Board of Directors

As the Covid pandemic continued on its deadly way the Gatherings Board of Directors continued on their cautious way with only five residents showing up in the Clubhouse to witness, in person, the five Board members and their secretary conduct their monthly open meeting. We don't have a count on how many residents watched from their Units via Zoom hookups.

The meeting covered subjects such as the concern about birds using feeders in a tree near the driveway between Building 2 and 3, buzzing hornets in the eaves, slow-as-molasses negotiations with Beazer still going on, ugly and unhealthy mold on the sides of buildings, needed parking instructions for delivery trucks plus many other items and proposals that had to be postponed until the next Board meeting.

In the good news department a happy resident reported that a constantly occcuring leak in Building 1 was, hopefully, finally fixed by Beazer. She left the meeting happy when the Board said they had no problem with her installing a walk-in tub in her bathroom. President Davis announced that she arranged for the long awaited new aluminum patio tables to finally arrive in about two weeks. These are larger replacements for the ones ordered last year. Social Chairlady Alison Prevost was given Board permission to spend no more than forty dollars each to purchase six new folding chairs for the Clubhouse.

At the Board meeting in November of last year President Davis announced that it was time for every dryer duct in every building to be professionally cleaned as part of a safety effort. A deadline of September 30th was set as to get the job done. A few months ago a sub-committee was formed, under the Buildings and Grounds Committee, to research the best way to go about the job. During this meeting a draft leaflet was presented to the Board covering how the cleaning would be done, who might be recommended to do the job and the costs involved. This leaflet could be duplicated and circulated to all Unit owners. However, the leaflet did not answer questions concerning what would happen if there was non-compliance with the cleaning request or what would be the status of Unit owners who already had cleaning done within the last year. Seeking the answers to these problems President Davis organized a special Board Meeting for Wednesday, May 25th for a discussion and possible voting on revised requirements for getting the job done with 100% compliance.

Photo 1 - Board members "Chuck" Keen, Gerry Moore, President Alan Marsilio; Photo 2- Board Member Matt Berg; Photo - 3 Board Member "Chuck Keen"; Photo 4 - CMC Rep. Sara Pagani; Photo - 5 Claudette Sylvester and Secretary Mary Keen; Photo - 6 Tom Szymczak, Judy Smith and former Board Member Kay Witt

The Board Of Directors Page

On this page the Board of Directors will inform the Community of projects, problem and policies. You will also find notes taken at previous Board meetings.

Notes From The Board Meeting Of November 12, 2019

From left to right Board Member Gerry Moore, Board President Alan Marsilio,
Member-at-Large Matt Berg and Member-at-Large Audrey Davis

The November meeting of the Board was the first official appearance for new members Matt Berg and Audrey Davis. Board member Chuck Keen and his wife Mary, who is the Board's secretary, were on vacation. Judy Smith sat in for Mary and recorded the official minutes. Also, not present, was Lisa Gardner the CMC representative who called in sick. On this chilly evening only 9 unit owners showed up for the meeting.

Lisa's absence meant a lot of loose threads from previous meetings were left hanging awaiting for her return. Matt Berg reported on the attic inspection he made with Lisa and Jim, the CMC handyman. He said that proper ventilation could be achieved in the various buildings attics with a little cutting but perhaps it was best to wait and do the work when the weather turned warmer in the spring. He also said that driveway repairs have yet to be started and that the Wet and Forget treatments to combat mildew and growths on the building's walls would also be delayed. So, in the cold the mold is on hold. When asked if fire extinguisher replacement had started Matt said he did not know if they had been replaced or recharged.

Board President Alan Marsilio reported that a draft of The Gatherings budget for next year had been approved but it had not yet been finalized. Happily, he said there would be no increases in the condo fees next year. The only increases were for unit owners who keep refrigerators or freezers in their garages or storage rooms. They were asked to register these appliances. These owners will be charged $10 a month for the electric current they use since all of these appliances are connected to each building's common spaces' meter shared by all unit owners. These charges will begin in the first month of the approaching new year.

