esrosedotblog

But not boring.

Today was the monthly condo board meeting.

I am the treasurer so get to make a financial report in the beginning. Stage center.

We have a pretty serene HOA. There is little or no conflict between neighboring owners and the quality of life is good.

Part of this is based on the fact that we have kept our association fees down below the average in the Valley.

And we are able to do that because the original developer put together a well designed construction that has endured.

There are some problems. The pools are gradually deteriorating. Inevitable after a certain number of years.

We are probably going to face some very costly paving and other infrastructural needs. We continue to rebuild roofs.

And we have depleted our reserves. This mostly because previous boards were reluctant to raise the annual HOA rates to do necessary work and took the cash out of the reserve fund.

We will be replenishing these funds starting this year with an extra assessment of a few hundred dollars per year and continue until we have built up the "grain in the silo".

Farm talk.

I still enjoy this activity into my second term. I used to want to be Chairman but have happily leaned back and do the money work. We have professional managers who do all the heavy lifting so this is mostly a matter of my keeping tabs and signing the checks. I see all the cash that goes out.

Nice job. Other people's money.

Labels: HOA

I went to the monthly Board of Directors (BOD) of the condo association today.

I have been a member for three meetings now and the Treasurer for two.

We have a professional management and so the grunt work on the financials is done by them and up to now have been presented by their in house guy. Today, I did the deed.

I wanted to do the report a little out of ego as there isn't much for the Treasurer to do but also because I think at least one person from the BOD should be overseeing what the managers are doing and, of course, delve into the detail of where the money is going. That money being about 48,000 dollars a month in dues or fees. There doesn't seem to be a universal name for what is paid by condo owners to have their business affairs tended to.

I sat with the inside guy a few weeks ago when they had done the financials and went over the numbers one by one. This is not my forte. I surely know how to read such a report for myself. I had my own business. But to see it as others do is a different skill. To be prepared to illuminate the dark corners of detail where it is appropriate is a bit of an art.

The reason for illumination is that every single decision that the Board is asked to make, and there are a whole passel of them, is somehow related to cost. It is a small enterprise. Non-profit of course, but a business nonetheless.

My inside guy, Phil, did a great job in briefing me. He made little tic marks where he thought there was an item of interest. An over run or a saving or a bit of business that would interest the Board. We sat together over it and I then sat with the data for a couple of weeks, cooking it in my head.

I also spent some time looking for trip wires. There are a few pet rocks that some Board members like to stroke. I am more or less aware of this and was willing to know more about the items than I think they do even if they were not part of my presentation.

Then I let it marinate.

I am good at this kind of thing or, I should say, I used to be good at this kind of thing. I was not the numbers man of my business partners but I was the exec and I knew how to use numbers to make good decisions. If pressed, I could expound on details that the other partners were, lets not say too lazy, disinterested to explore on their own. In other words, I could get the jump on someone else with some inside knowledge. This is why I was so close to my numbers partner. He knew the stuff and I knew how to use it as the "boss". To put it bluntly, our balls were wired together when we wanted to move the organization in a particular direction.

I also served time many years ago as the Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Town in which I lived. I stood up at the Annual Meeting and presented a recommended response to the Town fathers' budget request. (There were no town mothers so I am gender correct here, don't write comments). We did not always agree with them. Heat as well as light would ensue. I am good under fire. I enjoyed that as much as the grinding number part which, actually, others did. As they do here.

A lot of people come out to our Board meetings. I am surprised how many show up and stay. Many are there for specific issues that affect them but many are there because they are interested. I owe them my best. When I was just an owner I never went to the meetings. I honor those who do. No one snipes incidentally. The density of the data and, I suppose, the clarity of my presentation gives an air of confidence to the whole thing and, I suppose, the supposition that I would not put up with any bullshit from anyone on or off the Board. No nonsense.

We had a lot of business to conduct today. I am first and my part takes 15 minutes or so. Then I can relax and be a regular member. I try to be as respectful to everyone else there as they are with me. I do not snipe, I mean for my questions to be genuine and while I am seen as able to get a laugh out of the crowd I do not get one at anyone else's expense. I do not need to generate any resentments.

I also, surprisingly, am able to do all this without any profanity as well. This is not my normal demeanor but in this venue I am as clean mouthed as a village parson. I did almost slip today with an sh- that became "stuff" and not the other word. It was noticed but then that is part of the humor too. Not to be overused however.

So here I am. Only three meetings under my belt and I am happy as a clam. I did not do this kind of thing for a long time outside my programs and it feels good to me. I enjoy it. I am enlivened and invigorated.

