Page 7 - New England Condominium February 2021

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