There has been a problem with the elevator in Building 4 leaking hydraulic fluid and temporary repairs have been made to it. The elevator is now awaiting a permanent fix with work scheduled for the near future. Also, in Building 4 there were reports of concrete falling on a driveway as an overhead lintel many floor up bulged and pushed out from the building. President Marsilio told everyone that if anyone sees something wrong with a building they should report it immediately before someone gets hurt.

There are still water leaks in many areas and repairing them has been held up as the transition study continues its slow trip to completion. Some of the affected unit owners are considering paying for leak repairs themselves right now hoping they will be reimbursed when the study is over.

Matt Berg offered another suggestion regarding the contracts which have been used with various contractors. He felt in many cases they are inadequate. For example they do not specify who is liable if a worker gets hurt when doing a job. These and other omissions he felt should be discussed with our lawyers so that any work done is under contracts we can trust.

In the open part of the meeting residents expressed their concerns about a loose shingle that was found and then disappeared before anyone could go on the roof and find out from where it came. Other owners brought up topics such as keys for the Clubhouse, a recommendation for a Buildings and Grounds Committee, reserving the Clubhouse for private events and reports of unfixed water leaks here and there. It was stressed that if someone was to be away for a time there should be arrangements for entry into a unit in case there is a water leak affecting the apartment below.

Social Committee President Alison Prevost suggested that a great deal of red tape involved in reserving and placing a deposit for a Clubhouse private social event could be eliminated by placing the reservation forms either on-line or in the Clubhouse where they could be picked up at the same time a unit owner entered his or her event on the monthly calendars pinned to the Clubhouse bulletin board.

There was also a suggestion that duplicate entries in the By Laws and the Rules and Regulations be eliminated and that copies of both should be updated and distributed to unit owners as we move closer to Covenant Rules inspections. With Lisa Gardner absent much of the evening's published agenda was pushed off to the December meeting when, you can be assured, things will be busy indeed.

The 2019 Board Of Directors Election

On Wednesday, October 19th approximately 37% of the residents of The Gatherings either assembled in or submitted their proxies to a meeting room at the nearby new school building of the Grace United Methodist Church for The Gatherings annual Board of Directors meeting which featured the yearly election to fill vacancies created by the ending of the three-year board terms of Sue Berg and Kay Witt.

The first order of business for Board President Alan Marsilio was to ask the four candidates who were running to rise and state the reasons they wanted to be Board members. The candidates spoke in alphabetical order: Below, from let to right, they were Matt Berg, Audrey Davis, Deborah Schultz and Kay Witt.

Once the candidates short speeches were concluded the voting began. However, just before the first ballots were filled-in, former Board member Malcolm Kirsop rose to suggest that the next time there is an election that the candidates participate in a "Meet The Candidates" get-together with their fellow residents so that the unit owners have a better idea of for whom they are voting. It would also give the candidates a feeling for what's on the owner's minds. He said that this had been done successfully in the past. Board President Marsilio agreed and said "Meet The Candidates" would be brought back in future elections.

And The Newly Elected Board Members Are...

Congratulations to Matt and Audrey. By the way, with the election of Audrey to the Board, Building 4 will now have four out-of-the-five board members in their building plus Mary Keen the Board Secretary. Now, the remaining residents of that building will not have far to go to have their complaints heard.

At the Executive Session following the Annual Meeting the Board choose among themselves the official position each member would occupy.

