Page 8 - New England Condominium February 2021
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8 NEW ENGLAND CONDOMINIUM   -FEBRUARY 2021    NEWENGLANDCONDO.COM  Greater Boston’s Full Service    Condominium & Property Management Firm  617-202-3815  admin@yifmanagement.com   www.yifmanagement.com  |  •   Competitive Customized Rates!    100% Transparency!  •  •   No Unnecessary Fees!   Guaranteed Communication!   •  board service commitment. Many resi-  dents have jobs where they travel, which   can interfere with board meetings. That’s   changing a little now, since we meet via   Zoom.  There’s also a hesitation  on  the   part of people with children, which is un-  derstandable, but in the end, it cuts down   on the number of people who can volun-  teer.”  Enticing Residents to Serve  Ray points out that one effective way   to change residents’ view of serving their   community is to get them involved with a   committee first. It’s a good way of getting   their feet wet for board service. “We have   gotten people to step through commit-  tee work,” Ray says. “We identify them,   ask them to serve on a committee, then   pursue them for board service afterward.   This requires outreach. No one says, ‘I   want to run for board,’ but they do say,   ‘I want to do   something  ’—so we suggest   they do a committee first, then we reach   out about board service.”   The next hurdle is getting those who   do volunteer to serve to step up again as   officers of the corporation or associa-  tion. “We need to define the board chair   role better,” says Ray. “We need to find a   way to make that role more manageable.   Good outreach and communication are   very important. At our last shareholders   meeting, which was on Zoom and well   attended, we asked for committee volun-  teers and three new people volunteered.”   According to Roberta, “We’ve had   enough people volunteer over the years to   keep the board full without begging peo-  ple to serve—but it’s difficult to get board   members to agree to serve as officers.   We’ve had just two presidents in 20 years.   I’ve served several times with breaks as   treasurer. Board members are concerned   about a number of things if they become   officers. Besides more time required, they   are worried about potential liability—  which they don’t have, because we have   insurance for that—and also that they   will be the subject of anger from residents   who don’t agree with their decisions.”  Term Limits  As is the case in any elected position in   a democratic setting, the question of how   long any one individual should serve is a   consideration. Two presidents in 20 years   could be considered problematic from   numerous perspectives. Should co-ops   and condos have term limits for board   service? Should board service be compul-  sory for all residents to provide a ready   pool of available new blood for the board?  “There should be term limits, because   you want new blood—that’s my personal   belief,” says Ray. “You want to have people   with  history on the board, but you also   want new people. You want some diver-  sity to represent the building overall: old,   young, families with children, single peo-  ple, etc. We happen to have a very func-  tional building, so it’s not a big problem.   There are several active committees, and   those people  can graduate to  the  board.   Sometimes people step down from the   board after some years of service, but still   remain active on committees. Alterna-  tively, I don’t feel board service should be   compulsory. Like any organization, you   want people to feel invested and get in-  volved.”   Roberta points out that term limits   can become problematic. “What if no one   steps up to take the vacancy?” she asks.   “That’s why I have served as treasurer for   non-consecutive terms. If no one else was   willing to do it, I felt I had to make the   commitment.” As concerns compulsory   service, she doesn’t believe that’s a good   idea either. “You can’t force people to   serve on the board,” she says. “They have   to want to do it.” Another consideration is   whether compulsory board service would   turn off potential buyers. If your com-  munity required every owner to serve on   the board at some point in their time with   the community and no other neighboring   community did the same, it might become   a consideration for potential buyers, who   might balk at the requirement and look   for a unit elsewhere. Also, what would the   community do if a resident had agreed to   serve for a year or two, but sold their unit   before serving? Would there be a penalty   of some kind? The enforcement aspect of   such a requirement might be problematic.  Service in the Time of COVID  One outgrowth of the COVID-19 pan-  demic has been the shift of both board   meetings and general meetings to on-  line meeting platforms like Zoom, as re-  ported  by  managers,  owners,  and  board   members around the country. The shift is   likely to be permanent and is apt to make   board and committee service at co-op   and  condo  communities  more  manage-  able for those who volunteer, and more   realistic for those thinking about volun-  teering. Zoom meetings can be held at   any time, from anywhere, eliminating   many of the concerns (and excuses) own-  ers have about being in a specific place at   a specific time to serve.  In the final analysis, board service is a   commitment that every qualified resident   of a co-op or condo should make at least   once. The time you put in will ultimate-  ly benefit you in many ways—ways that   might not be apparent at first, and ways   that you might not expect. In the end, the   good you do will come back to you. Com-  mit to your community, and take an ac-  tive role in making it the best it can be.  n  Cooper Smith is a staff writer for New   England Condominium.  OVERCOMING...  continued from page 7


































































































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