Non Traditional Candidate Statement

Started by NpB • 31 replies • 1013 views

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NpB (Arizona)
Posts: 605

Posted:

Have you ever come across a non-traditional candidate statement that is very direct about general philosophical governance and general organizational ideology?

If so, do you have a link to an example of such a candidate statement with redacted personal information?

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,061

Posted:

Please define "non-traditional candidate"

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

What are "general organizational ideologies?" Macro theories of human organizations? Or micro theories of face-to-face interactions in orgs?

What, also, is "general philosophical [of?] governance?" Political philosophy, e.g., Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, etc.?

AugustinD
Posts: 5,144

Posted:

Lol at KerryL1's excellent query.

JohnC77 (California)
Posts: 562

Posted:

I probably have about 400 candidate statements in my files. General statement, " Have lived in my community for xxx years and think I would be a good board member" or "lived in the community for xxx years and want to finally do something about those damn plumber's trucks".

NpB (Arizona)
Posts: 605

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By TimB4 on 09/14/2020 5:46 PM
Please define "non-traditional candidate"

Non traditional candidate STATEMENT.

Something other than what looks like a resume for a salesperson job.

NpB (Arizona)
Posts: 605

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By KerryL1 on 09/14/2020 6:05 PM
What are "general organizational ideologies?" Macro theories of human organizations? Or micro theories of face-to-face interactions in orgs?

What, also, is "general philosophical [of?] governance?" Political philosophy, e.g., Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, etc.?

Philosophy of how an HOA should be run. Not yielding to personal agendas, angry mobs, etc..

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

Ha ha ha ha ha I am rolling here!!! Do not let me out of the HOA bubble and into the real world!!! Just can not....

Former HOA President

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

"- Start each meeting in prayer to God."

Before my time here. The candidate who wrote that didn't get elected. Not that anyone here is really anti-religion in any way, but that was literally her only reason to run for the board.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,061

Posted:

NP,

Never saw such a thing.

Someone who wants to run for an office often needs to be a salesperson (or hire one) to sell themselves to the voters.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

We had a mayoral candidate a few years ago whom was running because he wanted to stop people from being "chipped". He believed that people were having "chips" put in them to "control their minds".

If you showed up to the election meeting and raised your hand, you were elected in our HOA. Usually followed by the statement "Well if we need someone I will do it..." Yep, that is how we filled our seats... LOL!

Former HOA President

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By GenoS on 09/15/2020 12:44 AM
"- Start each meeting in prayer to God."

Before my time here. The candidate who wrote that didn't get elected. Not that anyone here is really anti-religion in any way, but that was literally her only reason to run for the board.

Oh, I don't think that's so outlandish. I'm sure many board members start meetings with a silent "heaven help us". :-)

... I'll just get my coat, shall ? ....

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

We fill our BOD vacancies at the annual by begging people to join the BOD.

BillH10 (Texas)
Posts: 1,217

Posted:

Many of those I have seen contain "teaser" comments such as:

"My primary goal will be to decrease the assessments by 20%."

These are most commonly submitted by those who have never attended a meeting or asked to review the association financials.

The most recent statement received from a candidate on a mission to lower the assessment also contained the statement he would work with the City to introduce competition for electricity in our service area. We are located in the service area of an electrical co-op which dates to sometime in the 1930s. All of us served own a fraction of the company. The co-op is not regulated now nor has it ever been, hence it was not 'deregulated' when doing so was popular in this state about 15 years ago. The co-op remains a monopoly, the rates are superb as is the service. We never have outages.

NpB (Arizona)
Posts: 605

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By TimB4 on 09/15/2020 4:09 AM
NP,

Never saw such a thing.

Someone who wants to run for an office often needs to be a salesperson (or hire one) to sell themselves to the voters.

Correct, but professing how great you are in your career often doesn't translate to being a good Board member.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By BillH10 on 09/15/2020 10:12 AM
Many of those I have seen contain "teaser" comments such as:

"My primary goal will be to decrease the assessments by 20%."

These are most commonly submitted by those who have never attended a meeting or asked to review the association financials.

