Annual Meeting Tonight

Started by JerryD5 • 8 replies • 1407 views

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JerryD5 (Colorado)
Posts: 218

Posted:

We just had our annual meeting tonight. Surprisingly, we had a decent turnout. We had 1 returning and 1 new board member elected. The new board member is a relatively new homeowner in the association that has prior HOA experience. Woohoo. I just wanted to post that I thought I was losing the apathetic homeowner battle but this meeting squelched some of that. The best thing, the people that attended tonight didn't spend all their time complaining about landscaping or the amount of association dues. The meeting was actually very productive.

Our HOA of 63 single family homes is proof that the system works. Have a good week.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Always good to hear good news.

Thanks for the update Jerry.

NicoleO1 (California)
Posts: 181

Posted:

SO glad this one is positive!! way to go.

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

Good news, Jerry! Do what you can to keep the interest up!

Since secret ballots are required in CA and voters need not be present at the annual mtg., we don't get much attendance. But, of 211 residential units we had 104 ballots cast. 32% of our voters are absentee owners, i.e, landlords, but they cast 45 of the ballots.

30 attended the annual mtg.

There were 5 candidates for 3 opening on our 7 member board. The two incumbents lost, one badly, the 2nd by only 5 votes. So all three elected are new and the others on the board also are fairly new (except for 'ol vet me at 9 years on the Board.).

We have such a good PM now, that I think we'll have a productive year. We also had a great Social Comm. this year who put on a lot of lively events. The mood here seems to be good. I'm optimistic!

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

Always nice to hear about the success stories.

CeceliaV (North Carolina)
Posts: 30

Posted:

Maybe it's something in the air. We had our annual meeting Tuesday. It was well attended as we have a lot of new owners. Sales in our neighborhood have been brisk.

We had two people running for one position. First time in 7 years we have not had to beg for someone to fill an open position.

Even though we raised the dues a small amount there was not the usual complaining and they were actually happy about the new services they would receive.

What a delight!

JerryD5 (Colorado)
Posts: 218

Posted:

Thanks for everyone's responses. I have to be honest. Before last night, I was seriously thinking about stepping down from the board. For a long time, I have felt I have been doing the lion's share of the work and it has taken a toll. I am the only board member that has attended all the meetings (we only have 4 quarterly and 1 annual). I am the only one that meets with the landscaping/snow removal company. I am the only one that does any type of property walk through with the MC (only 1 other board member has been through the entire property). Of course, I not employed so I have plenty of time. The others have busy lives of work and family. I totally understand that they can not committ as much time as I do. With that said, I am optimistic that this year is going to be different. Last night's meeting showed that. I had never met this new home owner before but he gave a very favorable impression that he is willing to jump right in. He immediately wanted to schedule a walk through the property so he becomes familiar with the layout (we have 8 courtyards spread out through a master community).

Today, I woke up to a new day in our HOA. We are drama-free with no major issues facing the HOA. We are financially healthy with a good reserves. I had to explain to one homeowner last night that our reserves were not available for a gazebo like he wanted in his area.

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

Cecilia might be on to something. First Gary mentions a relatively new owner being willing to serve on the Board, and next Cecilia talks about new owners too.

We also have a good influx of new owners and more of our condos are owner occupied. Some prior owners moved out and rented their condos during the recession. Once the market recovered, they put these units on the market and they are selling fast. Some of the new owners are attending board meetings and I know for certain a couple of them will start serving on committees--a good pipeline to the Board--soon.

Because our social committee was revitalized with new members this year, they've put on more events that have attracted higher numbers of residents.

I'm thinking that if some readers out there are seeing a spike in new owners, reach out to them in any way you can! Welcome Committee who visits, parties for newcomers or at the very least a welcoming letter from the board. Se if you can get them involved. If you're successful, even some long-time uninterested owners might become active.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Our HOA seems to be settling down since the transition from the Declarant to we owners. Not that there were problems with the Declarant (actually quite the opposite) but people seem less inclined to see a "boogeyman" now that they have had an opportunity to vote for who they want on the BOD. Even our Chief Complaining Officer (CCO) is complaining less.

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