Pilot Property Management

Serving Coastal North San Diego County (Vista & San Marcos), too

Association Management Governance

How to get quorum

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Since the law changed to demand secret ballots for the annual elections it has become increasingly difficult for some associations to get quorum at the first attempt. Whereas in the past, members came to the annual meeting to meet the candidates and catch up on the local musings of the board and some of its members and to enjoy an afternoon of socializing, now the voting is secret with specially appointed ballot counters to ensure correct counting and anonymous votes, everyone attending has almost nothing to come for and in many cases they simply forget to vote or choose not to exercise their vote. Reminds me a of a large English speaking country close by, really close by.

What’s a board to do?

Here are a couple of suggestions.

Hold a raffle drawing names from all those who vote for a prize or two.

Save a gift certificate to a local restaurant movie theater, 2 tickets to a community event etc etc

Give one month or more of free monthly dues to the winning voter.

Publish the names of all those who voted and the winner of the contest and their prize.

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Parking: to tow or not to tow

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Towing is a sensitive issue within a community. Some members relish the idea of towing an idiot that parks in a certain place such as a fire lane or in front of a garage entrance. While those two places are relatively easy to determine and can cause an immediate tow by a towing company it is the other kind of parking or should I say storing or mis-parking that creates the greater discussion. Parking in someone’s else’s spot or leaving a vehicle too long in a space or parking in guest parking or not visibly displaying a parking sticker  and so the list goes on are less easy to decide and yet communities do have to decide if only because someone has to sign off on the tow. There are two keys to having a successful towing policy. One is the set of rules published to the members, and the second is the selection of a towing company and its signage and policing behavior. Without the first a community can get itself into a world of harm and cause substantial cost to a vehicle owner never mind the inconvenience. All too often the rules can be silent on a particular action or behavior and that will result in unnecessary ill will within the community. Selecting a towing company that will support you in the case of an error in judgment or mistaken action is also vital. As for the original question. It’s totally up to the association. If it’s a big problem it will disappear with effective towing if it’s a small problem maybe it will resolve itself with the departure of a certain owner or even tenant.

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How to quiet the noisy director/member

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Every now and then a member seems to want to interject their thoughts questions or comments, sometimes heatedly. We once had a 6 foot 8 marine announce he was coming to a meeting. He arrived in full fatigues thankfully without weapons and proceeded to thump the board table and demand action. Sometimes a director wants to hog the floor and seems perhaps to want every other word and the last word on any topic.

What’s a board to do?

Here are a couple of suggestions. Many associations clearly state that they are governed by Roberts’s rules of order and, many others make reference to some rules of order in the bylaws. In this case the president can ask for a motion before any item on the agenda is addressed, rather than a discussion. Some larger organizations have a mini meeting a week before the board meeting to determine the agenda and formulate the motions so that s speedier decision making process occurs when the members are present. It of course allows for perfectly coined motions which may still be amended at the actual meeting. But this is a rarity in my observation. Most of us follow the agenda and spend considerable time debating the issue before a vote. The president can change the procedure very swiftly by asking for a motion and a second without which there is no debate. After the motion has been made and seconded he or she can call for discussion allowing each member to speak once before a member director may speak a second and final time. Calling the question is the Roberts rule phrase to end a motion and vote. The president will then declare the ayes or nays have it, and on to the next item on the agenda.

One particularly valuable tool has come out of the recent change in the legislation whereby only items that are on the agenda may be discussed except in true emergencies. Emergencies must be determined to be just that by vote before a discussion on the subject can take place. Given that a president or the manager may elect to give a certain time allotment to each section or item on the agenda. If consensus or a vote is not reached the matter is tabled until a later date and the meeting moves forward. Sometimes having a timer or an hourglass can be a helpful visual aid. Members comment time can take a ton of time if it is not limited to say a fixed period with a maximum time per speaker. In the event there seem to be a large number of speaker speakers slips can be used and the president may select a few or ask if there is a spokesperson for a particular topic. Often many people will want to speak to the same issue but one spokesperson may eloquently present their combined views in a few minutes.

And now for the angry sergeant. I was forewarned a rampage was possible, with looting and pillaging anticipated.  For what happened next email us at info @pilotprop.com

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How to use Robert’s rules of Order.

