Own - Adj. of, relating to, or belonging to oneself or itself (usually used after a possessive to emphasize the idea of ownership, interest, or relation conveyed by the possessive);Verb. to have or hold as one's own; possess:
Apathy-Noun. absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement. lack of interest in or concern for things that others find moving or exciting. (Dictionary.com)
Many times around The Retreat, owners describe things that the HOA is not doing right for the community, but they do not invest any more time than to make that complaint. Some might think that a HOA fee gives owners a right to be apathetic since they are "paying someone else to deal with everything". However, as an owner, you should be the exact opposite.
The leadership of your community (the Board) is not being paid from your HOA fees to "deal with everything". CMG is paid to support the HOA Board and to minimize the day-to-day operations handled by the Board. However, the HOA is what maintains your investment, your property, and hopefully works to improve your investment. The HOA fee should be thought of as the costs to maintain and protect your investment, that you would have even in a single family home.
Apathy is toxic to a community. We have 264 units at The Retreat. We average less than 40 people at the quarterly HOA meetings. That is 15% of the community, IF each person was from a different unit. 15% of the community is voicing their opinions about the state and future of this community. If things are not going in the direction that you wish to see in The Retreat, is it because your voice is not part of that 15%? Imagine the amount of input we could get if we had 85% of the community represented at the meeting or calling in, rather than 15%...
GET INVOLVED! Make a conscious effort to set a good example for your guests and neighbors by following the Rules and Regulations of the community. See a new neighbor? Welcome them to the community and let your building rep know as well! Or simply, the next time you see litter in the community, rather than say that the janitor will take care of it, throw it away yourself!
Don't wait until October to make yourself known. Now is the time of the year that the Board is planning projects for the next financial year. Have an idea that could help improve the community, investigate it, find out if it feasible and present it as a viable concept rather than a theoretical idea to the board. The board will always listen to proposals to improve the commmunity.
I am part of the 85% and it is not because of apathy. I live 8 hours away and it is difficult to attend board meetings. After owning our condo for a short time I decided to take a few days, stay at the condo and attend a board meeting.
ReplyDeleteFor the first part of the meeting I was glad I attended. That was a short lived feeling. When the floor was opened for questions I asked a question about a guttering problem. I was informed in no uncertain terms that was not an appropriate question for the board and it would hot be discussed. I have never been so embarrassed in my life. I couldn't wait to leave. It may have not been appropriate but I did not know the ground rules and still don't.
I am very thankful that a couple of the owners apologized for the response I received. They seemed some what shocked also.
After that experience I feel like it is best to pay the HOA fee and say nothing.
Thank you for the constructive criticism. The board has been making an effort to provide phone in options for each meeting to include owners who live far away. Hopefully you will have an opportunity to try that in the future.
DeleteAs for the Q&A session, your comments serve as a valuable reminder that the board needs to respond to each and every question carefully and assume the owner has no previous knowledge on the subject. Without remembering your question about the gutters in particular, if it was associated with the porches, then we have been instructed to only discuss that at the lawyer meetings. I am sorry this was not made clear at the meeting and that you felt embarrassed by the response.
This meeting had a very bitter Q&A session, and I hope that you try at least one more meeting before assuming that every meeting is like that.
Thanks for you kind response. This meeting was about four years ago and had nothing to do with porches.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I appreciate your response.
Thank you for the clarification on the timing of your question. I do hope you take advantage of the call in option in the future. We have had a lot of positive feedback about this option to participate in both listening and asking questions at the end of the meeting.
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