President – Alan Marsilio
Vice President – Gerry Moore
Treasurer – Chuck Keen
Member - At - Large - Matt Berg
Member-at- Large – Audrey Davis
Secretary – Mary Keen

The 2018 Annual Meeting At Which A New Board Member Was Born

It Was Election Night
The Candidates Spoke And The Voting Began

On October 10th, 2018 the Board of Directors of The Gatherings At Wellington presided over the election of a new board member to replace the soon to be Floridian - Sheldon Levi. The candidates who filed for the vacated position were long-time resident Debbie Barlow from Building 2 and Charles Keen, a more recent resident from Building 4 who asks to be called "Chuck." Both candidates addressed members of the community as they gathered to vote in a meeting room at the nearby Grace Methodist Church. Here are some photos of the meeting which was chaired by Board of Directors President Alan Marsilio.

The Votes Have Been Tabulated

Congratulations To Our Newest Board Member

Charles H. "Chuck" Keen

Chuck Keen

At the Executive Session following the Annual Meeting the Board choose the following listed individuals to serve as GAW Association officers:

President – Alan Marsilio
Vice President – Gerry Moore
Treasurer – Sue Berg
Assistant Treasurer – Chuck Keen
Member-at- Large – Kay Witt
Secretary – Mary Keen

For the notes on this meeting click here --►

Clarifying A Clubhouse Rule

Recently, one of our unit owners went to the Clubhouse on a Saturday afternoon to do her regular exercise on the stationary bicycle only to find a party was underway. When she went into the exercise room she discovered the equipment was covered with clothing while a group of unattended children played amidst the machines. She used this site's comment section to ask for clarification of the use of the room when the Clubhouse has a function in progress. Her comment was forwarded to Board President Alan Marsilio and his reply is posted below:

Thank you very much for bringing this to our attention. First, to answer your easy question: there is a large closet for coats and hats directly across from the restrooms. That being said, when the clubhouse is reserved that means it is reserved entirely, including the fitness room. The clubhouse reservation calendar is posted in the clubhouse bulletin board as well as on the website under the Social Committee tab and it does show that the clubhouse was reserved on the day you visited it from 11am to 4pm for a party. Of course you are welcome to ask the people having a function if you can use the fitness room if they are not using it.

On the other hand the fitness room certainly should not be used as an unsupervised playroom for children and we will address that with the person who reserved the clubhouse. Again thank you very much for bringing this to our attention.

Respectfully,
Alan Marsilio

The 2017 Annual Meeting of
The Gatherings at Wellington
Elects Three New Board Members

Alan Marsilio Gerry Moore Sheldon Levi President Vice President Member-At-Large

There were three opening on the Board this year. Two unit owners declared their candidacy before the election. They were Alan Marsilio and Gerry Moore. Before the voting began, according to the rules, additional nominations were accepted from the floor. This resulted in the nominations of both Sheldon Levi and George Bango. Thus, we were fortunate to have four well-qualified candidates for the three open positions. All of the candidates addressed the voters briefly stating their experiences. When the election ended the newly selected Board of Directors met briefly for the first time. Their work had begun immediately.

This was the first meeting of the new Board of Directors who will serve the Gatherings in the years to come. The present members met with the newly elected members to decide who will take on the various roles the Board requires. From left to right retiring Treasurer Joe "Chief" Phoenix; retiring Vice President Malcolm Kirsop, incoming President Alan Marsilio, CMC Representative Jennifer Jordan who was there as an official observer; former Secretary and new Member-at-Large Kay Witt, incoming Member-at-Large Sheldon Levi, newly selected Treasurer Sue Berg and incoming Vice President Gerry Moore. There will be no position of Board Secretary. The minutes of future meeting will be provided by a person either appointed or hired by the new Board.

Many Thanks!

As the Community gets ready to welcome our three new Board members we'd like to thank the three retiring members Liz Schrader, Malcolm Kirsop and Joe Phoenix for their service to our community. Like doctors in a hospital they have been on-call 24 hours a day handling everything from our budgets to emergencies like the sudden unfortunate flooding which took place in two of our buildings. They have negotiated contracts, supervised our management company, battled our builder, met with Manassas City officials, listened to our complaints and tried to make our lives better. They helped shovel snow, saw to it that our trees stayed alive, the grass turned green and the elevators continued to run. They encountered the same degree of stress as the managers of a large business and they did it for no pay. Now, they are entitled to enjoy The Gatherings like the rest of us have done for the last year. We have had an excellent and diligent crew. We say a simple thanks for the safety and well being they supplied. We were lucky to have these talented and dedicated people at our helm. Now it's up to the new Board to keep the momentum going.