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Robert’s rules were created over a century ago to help organizations and debating groups to have some kind of order. They for instance allocated reasons when it may be permitted to interrupt a speaker, the number of times a speaker may address a certain subject. It sets the normal order for a meeting, it explains what a motion is and how one is made, whether it needs a second or not (some do others don’t) Most associations governing documents require the use of Roberts Rules or a similar set of rules proclaiming in their bylaws that parliamentary procedure shall follow Roberts Rules of Order.

One of the benefits of the rules is that there is a standard order of business which provides a framework for an association to conduct its business. Not only do the rules provide a certain order to meetings and the decisions reached but a fair hearing is granted to both sides of a debate. The usual and formal procedure is this. The Chairman recognizes the maker of a motion. It is promptly seconded, Failure to do so means it will not again come up for discussion at this meeting) the chairman then restates the motion. and debate begins. Following debate the chairman will call for a vote and the majority will usually rule.

The motion will then be recorded in the minutes of that meeting. The normal procedure is for the chair to recognize those who wish to speak in the order they seek recognition.

The chair would be wise to alternate recognition between those in favor and those opposed and only offer a second time after everyone who has a right to speak has spoken first. A good presiding officer will preside impartially and not be drawn into the debate, allowing rather the members to debate. Robert’s rules call for a motion and a second before debate begins. Occasionally it might be prudent to let a member briefly discuss his or her reasons for making a motion before doing so. Unanimous consent to this will allow you to suspend this major rule. This is unlikely to occur in homeowners associations as they now have to approve and distribute an agenda 4 days before any meeting listing the items for discussion at that meeting. No discussion leading to a vote may take place if the item is not properly placed on the agenda. Emergencies are one of those items but even the need for an emergency discussion needs first be voted before an item may be discussed as an emergency measure.

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How to find volunteers

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One of the cries of woe that emanate from homeowner associations is the fact that they seem unable to solicit volunteers to serve on committees and boards. It is my perception that working committees or better still a Task Force makes great breeding grounds for future directors. First they allow the volunteer to make a significant contribution without endless weeks or months of unrewarding work and secondly they prepare the volunteer for higher office. Many people live in associations that do not seem to welcome members to the association. Let’s face when things go wrong unhappiness seeps out of the woodwork in the form of angry owners intent on unseating or worse the present board of directors. Holding town hall meetings to discuss changes of direction in an association can be invigorating, and draw new blood to management. Repainting for instance, will often draw a crowd as will raising the dues significantly, as do rule changes or the rewriting of governing documents. So it is my contention that seeking member input even on perhaps minor matters will bring in people. People don’t care what we know, but want to know that we care. A relatively simple task will reveal the particular skills of a member or their interest or attributes that will allow the board to recommend that person for higher office. Being hand picked as a director is a boatload more welcoming than reading that the association needs volunteers.
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The key to good communication

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The oft spoken complaint from both directors and homeowners in Community associations is “they never return either my phone calls or my emails”.
The truth of the matter is we all delay returning some calls sometimes even with good reason. We want to check the facts, we want another opinion, maybe even a legal one, and we want the customer to cool down first. Most of the time however we just don’t want to take or return the call because we know it is going to be awkward, difficult, stressful, obnoxious and certainly not pleasant. Our day would go a lot better if we attacked the problems first and having dealt with them however bad they might be we now have the ability to focus on managing the routine functions without the dreaded call or email waiting out there for us.
If we could only realize that prompt attention to the difficult saves us from worrying about it all day. The news or complaint or request or demand may not be what we want to hear but now it’s over and we can move on to other things rather than be suspended inanimately waiting to deal with the dastardly call. If we recognized that our job is to sooth the fevered brow, to lower the temperature as I call it, we should be ready and eager to learn how better to do something. Owning up to a mistake, omission failure is in itself cathartic, it allows our emotions to relax and slow down. Instead of building up a fever postponing the inevitable we are able to release some of the tension as the difficult emotion has passed. The goal of management should be to answer all calls and emails in a reasonable time. Each person has their own definition of what is reasonable. A blackberry user probably has a shorter fuse than someone who still has a rotary phone at home. Whatever the standard adopted by the management company it should stick to it. There is even some software that tracks phone calls.
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