Early Ante Meridiem Musings

So - as many of you know, I'm 'stepping away' from my swimming pool responsibilities.

But I'm not leaving the Board, and I'm still President.

The Board had to decide when to shut down the pool - this happens every year. We agreed on October 15{1}. I wrote a short letter as President, sent it out to the community. Some people were very unhappy with me.

I got a text message from a friend, she's been a Board member in the past, has been working as an arbitrator for many years. She wrote:

"But it seems you've unilaterally made a decision for almost 600 households ... unless you can present an honest method for conflict resolution with community input, you'll continue to take it personally when friends disagree with you{2}."

I confess that the letter I wrote was intentionally written such that I, El Presidente, was accepting responsibility for the Board's decision. I don't mean I was trying to grab credit; I wanted to not be 'transparent' - is that not a good thing to do?

But really: I'm curious about "present(ing) an honest method for conflict resolution with community input". I believe my HOA is "a non-profit corporation organized primarily to operate residential property", right?{3} Are there any standards or rules or outright laws about just how much resident input we should be seeking?

I'm not trying to use that as an excuse for running the neighborhood as a dictatorship - I can't find it but Cathy said something pithy not long ago about issues with residents who think the HOA is a big democracy where everyone gets to vote on everything - I think this is one of those occasions. I understand that there are times when a vote is needed (certain capital improvements, I think?) - but I'm inclined to think of this latest "resident unhappiness" as "Pool Rules pt 2"{4}. To put it another way: people seem unwilling to accept the Board's authority on pretty much anything and everything. And there's no shortage of people willing to step up and tell the Board exactly what they should do{5}.

So: "presenting an honest method for conflict resolution with community input" - does anyone do that when their Board makes an unpopular decision? I mentioned that my friend is a arbitrator, and this reminds me of that aphorism about "when your only tool is a hammer, all of your problems look like nails"? Her comments took me aback.

I'm just curious what y'all might have to say. I guess I'm wary that this kind of discussion implies that we're willing to compromise when, frankly, we're *not*.

Bill

{1} There are those who would argue that we should shut down the day after Labor Day, after the LGs leave. And/or that we should announce the shut down date much earlier. I won't argue strongly against either of those notions. There is "tradition" behind it.

{2} "We're still trying to figure out the meaning of that last phrase, sir" https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/6ea679b6-1452-4f7f-a2c0-c8414a10cbf1

{3} The Texas Comptroller site says that "A qualifying homeowners association (HOA) must be a nonprofit corporation organized primarily to operate residential property. The individual owners must control at least 51 percent of the association's votes."

{4} In case you missed "Pool Rules pt 1 - The Entitlement": When the LGs arrived - first LGs in two years due to COVID - there were numerous complaints ala "Wah! The lifeguards said my pool toy is too big!" etc.

{5} I'm tired of people who have "ideas" but aren't willing to put any work into implementing them - most of them are well-meaning, but not all: there are people who will have "ideas" but really what they want is for the Board to do the stuff that they tell them to do, without putting in any effort or taking any responsibility.

My first take on the past board member's comments was that closing the pool is a business decision, not "an honest disagreement among friends" or a decision where the community has veto power. Does she really believe that HOA should continue to pay for keeping the pool open just so that a few homeowners can swim laps every morning? That's not reasonable - and even in a democracy, the needs of the majority generally rule.

Also, remember that old saying: when you're an arbitrator, everything looks like an arbitration.

I suspect that her comment may have been aimed at something else, though, and this latest communication provided an avenue to get something off her chest. If you suspect there's something important going on, you may want to probe a bit. But otherwise I'd probably chalk it up to "attempted arbitration"...

Your board colleagues were happy to step back and let you do the donkey work and risk insults and beatdowns because they're a bunch of...well you know. You're out there as president trying to do tbe best you can, because you are the tip of the spear, for better or worse. You'd think this former president would remember that.

Then again, she probably didn't have to deal with situations like this and today, everyone's meaner and done don't have the emotional maturity to address problems without cussing, name calling, fisticuffs, backhanded disks, and sadly, machine guns and revolvers.

Anyway, the board makes decisions on behalf of the community, so most of what she said is BS. If the pool rules were published at the start of the season, everyone was aware of what was expected, so why didn't everybody go ahead and comply? Everyone now knows what happened so now is a good time for then to come up with a better idea. Hopefully the board has already asked for them and that's the best you can do.