The Responsibilites and Duties of The Board Of Directors

To read the letter from the Board of Directors attorney please click on it and scroll down..

Important Information and a Request from Board President Alan Marsilio

Dear Neighbors:
I hope you will find this information from your Board of Directors to be helpful and informative. On November 1st your Board met and decided on a new contract for snow removal this coming winter. The Board voted to award to Angler Environmental, the same contractor from last year. Although Angler’s rates are competitive, there was not enough snow last year to adequately assess their performance, so we are going with them again this year to cut down on the administrative burden of assessing multiple competitive bids.

Also, for the first time the Board reached out to the community for a volunteer Contract Manager for snow removal. Mr. George Banco has graciously agreed to monitor Angler’s performance on behalf of the Board and the community; George will observe and ensure they are conducting the activities required by the contract, advise the BOD on whether their invoices match their work, and help the Board recover any accidental damages, if necessary.

In the coming months there will be other volunteer opportunities for Contract Managers from the community. For example, the Board can use help monitoring the landscaping, cleaning, repair, and management contracts. Such volunteer activities do not require regular meeting attendance or heavy administrative burden, but can be a great way to serve our community and support the Board by extending our oversight reach.

Finally, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the three Board members who recently completed their service: Liz Schrader, Joe Phoenix, and Malcolm Kirsop. Their monumental efforts to see this community to completion have put us on a solid path to an exciting future and I urge you to thank them at your earliest opportunity.

Very Respectfully,
Alan Marsilio
President

To All Unit Owners

An important Letter from the Past President of The Board of Directors
Liz Schrader

Another reading suggestion from Liz:

Every now and then I run into an article about condo living that I think is worth sharing with all of our residents here in The Gathering. Below is one of those articles that appeared on the website of our Associations legal firm that I think you might enjoy and, like me, learn something of value.

The Broken Window Theory and Your Community Association

by Daniel B. Streich

Walt Disney intuitively figured it out and adopted it even before the sociologists came up with it. Rudy Giuliani wholeheartedly believed in it and implemented it during his tenure as Mayor of New York City. What is “it”? An analysis of human behavior known as the “broken window theory.” We think it applicable to community associations as well.

A few qualifiers at the outset. When the concept was first published in 1982 in the Atlantic Monthly by noted social scientists James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling, it was initially perceived as a theory pertaining to urban criminology. That is essentially how it was applied and implemented by Giuliani during his tenure as the chief executive of New York City, where it achieved dramatically successful results, both statistically and empirically. But the theory has since been discussed and applied in other academic disciplines and spheres of human activity as well, with economics as one example.

We acknowledge here that the broken window theory has its critics. Nevertheless, there is a compelling, real-life quality to the theory. It seems to have an undeniable explanatory and predictive capacity. Many – perhaps most – Americans are able to recall experiences or places in their lives in which the theory seems to have been validated, in whole or in part.

So what is the theory? Reduced to its simplest form, it uses a broken window as a symbolic metaphor. The theory holds that if an abandoned building or a vacated residential dwelling has a broken window that is visible to the public, and if that window goes unrepaired, more windows in the building or the dwelling will soon be broken by acts of vandalism. If the owner or the community allows the deterioration of the building to continue to go unrepaired and unchecked, then eventually squatters may wind up living in the building, or minors may play in the building and commit further acts of vandalism, or drug users may use the building as a “shooting gallery” to indulge their addiction. Wilson, Kelling and other sociologists performed some practical experiments to test and prove the theory, but a description of those experiments, while fascinating, is beyond the scope of this article.

