Just for Fun

Started by LoriM15 • 14 replies • 333 views

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LoriM15 (Florida)
Posts: 1,009

Posted:

I thought those of us who volunteer our time to help our communities could use a good laugh. Last night we had our "meet the candidates" meeting. We have two board seats up for election. The two incumbents are running and we have two additional candidates. One of the "new" candidates used to be the board president. He's one of the nastiest human beings I have ever met. His board meetings did not allow homeowners time to talk and he basically yelled at everyone. He resigned due to health reasons but now wants back on the board. His two obsessions are garbage cans left out too long and that the reflectors in our private road are missing or were installed incorrectly (they are not required by law and really aren't helpful, but he likes them). The other candidate has lived in the community less than six months. She has never attended a board meeting and didn't bother to put in a candidate information sheet so no one knows anything about her. Our PM company regional manager ran the meeting and asked the questions submitted by homeowners in writing. Standard questions about what you want to do and what needs to be fixed. Nasty guy was typical - it all used to be better when he was on the board. New girl doesn't like that landscaping services are included in her monthly fees (required in our docs) and feels in general the fees are too high (we are by far the lowest in the area). She doesn't like the color of the mulch. Admitted she had never been to a meeting but says she has "new" and "fresh" ideas. Said the documents are too old (they were done two years ago). Says we all need to live in darker colored houses. About halfway through the meeting, she flipped out and said "I was told this was a meet and greet! Why are you interrogating me! Why can't this be fun and why can't we be informal? It should be fun and I don't understand why we have to be so serious!"

I was able to keep a straight face although many in the audience couldn't. And then I thought - what if we had a whole board of "new girls"!

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

Sounds like you got your first volunteer! 😂

Former HOA President

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

I never know whether to laugh or cry about this stuff.

JohnT38 (South Carolina)
Posts: 1,631

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By LoriM15 on 01/19/2023 8:55 AM
I thought those of us who volunteer our time to help our communities could use a good laugh. Last night we had our "meet the candidates" meeting. We have two board seats up for election. The two incumbents are running and we have two additional candidates. One of the "new" candidates used to be the board president. He's one of the nastiest human beings I have ever met. His board meetings did not allow homeowners time to talk and he basically yelled at everyone. He resigned due to health reasons but now wants back on the board. His two obsessions are garbage cans left out too long and that the reflectors in our private road are missing or were installed incorrectly (they are not required by law and really aren't helpful, but he likes them). The other candidate has lived in the community less than six months. She has never attended a board meeting and didn't bother to put in a candidate information sheet so no one knows anything about her. Our PM company regional manager ran the meeting and asked the questions submitted by homeowners in writing. Standard questions about what you want to do and what needs to be fixed. Nasty guy was typical - it all used to be better when he was on the board. New girl doesn't like that landscaping services are included in her monthly fees (required in our docs) and feels in general the fees are too high (we are by far the lowest in the area). She doesn't like the color of the mulch. Admitted she had never been to a meeting but says she has "new" and "fresh" ideas. Said the documents are too old (they were done two years ago). Says we all need to live in darker colored houses. About halfway through the meeting, she flipped out and said "I was told this was a meet and greet! Why are you interrogating me! Why can't this be fun and why can't we be informal? It should be fun and I don't understand why we have to be so serious!"

I was able to keep a straight face although many in the audience couldn't. And then I thought - what if we had a whole board of "new girls"!

"New girl" or "nastiest human beings I have ever met". Tough decision. I hope the other new candidate is better!

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

We almost always have more candidates than open seats so I've been to maybe 15 of these. That's hilarious, Lori.

Btw, Our restated Bylaws require someone to be an Owner for a year before they can be a board member.

SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,964

Posted:

Ick-dumb and dumberer.

Maybe a mannequin should run as an alternative. Better personality and willingness to learn (at least she'll keep quiet!)

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius

ElleN (Idaho)
Posts: 4,420

Posted:

Tell "new girl" that if she's elected, Florida law requires her "to certify in writing to the secretary of the association that he or she has read the association’s declaration of covenants, articles of incorporation, bylaws, and current written rules and policies; that he or she will work to uphold such documents and policies to the best of his or her ability; and that he or she will faithfully discharge his or her fiduciary responsibility to the association’s members. Within 90 days after being elected or appointed to the board, in lieu of such written certification, the newly elected or appointed director may submit a certificate of having satisfactorily completed the educational curriculum administered by a division-approved education provider within 1 year before or 90 days after the date of election or appointment."