The most recent statement received from a candidate on a mission to lower the assessment also contained the statement he would work with the City to introduce competition for electricity in our service area. We are located in the service area of an electrical co-op which dates to sometime in the 1930s. All of us served own a fraction of the company. The co-op is not regulated now nor has it ever been, hence it was not 'deregulated' when doing so was popular in this state about 15 years ago. The co-op remains a monopoly, the rates are superb as is the service. We never have outages.

Statements like that will get people elected.

GeorgeS21 (Florida)
Posts: 3,808

Posted:

What?

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By GeorgeS21 on 09/15/2020 2:16 PM
What?

I was being facetious. Run on a platform of increasing dues and spending. See how far you get.

On my present BOD, 4 of we 5 realize we will need a 10 to 15% dues increase going into 2022 but I assure you, none of us will run on this platform but re-elect us and it will happen.

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

I don't know if it's non-traditional, but a couple of ppl who ran for the Board last Oct. embraced a philosophy of openness and transparency. This made sense given the secrecy of the then-Board, which many owners did notice.

If a candidate does attend board meetings, they should point that out. They might add the they read all amiable material on ur website to keep up with our finances, etc. I guess this would be a philosophy of the importance of trying to be an informed owners.

If seeking reelection, best to name accomplishments as as Board of member thereof. Even better, name initiatives.

Three of our encumbants were defeated last year. To me, their biggest mistakes were listing no accomplishments, and ignoring a very controversial initiative of theirs that many owners disliked. They also expressed no affection or positive feelings about our HOA. I think that might have helped. Two broke our Candidate statement rules and attached CVs to their one-page permitted statement.

One, from an academic economist, was 7 pages long & covered his area back to the 1970s. The second was three pages long, from a lawyer, and covered his career back to the 1980s. This overkill, imo, hurt them a lot.

GeorgeS21 (Florida)
Posts: 3,808

Posted:

sorry John ... the “What?” was for the OP.

NpB (Arizona)
Posts: 605

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By KerryL1 on 09/15/2020 5:21 PM
I don't know if it's non-traditional, but a couple of ppl who ran for the Board last Oct. embraced a philosophy of openness and transparency. This made sense given the secrecy of the then-Board, which many owners did notice.

If a candidate does attend board meetings, they should point that out. They might add the they read all amiable material on ur website to keep up with our finances, etc. I guess this would be a philosophy of the importance of trying to be an informed owners.

If seeking reelection, best to name accomplishments as as Board of member thereof. Even better, name initiatives.

Three of our encumbants were defeated last year. To me, their biggest mistakes were listing no accomplishments, and ignoring a very controversial initiative of theirs that many owners disliked. They also expressed no affection or positive feelings about our HOA. I think that might have helped. Two broke our Candidate statement rules and attached CVs to their one-page permitted statement.

One, from an academic economist, was 7 pages long & covered his area back to the 1970s. The second was three pages long, from a lawyer, and covered his career back to the 1980s. This overkill, imo, hurt them a lot.

I agree that long candidate statements with too much information about careers is boring, irrelevant and if the candidate saying nothing about her/his ideology about HOA issues, they are trying to hide something.

HOA where I reside, owners rarely attend meetings and do not know about agitators and those with personal agendas making life unpleasant for the Board. Want to inform the membership about not yielding to the mob or personal agendas and being very direct about representing ALL. I was wondering if anyone came across a non traditional candidate statement that was definitely different and stood out for being extremely transparent, honest and not written by a career coach.

NpB (Arizona)
Posts: 605

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JohnC77 on 09/14/2020 6:27 PM
I probably have about 400 candidate statements in my files. General statement, " Have lived in my community for xxx years and think I would be a good board member" or "lived in the community for xxx years and want to finally do something about those damn plumber's trucks".

So nothing non traditional?

BarbaraT1 (Texas)
Posts: 821

Posted:

I have seen two. One guy promised to dissolve the HOA and the other guy said he was running because "we're all sick of your bullsh#t Roger". (Not the same association).

NpB (Arizona)
Posts: 605

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By BarbaraT1 on 09/16/2020 11:01 AM
I have seen two. One guy promised to dissolve the HOA and the other guy said he was running because "we're all sick of your bullsh#t Roger". (Not the same association).

Did those candidates win a seat on the Board?

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

NpB: "HOA where I reside, owners rarely attend meetings and do not know about agitators and those with personal agendas making life unpleasant for the Board. Want to inform the membership about not yielding to the mob or personal agendas and being very direct about representing ALL."