Why does this happen? Fundamentally, the theory’s insight is that people are both adaptive and imitative beings. A person is adaptive in that he or she will usually conform their behavior to what they perceive to be the “norm” in their environment, so as to adapt and survive in that environment. In so doing they are essentially imitating those around them. A broken window that goes unrepaired sends a signal to the community. It implicitly communicates a message to the people who observe that minor but continuing indicator of social disorder. That message? No one cares. And if no one cares enough to repair one window, then the community won’t care if more windows are broken, or if further acts of vandalism or social disorder are committed. In fact and effect, an unrepaired broken window – or litter on the street, or graffiti on fences – visually degrades the social order of that community and precipitates an ongoing decline of the acceptable and desirable social norm.

Decades before Wilson and Kelling developed and published their broken window theory, Walt Disney – being the genius that he was – intuitively understood this aspect of human nature. When he opened his first theme park (Disneyland in Anaheim, California) during the 1950s, he continually emphasized to his staff (paraphrasing here): We will maintain our park in an immaculate condition, always... when our guests walk into our park in the morning, they will encounter a pristine environment, as perfectly maintained as humanly possible... we will strive ceaselessly to maintain the park in that condition throughout the day... when corrective maintenance is required, we will do it at night, so that when our guests stream through our gates every morning, they will find themselves in a wonderfully well-ordered and clean environment.

One of my memories – still – from family vacations to Disneyland in my early childhood is of high school and college-aged young people, attired in straw boaters and spotlessly clean, light pastel-colored Disneyland staff uniforms, equipped with short-handled mini-brooms and dustbins attached to three-foot poles, constantly walking around the park, scooping up every straw wrapper, cigarette butt, candy wrapper and every other possible item of refuse and debris that didn’t belong in Disneyland. That was their job. Their conscientious diligence and the scope of their activity impressed me, even at five years of age.

Why the unceasing effort? Because as Walt Disney informed his staff, people who come into an unsullied and orderly environment will be more likely to keep it that way. They will adapt to the norm set by that environment and they will therefore be more likely to respect Disneyland and their fellow guests. It didn’t work on every guest’s subconscious, of course, but it had – and has – the desired general effect, and Disney Corporation’s philosophy in that regard continues to the present day.

Similarly, and in the urban criminology scenario, former NYC Mayor Giuliani implemented the theory to pull New York City back from the precipice of anarchy. Not many sentient individuals who were familiar with that city during the ’70s and ’80s would disagree with a description of the Big Apple as a chaotic, threatening, crime-ridden, nearly ungovernable entity. Its tourist trade had sunk through the floor. When he became NYC’s Mayor, Giuliani faced a challenge that made the Augean stables seem easy by comparison.

One might think that Giuliani would have concentrated his efforts on murder, rape, robbery and mayhem. He did so to an extent, but he also paid particular attention to aspects of the NYC environment that previous mayors had ignored. “Squeegee men,” subway turnstile jumpers, graffiti “taggers” and aggressive, physically-intimidating panhandlers suddenly attracted considerable – and unwanted – law enforcement attention from the NYPD. Graffiti in public places, such as on subway cars, was removed and measures were instituted to prevent its recurrence. Dilapidated properties were sold and redeveloped. Central Park and other “common areas” were physically restored and made safe by a vigilant and visible law enforcement presence. Metaphorically speaking, Giuliani and his staff replaced the broken window.

The result? New York City became an environment that was no longer menacing in its underlying tone of disorder, crime and chaos. Social order was restored. By reducing the incidence of public and visible lawless acts and social disorder, however minor in nature, Giuliani established and enforced a new social norm, and that signaled to both NYC residents and to potential visitors that Gotham had turned a corner. Tourists returned, crime rates plummeted and the city prospered. New York City’s precipitous decline into anarchic chaos had been arrested, and just in time.