If people attend the meeting to complain, ask them pointblank if THEY'D be willing to come up with some approaches. That's the start of a special committee chartered by the board to make recommendations- let THEM poll the community and get the feedback. If no one volunteers, it's back to the board, which is charged with making the decisions anyway.

As for the broader question of getting community input on board decisions, it's not always required, but the board can and should encourage people to read board minutes, review income-expense reports, attemd meetings and LISTEN to the proceedings so they aren't blindsided. You can also have quarterly town halls where homeowners can sound off on various issues. It may not change the decision the board must make, but when you strive to be transparent and not run away from the tough decisions, most people will respect that.

PS - if this lady is an arbitrator, perhaps SHE could develop some sort if informal mediation program where homeowners could hammer out disputes with each other. This could cut down on the board being asked to step in on issues it doesn't have jurisdiction over. Or she can do a training for the board on de escalation techniques or refer you to someone who will.

Again, this isn't something that's got me tied up in knots - it was just, well, odd for her to weigh in with that stuff. There may indeed be some kind of underlying relationship issue that I should investigate. I mean, like, maybe she's PO'ed at me for something? I don't know what, but sometimes that kind of stuff happens.

People *do* seem more aggressive nowadays. And I (and the Board) *do* listen to people about neighborhood concerns. But there is a tendency I have noticed this past year where it seems like when I "listen" to people, they take it as an opportunity to tell the Board what to do. I recently unsubscribed completely from our unofficial facebook group; someone would ask "how do I file an ACC request?" and I'd answer and then someone else would take that opportunity to carp all over me about something. I feel happier and lighter and I swear I've lost some weight as a result.

*fingers crossed* I think the pool stuff has blown over, in part because the weather has (at last!) cooled down appreciably, and any outrage about pool closure has just sorta melted away. I hope. I've noticed that a LOT of complaints seem to have a lifecycle that goes:

1. shock and outrage
2. make a complaint
3. someone acknowledges complaint
4. the entire matter is forgotten

Maybe it's not entirely forgotten, but the complaint seems to lose massive amounts of urgency and priority. I think that the delay between 2 and 3 makes a difference: a timely "Thank you for your concern" response seems to make a helpful difference.

I *do* have concerns about my Board being "too eager to please". It hasn't happened so far, but - it's not difficult to imagine that we get some number of complaint emails (so far we've had just one) and the Board thinks "we'd better reconsider our decision, we don't want to make people angry!" Which strikes me as a Very Very Bad Idea, especially for trivial stuff like pool closing dates. Sometime down the road there's a 100% chance we'll need to raise the dues, and people are going to be really unhappy about that. We're going to get complaints. And I don't think we should set any kind of precedent where the Board eagerly backs down and says "oops, sorry, please excuse!" whenever anyone complains{1}.

Thanks, y'all!

Bill

{1} I don't mean we should stupidly defend any egregiously boneheaded decisions we should happen to make. But we've so far managed to avoid the kind of unbelievably outrageous HOA blunders that make the national news. And it really hasn't been difficult. So far.

Bill,
I believe our HOA is just about 30 miles north of yours in Austin. We are closing our Pool on the same day. The only difference I see is the lack of notice. At our board meeting when we announced the opening day, we also selected our closing date. You mentioned the Cooler weather and that is just one on many reasons why it makes sense. You need to have them ready when anyone challenges you. The first ones that come to mind are below.

1) Money
2) Lack of Pool activity
3) Great place for homeless and vandals to congregate.
4) Added chemicals and servicing need for longer season.
5) Lots of people running around on Halloween is another reason not to leave a Pool open

Personally, I think you take this board stuff too personally. You mentioned that it was your decision to pick this closing date. It was really just your idea. The board made the decision and that should always be the case.

A saying I heard a long time ago was something like. If you don't have critic's, you are probably not very successful.

The President is nothing more then the voice and the face of the board.
The President should report Board decisions and not indicate that they were for, against or the deciding vote.

Although it's a boards decision, I do think that soliciting input for some decisions isn't a bad idea.
I also believe that, when possible, reasons for decisions should be provided.

Such as: the board has decided to close the pool on mm/dd/yyyy. This decision is to allow the pool contractor to work us into the schedule to winterize the pool.

Bill Did the letter read "I have selected the pool closing date" or did it read "Your BOD has selected the pool closing date"?