Candidate Biographies No Ideology

So people are on here griping about how they think whomever is on their board should be "Professionals". That they should have some kind of business experience or nose for it. It's not necessarily a "business" job as your only requirement is to be an owner. Some people aren't going to like someone who is running because "I am retired, have a dog/cat, grandkids, and stay home all day". Yeah that person has nothing to do all day but the bidding of the HOA so let's vote for them.

Remember the board members is voted on by a group of people who are NOT interested on being on the board. That person represents that group. So if you don't like what they may vote, then you vote or run yourself. It's the nature of the beast. It is also what makes you a "Politician".

Professional experience is absolutely relevant, especially in communities that are self-managed. The most incompetent board members I've seen are ones that have no business experience and do not have a clue as to what they should be doing (they seem to think HOAs are social clubs or some such).

On the other hand, what I try to get a sense of is the person's ability to work with others. A person's knowledge and skills will go to waste if he or she is a bully or is one of those who thrives on conflict and chaos (our attorneys call them "vocational dissidents"). Not only that, they will force everyone around them to waste their own time trying to make progress on anything. The other board members can counteract them to some extent, but only if they recognize certain patterns of behavior and adjust their own behavior accordingly. Unfortunately, these patterns of behavior can go unrecognized until it's too late.

Fortunately the vocational dissidents usually don't end up on the board. They would much rather spend their time being totally outraged by everything the board does and complaining loudly at every opportunity. Bullies *can* end up on the board, though - you can only hope that they'll be competent bullies rather than incompetent ones.

Another thought: an ideology doesn't count for much if you don't have the skills to convert ideals into actions.

Further, people who've never served on an HOA board can have very unrealistic ideas about what's involved. In fact, it's a job. It's running a corporation. There is a boatload of requirements, and an even bigger boatload of laws that govern how these requirements will be handled. It's reading complex financial and legal documents, it's managing physical assets, it's hiring and firing, it's dealing effectively with a cast of players (some of whom will be dysfunctional or outright nuts). It's having the skills to sort out sometimes competing priorities and doing it all without enough money. And it's listening to a steady stream of complaints from those who have no idea what you're doing but who are certain that they know better.

Ideologies tend to die quiet deaths by the roadside when confronted with the realities of the job.

I think being on a community association board is just plain tough. It requires both a depth and breadth of knowledge that few professional jobs don't require. A board member needs to he a generalist as well as a specialist, plus a skilled psychologist. It's no wonder so few do everything well.

Well said.

I’m still trying to figure out what NpB’s question really is.

I love it resumes, interviews, Q&A, etc. Us, we go begging for people on be on our BOD.

John,
You are correct in many HOAs weeding out candidates is not an option. That is why when ever I get a chance to talk to neighbors at events I am always looking for future candidates. The analogy I would use is like going to High School Football games looking for future talent. True leaders need to be looking beyond their terms in office and helping people to get involved. As many have said this is not an easy job and requires many different skills. Many people in HOAs have no idea what actually happens on the board.

Cathy and Mark's viewpoints are pretty close to mine. Reading a resume is fine, but I don't stop there - I want to get into the candidate's head and get some insight on how they think and approach community issues. That's why I like candidate forums - have every candidate make a brief presentation and the The homeowners can ask questions Hopefully they pay attention to the responses and use them along with the resume to make a decision.

For me, I start with asking questions that help me see what type of neighbor they are, such as how have they lived in the community and whether they even like living in it. Do they they make an effort to get to know the neighbors? Have they attended board meetings or helped out in community activities?

Then I ask why they want to be on the board and what else will they bring to the position besides showing up once a month to decide how to spend money. Are they willing to commit to continuing education, even if it's as simple as reading a few books on things like reserve studies. Are they willing to ask questions (especially the tough ones) and LISTEN to the answers, even if they don't like what's being said?

Cathy also mentioned vision, which I don't think many current board members and homeowners think about as much as they should. What type of community do you want to see in a year? Or five or 10 years, whether you're still here or not? What are you willing to do to see that we get to that point there and how do you persuade the homeowners to support it? You can have all the ideas in the world, but without buy-in from the homeowners (most of them anyway) nothing will happen

Due diligence is always required prior to voting - folks voting for HOA/COA/POA boards must satisfy themselves they know enough.

It's pretty easy to know almost everything relevant about candidates these days.

In Florida, candidates have the option to provide an "information sheet". A great number of people think that means "resume". They're so unimaginative they can't even consider submitting anything else. I agree information regarding what they think they would bring to the table in an HOA or Condo context would be much more relevant than their experience as a district sales manager for a regional department store that's been out of business for 20 years.

We'll have 2 new board members next year who couldn't even guess the size of our annual budget within a million dollars (it's less than half a million by quite a bit).

NpS,
I was just mentioning this to our Board last week during a meeting. The older I get the less Common Sense is common anymore.

You may trip a lot of people up with that type of question.

A candidate's statement with irrelevant material tells you something about the candidate.

If you are fortunate enough to live in an association with more candidates than slots, then I say let 'er run and let the least annoying candidate win.

Let's say you had a candidate trying to get on a Board. If the person is looking to get appointed by the Board, you might fill out the candidate form to say you're a kiss ass who will "go along to get along". On the other hand, you put your qualifications on a form if you are looking to get elected by the owners.

From personal experience, Boards and MC's don't like a person more qualified than they are and they sure don't want someone coming in to rock the boat.

I hate those people who brag about living a "debt free" life style. It's just not true and they also have bad credit. HOA dues are a "debt"...

We hav a cover sheet the caddie signs sayin all in their statement is true and that agree to abide by and enforce our governing docs. They're invited to fill out the below 1-page form that must be limited to 300 words. Candidates may attache a 1" X 1" pic of self if they wish.

Most will include their own philosophy either in the first part or the last part. Not perfect, but it avoids the whole resume thing. One director, who knows better, cheated this year by including a 5-page CV of all his academic achievements going back to the '70s. He and the two other incumbents are defeated.

Name
HOA address
Date

Primary Goals & Objectives

Related Professional Experience

Related Volunteer Experience

Achievements at [Our HOA]

Why I Should Be Elected to the Board

I agree that candidates should speak up about their views and opinions on matters relating to the association property and finances and how the association should interact with members, etc.

Sadly, I have never seen an election run off. Rather, I have seen the opposite -- someone who doesn't want to do it (usually for good reason) or who secretly wants to do it but with a martyr complex (I really didn't want to do it but I will and now I have full license to do whatever I want).

At the risk of sounding facetious (I am not), some of the worst board members I have worked with were among the most professionally qualified, if not impressive.

Smart enough to work the system, smart enough to avoid getting caught, crafty enough to develop a coalition that pushes for a bad decision or approach to an issue that may be a personal agenda for them.

The best board members I have seen were selfless, eager to question their own assertions to ensure they were doing and supporting the right thing, prone to deferring to personal rights and liberties whenever the law or association documents were murky and of course who are highly cost conservative. These things are not always embodied in a high level corporate resume.

A treasurer who can draft a budget for the board to work with and decide upon together and who knows how to work with financial statements is important. But I'd rather have someone who is humble and less (but adequately) experienced than the CFO of Xyz Corporation who intends to park his Ferrari in guest parking while towing my old Toyota doing the same.

It is hard to spur these kinds of philosophy statements by candidates when there is only one person who "reluctantly steps up."