We suspect that by now you have discerned the applicability of the broken window theory to community association governance. What is the norm or prevailing standard in your community? Is your neighborhood generally neat, clean, orderly and well-maintained? Or, conversely, do too many front lawns in your community look like the upland meadows through which Julie Andrews joyfully cavorted in the opening scenes of The Sound of Music? Is peeling paint the norm? Detached gutters? Missing or cockeyed shutters? Garbage cans – or even just garbage – at the curb 24/7? Trailers with watercraft parked in front yards? Broken fences, or even the presence of graffiti? What norm or standard does that appearance communicate to others... say, for example, to potential purchasers who may be driving through your neighborhood?

Because that’s the important point, isn’t it? You may not have known it when you purchased your home in your homeowners or condominium association community. You may not currently understand and appreciate the value of the restrictive covenants and related rules and regulations that govern the appearance and your use of your dwelling. But the fundamental purpose of such restrictions is to preserve the value of your real estate investment. Who among us purchased their home in the hope that they’ll have to sell it someday for less than what they paid for it? Go ahead, raise your hands. Anyone? Didn’t think so.

Like them or not, restrictive covenants establish a baseline, a standard, or yes, a social norm. Hanging toilet seats from a tree in the front yard (to cite an admittedly egregious example from a Louisiana HOA) deviates from and undermines that norm. And yes, the norm established by your restrictive covenants communicates a message to all who enter your community. It signals to others that the residents in your community take pride in their neighborhood and care about their homes. That attitude may be motivated by community spirit, self-pride and self-dignity, or perhaps just by economic self-interest. Regardless, by setting and enforcing a standard of conscientious maintenance and aesthetic appeal, you’re doing what Walt Disney did for Disneyland... you’re making your community an attractive and welcoming environment which people will enjoy visiting and in which they may want to invest financially and emotionally.

So how to accomplish that goal? In the New York City example, Giuliani started with the small things, on the reasoning that if minor but visible and frequent violations were corrected, it would have a salutary effect on the larger problems. Again, that goes to the signaling aspect of the theory. Setting a standard – replacing the window – sends a message. Thus, a community association board of directors should of course take action (legal action, if necessary) against the usual one or two properties in the community that present visual blights within the neighborhood. That enforcement action in and of itself will send a message to the community.

After that, however, we recommend that a board of directors and the management agent concentrate on minor, more routine violating conditions. As we see it, this approach will accomplish four desirable goals for your association. First, it will hopefully prevent a minor violating condition on a lot (or condominium unit) from deteriorating into larger and more numerous violating conditions on the lot. Second, smaller problems are easier and less expensive to correct than larger problems, and thus property owners are more amenable to fixing smaller problems than having to spend significant amounts of money correcting larger violations. Third, preventing smaller problems from degenerating into larger problems can ultimately save the association from having to resort to litigation to enforce its covenants or use restrictions. And finally, paying attention to the details, the “small stuff,” signals to your community that a reasonable but rigorous norm is being established and will be enforced. Your members may grouse a bit about that, but most of them will understand and appreciate that such a standard actually serves their self-interests, economic and otherwise. And, with the signal having been sent, most of your members will adapt to and abide by the social norm established within your community.

In summary, we acknowledge that one could push the broken window theory too far with respect to its applicability to community association governance and covenant enforcement. But it is instructive as to observable human behavior, and thus when implemented it can support the shared goal of preserving property values in your neighborhood. Fix the window. Mow the lawn. Hide the garbage cans. Set and enforce a norm and thereby send the message that someone cares. All of your members will benefit from that approach, even if they don’t realize it in the short term.

The Golden Rules Of Condo Life

Some Thoughts From Our Board of Directors President - Liz Schrader

Not too long ago one of our new unit owners called me with a problem. He didn’t know what to do about the cigarette smoke wafting up through the decking of his porch from the porch directly below him. The smoke was causing him physical distress and he called me to find out if there was a rule against smoking in that area. What was he to do?