Labels: condo, HOA

As I recall, you were either a fan of The Band or you were not. Dylan's house band had a short career but for many of us, they were special. A new sound. A kind of innocence in the middle of rock dissipation. But then they joined the crowd, got drunk, drugged and ego tainted and that was the end. In good times and bad they lasted 5 years and not much of those were good ones. Two great albums, one not so much. Levon Helm was the drummer and one of the voices, the one most recognizable, their signature. He went his own way and the newish film Ain't in it for My Health (2010) celebrates his later life. He was outlived by his nemesis Robbie Robertson, the member who made all the money from lyric royalties and didn't share. In Helm's version it was a cooperative thing which was not honored. A little bitterness there. Helm was battling cancer of the throat at the time of the film and he died before the film came out. The DVD was delayed until afterward so it just came out in 2012. It is an honest documentary with enough of the good singing times shown and the cantankerous old man Helm had become. I enjoyed it but it was a bit sad and pushed a bit on making him important in ways he might not have been. But it is a fitting memorial and not a bad way to be remembered. A 3 out of Netflix5. Maybe I liked him best because he was the best looking. A sexy dude with an impish smile.

I told a neighbor today that I had put my name in for the HOA board and he said he was thinking of doing the same.A letter said this week that no one had been nominated either by others or even themselves. Both of us felt guilt pangs which turned into interest which turned into enthusiasm. It is just something I had not considered before since I didn't think we had lived here long enough. There is an argument that new people would have a useful perspective but that doesn't convince me. A new person would not understand some important history all the way from the current cash crunch that is going on (they neglected the reserve fund) or the problem of personality clashes that dominated when we first got here. One thing he said was interesting. Apparently none of the incumbents have nominated themselves or are running. That is why there is a problem. No nominees at all. I had just assumed that everyone would be up for re-election. My friend figured that meant we would be a shoo in if we stood for the position, hence his serious thinking about it. He figured if he signed up, like me, he was in. I was surprised to hear this. I have to admit I don't quite understand the process but I do understand that if people don't want to be continued that is it. In the past everyone wanted to stay in office. The present board members must stay until nominees are found or, if one of them resigns out of the box, then the board will appoint someone. Since they said they had not been able to find any volunteers, up to now, that would mean skipping the election, a tedious process I would not mind avoiding. They would simply appoint the new prospect. We shall see. Actually, I have already written my campaign letter so I am good any way it goes. I like the neighbor I talked to. I would enjoy serving with him. It would mean that I know him better than the old people who I do not really know well at all. We laughed about being the "reform slate" together but there is no opposition from the incumbents. That puts the anti-approach down even if I was inclined to use it which I am not. I am just another condo owner. Yup.

Labels: condo, films, HOA

Piracy is the theme of today's movie. Not in the Burt Lancaster swords and sash sense but in the modern Somali piracy of a freighter. A Highjacking (2012) beats the arrival of the Tom Hanks highjacking film which will be more boring just because Hanks is in it. This one is Danish and shows the situation, unbelievably long weeks and months as it evolves on sea with the sailors and on land with the shipping company. The tension in both places is extraordinary. The Somali's are skilled at playing on the psychology of the live hostages and the shipping executive, the ship and the cargo are secondary. Fear is used. Impatience. Emotionality. They are quite skillful in the cat and mouse game. The pirates more than the suits in that the suits need a consultant and their cold blood is easily roiled when they lose the negotiation upper hand. The pirates are fucking crazy but crazy like a fox. The acting is great. The filming, almost documentary style is deeply involving. They filmed in the offices of a shipping company and on an actual ship. An easy 4 out of Netflix5. I would gladly watch it again. It does no harm, I am sure, to know how it turns out. It is just plain terrifying.

I sent off my 50 word bio today for the HOA board election. Then, when I got home from the gym, I typed out a longer one page bio with my picture. It flowed. So, I am ready for it. I am not sure of the process exactly. I think that people vote by secret ballot and the ballots are opened at a formal meeting of the entire association. They have missed the deadline for nominations for the December meeting. One consequence already. I will be going to observe the Board meeting on November 14 and also the non-election meeting of the entire association mid December. One demerit for me is that I have never attended one of these. It might be good to show up and be seen and to see what happens. I have some fear of not winning. But I have been in elections before in my past life. Won a few and lost one. And those were a lot bigger than this. An entire town and town meeting. So. Quiet now. The next step will be to get the addresses of the people and mail out the one pagers in time for the voting.

Labels: condo, films, HOA