Page 7 - New England Condominium February 2021
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NEWENGLANDCONDO.COM  NEW ENGLAND CONDOMINIUM   -FEBRUARY 2021      7  ■    Depth of Knowledge & Experience  ■    Expert Advice  ■    Creative Approaches & Solutions  ■    Flexible Billing Arrangements  NE C  ONDO   02 • 10.125   6.25   X  www.lawmtm.com  MTM is a full-service Condominium & Real Estate Law Firm  Experience,  Integrity,  & Drive Set  Us Apart  Uncommon Expertise for your Community of Common Interests  Thomas Bhisitkul  (617) 934-4603  tbhisitkul@lawmtm.com  Kimberly A. Bielan  (781) 817-4607  kbielan@lawmtm.com  Christopher S. Malloy   (617) 934-4604  cmalloy@lawmtm.com  Douglas A. Troyer  (781) 817-4605  dtroyer@lawmtm.com  Thomas O. Moriarty  (781) 817-4603  tmoriarty@lawmtm.com  (781) 817-4900  30 B  RAINTREE   H  ILL   O  FFICE   P  ARK  , S  UITE   205  B  RAINTREE  , MA  02184  (617) 934-4550  265 F  RANKLIN   S  TREET  , S  UITE   1801  B  OSTON  , MA  02110  (508) 459-8516  39 T  OWN   H  ALL   S  QUARE  F  ALMOUTH  , MA  02540  are vetted more thoroughly, which is a  can help a potentially antagonistic indi-  good thing. “There are a lot of opinions in  vidual get up to speed on new and previ-  the room,” he says. “Sometimes a stron-  ger party can control the group. It’s also  have driven unpopular decisions by the   more time consuming, but better for the  old board. Certainly, helping them have   building. Collaboration leads to less sec-  ond-guessing, since it’s a group making  and help them save face.”  decisions, and not just one person. If the   board is truly democratic, it’s easier when  time through fundamental changes on   board members see residents in the eleva-  tor and are confronted with a question.”  Board Evolution  Can a board’s culture and governance  strong views and can control the board,   style change over time? The answer is yes,  convincing its members that he has better   and that stylistic change can be the result  ideas. Style and views will alter dynamics   of  several  different  factors.  Most  likely,  in a building sometimes. Views on money   the change is a result of new board mem-  bers with differing views on management  needs a new roof. Some on the board may   style  joining  the  board  and  influencing  not want to spend the money, and would   how it operates. Another possibility is  prefer to get a longer life from the existing   that existing board members themselves  roof by  doing  repair  work.  Some  others   evolve over time, learning from their mis-  takes and perhaps becoming more com-  fortable in their positions.  “Turnover is certainly the most com-  mon driver for stylistic changes,” says   Hughes. “This can be accelerated if these  board members have to keep one impor-  changes come on the heels of individuals  tant goal in mind: the long-term success   who got on the board to ‘fix’ something  of the property. That requires a symbiotic   that the community perceived as being  relationship between the board and man-  wrong. Of course, hopefully the manager  agement. The nature of that symbiosis   is coaching, listening, and engaging the  can look a lot of different ways—as long   board on how to mitigate these risks, but  as it produces the desired results.             they may happen regardless. If so, there   is  some  technique  in  how  the  manager   ously confidential information that may   a voice can reduce the risk of contention   Wollman concurs; style evolves over   the board, people coming and going, and   new leadership. “I have a client who is the   board president of one building. He has   will alter style as well. Say the building   may  think  board service  is  a  popularity   contest. That’s a problem. Board service   and management are a responsibility to   the community.”  Regardless of style, both managers and   n  Cooper Smith is a staff writer for New   England Condominium.   an officer—president or treasurer, for ex-  ample—often have to allocate additional   time during their otherwise busy days for   conversations with management agents   about everything from ongoing conflicts   between neighbors to the date of the next   virtual social event. If   the manager needs au-  thorization for some-  thing major, it may   require  immediate  attention. That can’t   wait for one meeting   once a month.  Ray  is a  board   member of a mid-  sized  cooperative  building  in  upper  Manhattan. He has   served on the board of   his building for sever-  al years and says that   “the major challenge to board service is   the perception of how much time board   members must give to service on a board.   In a mid-size building, though, people   are invested. Many of them are willing   to make a time investment. Sometimes,   whether we are talking about full board   service or serving on a committee, we   have to think about how to present it. We   have a private community garden in the   rear of our building. We don’t have a gar-  dener. Admittedly, it’s hard to get people   to manage and maintain the garden on a   long-term  commitment,  but  easy  to  get   people to participate for a day. So, we ask   for volunteers on a day basis. We try to   assign things in ways that people will feel   they have the time.”  Roberta is a long-time resident of a   96-unit town-  h o u s e-s t y le   complex  of  condominiums   in  suburban  Boston.  She  has lived there   for nearly 30   years  and  has   served on the   board for 26   of  those  years,   some of them   as treasurer. She   agrees that time   constraints are   the biggest impediment to board or com-  mittee service for most owners. “They   don’t want to make a commitment they   can’t keep,” she says. “We are a mixed-age   community. Most people work—even our   older  residents.  They’re  concerned that   they will not be able to keep up with their   OVERCOMING...  continued from page 1  continued on page 8   “You want to have   people with history on the   board, but you also want   new people. You want   some diversity to represent   the building overall.”      — Ray, Manhattan


































































































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