WendyM5 (North Carolina)
Posts: 1,522

Posted:

they will eventually learn and get better. I"d give them benefit of the doubt. everyone has a learning curve.

vis ta vie

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

Are candidates required to sign any kind of form stating that, for example they are indeed owners? Our candidates also sign verbiage showing that they need to attend at least one open evening board meeting a month, necessary executive sessions, and occasional special meetings. Candidates sign that they will enforce our governing docs.

If Lori's assn. has no such signature requirements, maybe consider it along with "promise" to comply with the FL requirements for directors.

Having served on maybe 14-15 HOA boards, I can promise Wendy that they do NOT all get "better." Most do. Some show no growth at all. We've had at least 2 over the years who've gotten worse. One, in particular, was some kind of Lone Ranger who did some very dangerous things with promises to certain owners and "acting" on his own. Thankfully he lasted only about 4 month.

BrettH3 (South Carolina)
Posts: 47

Posted:

So who got the seat? And the nasty newcomer or the nasty ex day president?

LoriM15 (Florida)
Posts: 1,009

Posted:

Our election is on the 28th. We have the two incumbents who we are hoping will win and stay on the board, although we do think Nasty Guy will get quite a few votes. He has the backing of the pickleball lobby, who are perpetually angry at the board for something. Those people are nuts. This time it's because there was debris on the pickleball courts (converted to permanent courts from old tennis courts at great expense last year - we gave them EXACTLY what they wanted) after Hurricane Ian. Our first priority was getting the streets and driveways cleared and didn't do the courts fast enough for their liking. So the head of the pickleball group hired his own contractor and then expected the association to pay and we told him no. You will remember that we took a direct hit from Hurricane Ian and clean up took a long time. It's not that we didn't care that the debris was there and preventing them from playing, we could not get enough crews from our two landscapers to deal with it for a couple of weeks.

Although Nasty Guy was against spending any money on pickleball while he was on the board, he's apparently better than the rest of us who give them what they want.

We also had drama following meet the candidate night. During the meeting, the moderator read two questions that were individual just for Nasty Guy and New Girl. New Girl's question asked why she hadn't submitted a candidate information sheet (single mom, runs a business, just too busy). Nasty Guy's questions was about how he had a reputation for being confrontational and not allowing people to speak at board meetings - how was he going to change? Needless to say, he got very angry and said "that's just who I am" and then went on to explain that he can't help it if he hates incompetence and everyone around him is just imcompetent. He now believes the board set him up with that questions (we didn't - we didn't even see the questions in advance) and is crying foul because the two incumbents didn't get asked individual questions.

The drama never ends!

LoriM15 (Florida)
Posts: 1,009

Posted:

Update - today was the election. Both Nasty Guy and New Girl were defeated. The two incumbents got to remain in their positions. One of them got 185 votes, the other got 180 votes. Nasty Guy got 111 (more than I thought) and New Girl got 10 votes. She didn't even show up to the annual meeting because she had to take her kids somewhere. I understand her desire to get involved, but clearly she would not have had enough time to devote to the board. And she thought she had to use her gate transponder to get into the clubhouse.

Monday we are having a meeting announcing that we are changing management companies. The next few weeks should be fun! Thank goodness we have trusted people who actually do work on the board again.

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

Congratulations, Lori. It sounds like the results are all the best for your community

WendyM5 (North Carolina)
Posts: 1,522

Posted:

what percentage of the community votes? sounds like you have a huge number of owners over 1000?

vis ta vie

LoriM15 (Florida)
Posts: 1,009

Posted:

We have 820 doors in the community. We got about 270 proxies turned in. Our bylaws allow us to hold the meeting once we have a quorum of 30%. I'm not sure the number of actual ballots we received. Only about 50 people actually showed up to the meeting. If we have to pass something at the meeting, then it has to pass by a majority of the people present at the meeting. Thank goodness they lowered the threshold in the past or we would never be able to get anything done.

I am really hoping we can get more participation with electronic voting. Also, the new management company does have a way to survey the community and we would like to get more input on the priorities of the community.

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