What qualities do you want in board directors?

Still finding the job challenging and rewarding, I’ll seek reelection to fill one of three openings on our Board of 7. My Candidate Statement is due on 9/16 and will be mailed to all Owners. I have served five 2-year terms. I expect there to be competition for the 3 spots. My spouse & I moved here on Election Day 2004.

The statement now is limited to 300 words (a good thing!) so my old statements, from which I’ll draw, will need a lot of paring down.

Here’s a little about our HOA: 2 urban 15 y.o. high rise towers of 200+ residential condos on one square block. About 11% of Owners don’t live here full time. About 30% of Owners are landlords, who live all over the US. So under 60% live here full time. Among them, about 2/3 are 55+… mainly empty-nesters who like all that a lively ‘hood provides. We have many new Owners since ’13 or so. Most are or have been fairly well-paid professionals, who have higher-than-average levels of education. International travel is a popular hobby. Younger Owners tend to be in their 40s.

I’ve worked to learn as much as possible about my HOA, including:

1. Mechanical & plumbing systems (due to successful construction defect litigation that I initiated with another director.)
2. CA’s numerous HOA laws.
3. Excellent knowledge of our governing docs
4. Fine working relationship with our onsite full-time PM.
5. Early on, very involved with the aesthetics of our HOA and hope to return to that emphasis.
6. Most recently I successfully repaired our ridiculously complicated budgets and reserves accounts and in the process saved 85% of our Owners over $20/mo. on their dues. Budget hawk.
7. Well known and seemingly well-respected in our HOA. Spouse also very active on two committees which enhances my visibility.
8. Attend HOA seminars
9. Honest, hardworking, devoted to my community, optimistic, creative thinker, energetic.
10. Work hard for transparency so Owners know what the Board is doing. Big supporter of CA open-meeting laws of which we hold at least 12 a year.

Weaknesses: Investments; insurance.

From the viewpoint of an HOA member, director or not, what qualities would YOU like to see among your directors? What should I emphasize? The financial stuff actually is a big deal, but too hard to put in the letter. It also would make our Mgmt. Co. look less capable, and I don’t want to cause any doubts about them. Thank you!

(in an HOA such as this, directors don’t work directly with residents; the PM & her assistant do, so residents aren’t knocking at our doors, or emailing or phoning us. They don’t try to corner us in the elevators or lobbies.)

I'm not about to list my weaknesses, John!!! Besides, I have no intention of learning about them. That info was for the good folks here...

I think I'm looking for a little ranked list of what's important in directors from Owner's perspective...and what isn't.

1, 2, 3, 5, 10 leap out and grab me personally; you have my vote. On the other hand, the reason I go looking for these qualities might be because I know how the governing documents should run the place.

The first sentence in #7 reads a tad odd to me. Maybe it's fine; maybe delete it to show humility? The second sentence is great.

Else maybe re-order but leave all 10 of these in there.

Brava.

In reality, for most of the voters, probably not.

They may care if one is fair.
They may care if one has an understanding of the job.
They may care if you are pushing an agenda they agree or disagree with.

More then likely, they only care if they have to do the job themselves or are you willing to do it for them.

Thanks, Tim, for reminding me to emphasize my breadth of interests and achievements vs. being a single issue director. We have two directors right now, for instance, who only are interested in our landscaping and their committee's plant replacement budget. I know in detached-home HOAs, landscaping can be a very large part of the budget. But here, with all of our complexities, it's minuscule. With two full-time mgrs., I don't think Owners here think at all about your last sentence.

Appreciate your reply, Augustine. #1--we do have a full-time engineer who looks after all our plumbing, HVAC, etc. systems. In high rises, a lot more important than landscaping (5,000 sf of raised planters). Our PM also is very knowledgable about plumbing, so I don't think I'll mention it unless I can in a very brief sentence to maybe list my macro approach & knowledge. You do inspire me to place emphasis on #5--aesthetics. We refurbished our two lobbies last year, but more needs to be done, imo. I think I'll note that. Landlords/investors like this type of thing, too, I believe as it helps them get top rents or will help them sell. No one will disagree, but many will be surprised they haven't noticed the item themselves.

Maybe others could list what they'd like to see in their fantasy director

Well, from what I've seen of the comments you've made on various issues on this website, I don't think you'll have any trouble being elected! You understand the importance of communication and education, two things that I think are essential to being an effective Board director, so I think #s 8-10 are a great place to start, followed by #3 and #6. I wouldn't worry too much about making your management company looking more or less capable - they work for the board, so if the Board members take the time in learning best practices, they'll be able to be more specific about what they want from the property manager. It's not about micromanaging, but in having a good enough idea about what should happen so you can ask intelligent questions and not be afraid to point out problems.

You don't have to be an expert in everything, but should have enough common sense to know what you don't know and build upon that. That's probably the most important thing I look for in a director - a willingness to learn and bring what you do know to the table so everyone can learn from each other. Transparency is also vital - people won't always agree with what you're doing, but it's a lot easier when people know why you're doing something or not (at least they'll know your decisions stem from weighing the pros and cons and taking responsibility for them, regardless of the outcome.)

Good questions Jon. One of the things I'm trying to figure out is how to attract both the investors & the Owner occupants.

