BradB7
Posts: 22
Posts: 22
Posted:
A long post, but I really, really need some help deciding what to do.
My story: 20 year board member for a large condo development who has been president for the last 6 years.
When I became president our community was in terrible condition after years of inaction and neglect by an incompetent board and property manager. After I became president the incompetent board members either moved or resigned and I recruited some new members. I then spent my years as president fixing all of our problems. I hired a new management company and drew up a 5 year plan to rebuild the community. I got the dues raised so we went from very little money in our reserve account to a record setting amount which was then used to fix everything from the roofs down to the parking lots.
Under my guidance, we went from the worst maintained property in the area to the best. I did everything: Planning all the projects, hiring the vendors, managing the work. The end result after 5 years of my work was our property values have almost tripled and we still have a healthy reserve account and our dues are the lowest of competing condo developments.
Everything was great until 2017. There are two other board members, who do nothing, but at least they voted to approve my property improvement projects. We have had two unfilled board positions for years, and I started hearing rumors that two of our residents were planning on joining the board at the annual meeting.
These two residents have attended HOA meetings for years and are the most incompetent, ignorant, selfish, uneducated residents I know. They know nothing about construction, landscaping, property management, legal issues, or finances. They know nothing, don't want to learn anything, and won't learn anything. At board meetings during homeowner forum all they would talk about is what they want done for them.
Last year they both joined the board at the annual meeting. One of them is bad, but the other one is the absolute worst.
Before they joined, I tried to recruit some neighbors who I knew would be good for the board. They all refused. Guess what? If good people won't join the board then bad people will, and they did.
The new board members are proceeding to gut all the good work that has been done. The two old board members are now voting with them on every one of their motions. When we had our budget planning meeting the worst new member made a motion to approve a 2018 budget that will leave us with a $30K deficit in our operations account. All of the board members except for me voted for this budget disaster, despite my pleas that it would cause huge problems and our property manager advising that it was a big mistake.
Out of about 400 residents, no homeowners attended the budget meeting, and none attended the budget ratification meeting.
Now that we have a budget shortage, they are fixing it by hiring the lowest bidder for projects. We have vendors we have worked with for years who do excellent work for a good price. The new members don't care about quality, references, customer service, or experience.
Recently, we had a project where there was a $100 difference between the bid from our experienced vendor who has done excellent work on the property for over a decade, and a no-name bidder with no references. The board voted for the low bidder, who then did shoddy and incomplete work. The new board members were patting themselves on the back for saving the community $100 out of our $600K annual budget.
Here is my problem: In April my term as president ends. The worst new board member is going to run for my position. He is the main one gutting the budget and wanting to get rid of all our experienced vendors. And here is the ultimate irony: The community loves him. He has everyone fooled, so he will be able to get a big turnout to vote for him.
Do I run for re-election when there is a good chance I will lose? The real kick in the gut is that although I am the one who turned our community around and tripled the property values, no one knows or cares. All the homeowners think "the board" magically made everything happen when the reality is the other board members did nothing and I did everything.
The way I see it, I have three options:
1) Don't run for re-election, and go away and never be heard from again as my community is destroyed.
2) Don't run for re-election, but become a "watchdog" or reporter for the community and report on board activities as my community is destroyed.
3) Run for president knowing that there is no way I can get the voter turn out like my opponent can, and lose.
And here is the other big thing: Even if I run and somehow get re-elected president, I will be on a board where the other members are all voting with the new board members and against my advice and experience. Is this really the sign that I should not run for president again? What would you do in my position?
Our board terms are for three years and there won't be another open board position again until 2020. We have monthly meetings and on average no one shows up so the board does what it wants. When there are residents at the meeting it is usually one or two, who then sit and say nothing as the new board members do what they want.
Thanks for your help and insights.
My story: 20 year board member for a large condo development who has been president for the last 6 years.
When I became president our community was in terrible condition after years of inaction and neglect by an incompetent board and property manager. After I became president the incompetent board members either moved or resigned and I recruited some new members. I then spent my years as president fixing all of our problems. I hired a new management company and drew up a 5 year plan to rebuild the community. I got the dues raised so we went from very little money in our reserve account to a record setting amount which was then used to fix everything from the roofs down to the parking lots.
Under my guidance, we went from the worst maintained property in the area to the best. I did everything: Planning all the projects, hiring the vendors, managing the work. The end result after 5 years of my work was our property values have almost tripled and we still have a healthy reserve account and our dues are the lowest of competing condo developments.
Everything was great until 2017. There are two other board members, who do nothing, but at least they voted to approve my property improvement projects. We have had two unfilled board positions for years, and I started hearing rumors that two of our residents were planning on joining the board at the annual meeting.
These two residents have attended HOA meetings for years and are the most incompetent, ignorant, selfish, uneducated residents I know. They know nothing about construction, landscaping, property management, legal issues, or finances. They know nothing, don't want to learn anything, and won't learn anything. At board meetings during homeowner forum all they would talk about is what they want done for them.
Last year they both joined the board at the annual meeting. One of them is bad, but the other one is the absolute worst.
Before they joined, I tried to recruit some neighbors who I knew would be good for the board. They all refused. Guess what? If good people won't join the board then bad people will, and they did.
The new board members are proceeding to gut all the good work that has been done. The two old board members are now voting with them on every one of their motions. When we had our budget planning meeting the worst new member made a motion to approve a 2018 budget that will leave us with a $30K deficit in our operations account. All of the board members except for me voted for this budget disaster, despite my pleas that it would cause huge problems and our property manager advising that it was a big mistake.
Out of about 400 residents, no homeowners attended the budget meeting, and none attended the budget ratification meeting.
Now that we have a budget shortage, they are fixing it by hiring the lowest bidder for projects. We have vendors we have worked with for years who do excellent work for a good price. The new members don't care about quality, references, customer service, or experience.
Recently, we had a project where there was a $100 difference between the bid from our experienced vendor who has done excellent work on the property for over a decade, and a no-name bidder with no references. The board voted for the low bidder, who then did shoddy and incomplete work. The new board members were patting themselves on the back for saving the community $100 out of our $600K annual budget.
Here is my problem: In April my term as president ends. The worst new board member is going to run for my position. He is the main one gutting the budget and wanting to get rid of all our experienced vendors. And here is the ultimate irony: The community loves him. He has everyone fooled, so he will be able to get a big turnout to vote for him.
Do I run for re-election when there is a good chance I will lose? The real kick in the gut is that although I am the one who turned our community around and tripled the property values, no one knows or cares. All the homeowners think "the board" magically made everything happen when the reality is the other board members did nothing and I did everything.
The way I see it, I have three options:
1) Don't run for re-election, and go away and never be heard from again as my community is destroyed.
2) Don't run for re-election, but become a "watchdog" or reporter for the community and report on board activities as my community is destroyed.
3) Run for president knowing that there is no way I can get the voter turn out like my opponent can, and lose.
And here is the other big thing: Even if I run and somehow get re-elected president, I will be on a board where the other members are all voting with the new board members and against my advice and experience. Is this really the sign that I should not run for president again? What would you do in my position?
Our board terms are for three years and there won't be another open board position again until 2020. We have monthly meetings and on average no one shows up so the board does what it wants. When there are residents at the meeting it is usually one or two, who then sit and say nothing as the new board members do what they want.
Thanks for your help and insights.