or concerns about and see that we have not only done things correctly, but also legally.


That's an interesting idea.

However, instead of putting it on the agenda, I think I'll start writing articles about each section of the governing documents for the news letter. I've already done generalized articles about what each document does but the idea of breaking down each section is a good one. Thank you.

So glad I could help one of the Masters on this forum! And the article idea for the newsletter is one I will put to use as well!

The meeting went as planned, sadly only three owners showed up and when they starting questioning anything, I was able to turn it back on them by asking them to check out that particle article or section, because it says what it says, regardless of the emotions behind it.
FranP (Maryland)
Posts: 5
Posted:
Quote:
Posted By TimB4 on 12/09/2013 5:59 AM
Posted By JoK2 on 12/09/2013 4:33 AM

one thing that I will be doing from here out, is to spell out the exact location in our documents that support what it is we are discussing. It's on the agenda with each item. My goal is that the homeowners can then go home and research the very item they have questions or concerns about and see that we have not only done things correctly, but also legally.


That's an interesting idea.

However, instead of putting it on the agenda, I think I'll start writing articles about each section of the governing documents for the news letter. I've already done generalized articles about what each document does but the idea of breaking down each section is a good one. Thank you.

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