Well, he solved his problem without resorting to brandishing our community’s extensive rules and regulations. He simply went downstairs and spoke gently to his neighbors about his problem. Turns out it was not the neighbors who were the smokers but the neighbor’s guests. To avoid the smell of smoke in their host’s unit they stepped outside onto the unit's porch to indulge their habit. After our new owner politely stated his complaint with the people downstairs he was given assurances that this would not happen again and he returned upstairs with not only his problem solved but, with two new friends as well. He had handled his problem correctly.

Well, this incident not only got me thinking it also got me searching the internet to find answers to other questions regarding life in a condo.

How did other condos solve their problems when their residents had a gripe with a neighbor or they disagreed with a rule or regulation or they thought the Board of Directors was making a huge mistake in a decision they had made or were about to make?

The first thing I learned is that the condo universe is quite large. At last count, more than 35% of Americans now live in a condo and they’ve been getting plenty of advice. I thought you might be interested in some of the comments I copied and pasted during my search. As President of the Board of Directors I have experienced some of these problems first hand and now, after my Gatherings at Google journey, I have also learned a lot from what others across the country have had to say. I think it’s a useful read whether or not you, someday, may also want to serve on the Board.

GOOGLE GATHERINGS FROM OTHER CONDO ASSOCIATIONS AND THEIR ADVISERS

Wherever we live, we have to learn to get along with people around us. These days, condos have evolved past a collection of static individuals living separately in different units. The current trend is a community of residents who live, work, and play together.
Nobody wants to be that annoying person who gets a complaint filed against them on a regular basis. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes and think about your common pet peeves. Chances are, whatever annoys you, gets somebody else’s goat as well. Building relationships with your fellow condo dwellers will open more doors than you realize.
The root of most issues among neighbors is a lack of communication. Try not to deal with things through passive-aggressive retaliation. As much as possible, if you find something bothering you, talk to them about it. You’ll be able to solve the problem the sooner you talk it over like a couple of adults. Sometimes matters are serious enough to involve building management. When this happens try to be as calm as possible and avoid making harsh statements later on. You’ll be living in the same building for a good long time so it’s best to be on good terms.
Some best friends started out as neighbors. All it takes to be a good one is a healthy amount of consideration for others.
Sometimes, being on the board of a condo is like being a politician. Fellow residents look to you to solve problems. They can vote for you, or they can choose not to vote for you if you do something they dislike. You feel like you're always in the spotlight and sometimes you feel that even your best may not be enough.
The details of condominium law are not nearly as important as the family politics of simply getting along in a condo community. While a few Boards and owners tie themselves up in legal knots, it's actually good human relations and good behavior that will more often prevent or solve occasional problems among condo neighbors or between owners and their Board.
It's amazing how many people will write letters of complaint or call their lawyer before any attempt at face-to-face communication. Assign the Board Chair or another delegate to discuss noise or whatever it is with that owner, and report back. If you're the owner who feels hounded by the Board, make an appointment to appear at the next Board meeting to state your case and to hear their perception of the issue.
Condo boards DO have to enforce bylaws and impose standards of good behavior on those who disturb others. Courts will uphold judicious board action on behalf of owners who expect and deserve peace, quiet and safety. Each owner needs to be civil if high-density living is to succeed. When problems arise, solutions are rarely found in the Condominium Property Act, but in good communication, mature behavior, and fair dealing.
“This is the ultimate form of democracy,” says Frank Rathbun, vice president of communications for the Community Associations Institute. (CAI)
CAI statistics show that 64 percent of residents are satisfied with their community association experience and 26 percent are neutral, with only 10 percent dissatisfied, according to a 2014 survey. But the same survey shows that almost a quarter of residents have experienced a significant disagreement with their association, with landscaping and parking being the two most common causes, followed by finances and architectural issues.
Whether you like or hate the rules that come with community association life, once you’ve bought in an association, you’ve signed on. Being a member of an association ties your fate to your neighbors’ in ways that living in a traditional subdivision does not.
“You have to overcome that ‘my home is my castle’ issue,” Rathbun says.
Rules are designed to protect property values, and 70 percent of the respondents in the CAI survey believe they do, while 26 percent believe they make no difference. Disagreements over which rules are required to protect property values often leads to conflicts that can cost residents both time and money if they’re handled poorly.
“People ought to know that being in a condo is a give-and-take kind of thing,” says Patrick Hohman, author of “Condos Townhomes and Home Owner Associations: How to Make Your Investment Safer” and a longtime volunteer board member who is now a part-time, on-site manager at a condominium near Louisville, Kentucky. He also runs an educational website called www.CondoHOAinfo.com.
“It’s a nonstop process of building trust and maintaining trust,” Hohman says. “You learn to be forgiving of others and forgiving of yourself. You deal with people where they are and as they are. It’s kind of like dealing with your extended family at Thanksgiving.”
One challenge for associations is that volunteer board members, with no property management experience, are charged with maintaining hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of property. About two-thirds of associations hire professional managers, but the rest are managed by the residents themselves.
“Board members are almost never trained in property management,” says Richard Thompson, who publishes The Regenesis Report, a weekly newsletter for board members and developers. “If the board hires competent people, they’re going to stay ahead of the curve and not put fires out,” he says.
Have a long-range plan. State laws regarding reserves and planning vary, but it always makes sense to plan for items you know will have to be replaced or repaired, such as roads, roofs and pools. If the community has no reserves and no plan, a roof leak at a condominium complex could mean a surprise assessment of thousands of dollars for each homeowner. “If the board had been collecting money and planning for this … every member along the timeline would have been paying some portion,” Thompson says.
Communities are dependent upon the skills and personalities that residents and board members bring to the table. Some people are better than others at working with their neighbors, and residents with poor people skills can create problems for everyone, especially if they get on the board.
Experts say that communications and transparency – being very clear about where the money goes, welcoming residents and board meetings and sharing information about how decisions are made – go a long way toward building community harmony.
“There is no substitution for communication between the association and the residents,” Rathbun says.

