Board Member Concerns

I''m a new community association board member and hope for some advice on what I should be concerned about in my new position. If you could also prioritize for me what I might do as a board member to be effective I would really appreciate it.

Rebecca, are there any SPECIFIC topics that interest you??? I think that your questions is really vague.

As a Director, I attend meetings, listen, offer opinion, volunteer to do research, perhaps volunteer to do the work or assist with the work and cast a vote in what I believe is best for the majority of the Association.

As an Officer, I work independently to fulfill the responsibilities of my office. I make written reports to the Board (I prefer written vs. verbal reports as this ensures accuracy of what I report in the minutes and makes the meeting go quicker). I ask for assistance when needed.

When I first became a Board member, I asked a previous Board member for suggestions. What I didn't know at the time was that this previous Board member did not understand our documents.

He mentioned once that he and another previous Board member could find nothing regarding assigning a certain percentage to each unit. This assinged percentage is a state law.

After I did some research on my own, I was informing the current Board members of how we should handle condominium business.

When I told the current vice president that our CD's (capital reserve account) was for large ticket items only such as a furnace, She acted completely surprised. Another current Board member who had been a member for a couple of years told me she had never read our documents.

So yes it is okay to get the opinion(s) of current and former Board members, but it is more important to do your own research.