This is confusing. If few owners don't know about some who attend Board meetings being agitators & trying to bully the Board, how would you bring it up in a candidate statement? You'd have to tell owners that part first. The problem sounds like a weak board and presider who do not know how or are too timid to take steps to have a civil productive meeting. The problem doesn't seem to have a ideological solution, but just a practical "How to Run an HOA Meeting" approach.

A couple of our winners last year stated they'd show respect to all owners at meetings + the transparency I mentioned above. There was a sense of a philosophy of civil, respectful quasi democratic governance. This v. the secretive, arbitrary behavior of the three voted out.

Imo, statements also should show how the candidates will uphold the governing documents. They do not say that directors assure all owners have a voice and that all owners are treated equally. What do YOURS say, NpB, about the duties of the Board?

It might be quite fresh to write: "My philosophy is to take our governing documents very seriously. They say that as a director, I must protect, maintain and enhance our common areas. That is my intention while practicing prudent financial management with my board colleagues." This also conveys a philosophy of valuing "team players."

I'll have to dig through a file to find our successful statements & pluck some key phrases.

BarbaraT1 (Texas)
Posts: 821

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By NpB on 09/16/2020 4:27 PM

Did those candidates win a seat on the Board?

The second one did. I guess a lot of people were tired of Roger.

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By NpB on 09/15/2020 6:34 PM

I agree with that except that I would assume they're clueless before thinking they're hiding something. We perennially have candidates who submit multiple pages for their candidate information form. When I was the Secretary one year we got several that were 5 pages long. I called the candidates and told them the statutes say 1 page, 8.5 x 11, single sided. A couple of them revised their statements quickly. One did not respond so I used his first page and discarded the rest.

Those people weren't hiding anything. They were announcing out loud that they didn't actually read the call for candidates which plainly said they could submit a ONE PAGE information sheet. People think, for some reason, they need to have a resume.

NpB (Arizona)
Posts: 605

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By KerryL1 on 09/16/2020 5:19 PM
NpB: "HOA where I reside, owners rarely attend meetings and do not know about agitators and those with personal agendas making life unpleasant for the Board. Want to inform the membership about not yielding to the mob or personal agendas and being very direct about representing ALL."

This is confusing. If few owners don't know about some who attend Board meetings being agitators & trying to bully the Board, how would you bring it up in a candidate statement? You'd have to tell owners that part first. The problem sounds like a weak board and presider who do not know how or are too timid to take steps to have a civil productive meeting. The problem doesn't seem to have a ideological solution, but just a practical "How to Run an HOA Meeting" approach.

A couple of our winners last year stated they'd show respect to all owners at meetings + the transparency I mentioned above. There was a sense of a philosophy of civil, respectful quasi democratic governance. This v. the secretive, arbitrary behavior of the three voted out.

Imo, statements also should show how the candidates will uphold the governing documents. They do not say that directors assure all owners have a voice and that all owners are treated equally. What do YOURS say, NpB, about the duties of the Board?

It might be quite fresh to write: "My philosophy is to take our governing documents very seriously. They say that as a director, I must protect, maintain and enhance our common areas. That is my intention while practicing prudent financial management with my board colleagues." This also conveys a philosophy of valuing "team players."

I'll have to dig through a file to find our successful statements & pluck some key phrases.

I like your suggestion phrase about taking the governing documents very seriously. If you find any more well-written non-generic and non-traditional ones, please post.

NpB (Arizona)
Posts: 605

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By GenoS on 09/17/2020 4:19 PM

Posted By NpB on 09/15/2020 6:34 PM

I think sometimes it might take multiple pages to educate the uninformed about what is occurring in the community and to express ideology in detail.

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

It might but the statute is clear. One single-sided page. You could write a book about the problems in my HOA past, present, and (if things don't change) future. If people feel the need to write more than one page I'd encourage them to get out and talk more with their neighbors.

NpB (Arizona)
Posts: 605

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By GenoS on 09/21/2020 2:09 PM
It might but the statute is clear. One single-sided page. You could write a book about the problems in my HOA past, present, and (if things don't change) future. If people feel the need to write more than one page I'd encourage them to get out and talk more with their neighbors.

I opine that most people do not know their neighbors or what is taking place at the HOA Board level.

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