J: Out of the 200+ units how manny take the time to vote?
K: In a competitive race, about 90.

J: How many on average attend your monthly meetings?
K: Of the 110 units occupied full-time by Owners, about 20-25 people attend--some are 2 from 1 condo.

J: How many on average attend your annual meeting?
K: Absentee or mail-in ballots count for quorum in CA. About 30 attend in person.

J: Of the 200+ how many would be able to name and or recognize your board members?

K: Again, our 30% landlord/investors would not recognize any directors in person. Our part-timers often attend social events if in town, so they know some of us. Of the 110 units that're owner-occupied, I'd say 40 units or so recognize me, know my name, etc. I think it's from 10 years on the Board and also as a longtime editor of our newsletter until maybe three years ago. My spouse chairs our very active social committee, so I'm known that way too. Depending on the type of social event, 50-140 attend about 10 events a year.
I'd say very few would recognize the other directors. One reason is that the most experienced has served only 2-1/2 years, 1, 2 years, and three, one year.

How many would know you serve on the board? Per above, maybe 40. While not complimented a lot, I do get some compliments and happen to have a memorable real name, which helps (maybe not so much when I was a uninterested "behavior problem" in schools). I'm going to put a small pic on my statement, which I think will help my campaign.

Kerry it would seem your rate of owner participation is rather typical. Sadly.

Most owners can't be bothered unless or until the management of the property directly affects them.

Most of what you know or do matters little to the average owner.

I would suggest you highlight any money saving efforts, the maintaining of common charge levels if that applies, the efforts to simplify the budgets and reserve accounts making the property more financially sound. If it costs less, or saves money or improves the property these are what matters to most owners.

Anything that affects them or their wallets would give you the most bang for the buck.

And maybe reminding them that this property is your home, where you and your wife have chosen to live and therefore what is best for the property is of great interest to you both.

Good luck.....

Sheila "That's probably the most important thing I look for in a director - a willingness to learn and bring what you do know to the table so everyone can learn from each other."

Ha! Good one: that's what I want from other directors too! But it's been rare on our Boards. I think for two reason: (1) too much reliance on our onsite mangers. (2) Folks get elected, think the work'll be simple, attend the seminar put on by the CEO of your MC, and even though the presentations and materials don't seem complicated to me anymore, they seem to overwhelm new directors. New directors find our state laws burdensome and don't want to know about them Or want to pay our HOA attorney for written opinions.

Two new directors a year ago, do turn to me and have learned a fair amount. In a different setting, I'd gently direct them to the exact statute, CC&R or Rule. But I learned right way that neither of them want to get that deeply into those materials. The good part is they are my vocal supporters. The bad news is I feel I'm spoon feeding them information.

Yes, I do understand the value of strong communication with Owners and need to mention that!

Thanks, Jon. In the past two years I have focussed heavily on our finances, and our budgets and reserve accounts are my strongest area right now. I do agree that all "types" of Owners here share an interest in those. I think that'll be my main emphasis. I actually made a campaign promise in my 2014 letter: that I'd keep dues increases at a certain % vs. the much higher one the the-Board wanted. I kept it with help from new directors.

Help me out here, Jon, what does this sentence fragment mean? "... the maintaining of common charge levels if that applies..."

Kerry I don't have much to add to the excellent feedback others have provided but I would absolutely adore having you on my condo board! We are like John and barely make quorum and can barely find directors.

Sounds like you have at least at some point done the job. Someone who has never held a position on the board has no clue what it requires IF DONE CORRECTLY.

But that never stops posters here who hold the belief they could step right in and make things better by imposing their agenda and setting a new and improved course.

I have served for 29 years. Not once have we had a new board member join and be in any position to understand, grasp, or jump right in with the knowledge they brought to the table. There is certainly a learning curve as with any job. Anyone who thinks they were born with the required skill set knows nothing about a learning curve nor domtheynhave the ability to understand the areas of knowledge in which they lack.

Hell, I have people who have served for 15+ years and still don't know what or how it happened!

Again, thanks to all. It's interesting to me that those who visit this site and complain about their HOAs/boards don't list what they WOULD like to see instead.

Yes, Jon, I've known no new directors who'v joined the Board who've known anything. EXCEPT, two who served a year on our Finance Committee first. Someone running this year also has served a year on that Committee. But these three still no nothing about our governing docs or state legislation.

And here's something else. Two directors who are elected two years ago promoted term limits. A survey of Owners followed and not much interest. anyway, these tow still know very little and now realize that it takes quite a while to get up to speed in HOA governance. Maybe a little longer in our case.

Yes, I agree Linda, the financials are a road map. And all directors should try to understand them to stay out of ditches. As of our upcoming election, we'll have 4 of a 7-member Board who have a pretty good handle on them. This is by far the most knowledge them since the day I moved in 12 years ago, and the day I first was elected to the Board 10 years ago.

Avoiding costly mistakes is one reason to know them. Another is being able to come up new ideas mid-year that must be paid for. We, for instance, have a $17,000 budget item for '16 that won't be used. I'm pretty sure no other director has noticed and our GM hasn't mentioned it. We're otherwise on budget. So I'm in the process of thinking about recommending a certain new (i.e. not on our reserves schedule) recreational item for our pool area.