Here are some tips for getting along in a homeowner’s association.

Follow proper procedures. Boards should set up clear procedures for everything from getting permission to paint your front door to rental applications to installing a satellite dish, and homeowners should expect to follow those procedures.
If you don’t like a rule, get your neighbors together to change it. Changing circumstances may make some rules outmoded, and boards should review the rules every few years to make sure they’re all serving the community. If you don’t like a rule, talk to your neighbors and petition the board collectively for a change.
Volunteer to help your community. It’s not always evident from the outside exactly what work the board of directors is doing and what issues the community faces. Volunteer to help with a project or serve on a committee, and expect to serve on the board at some point. “Get involved. Don’t wait until you’re dissatisfied about something,” Rathbun says.
Try to stay out of court. Every community has a few people who think the rules don’t apply to them, and some would rather fight than comply. A court battle can be costly, both in money and in emotional turmoil within the community. “Win, lose or draw, we are still talking about neighbors who have this bigger wall between them,” Thompson says. Adds Rathbun: “Be reasonable: That applies to both the homeowners and the volunteer homeowners who serve on the board.”
Go to your neighbor before you go to the board. The board is there to make sure the rules and regulations of the development are followed, but if your neighbor’s loud music annoys you, talk to your neighbor first before taking your complaint to the HOA board.

This is Liz again.
Does that last paragraph and a few others seem repetitive?
Isn't this what our neighbor did when other people’s smoke became his problem. The problem was solved, before it became a dispute, just by talking about it! What I encountered on my internet tour was a commonality that runs through most associations. We all seem to have similar problems for which there are similar solutions. What they have learned can help guide us as well. As we say on the bottom of the "Home" page of this website, “Communication Leads To Community.” Looks like other condo associations have been saying the same thing.

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