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A U G U S T , 2 0 1 7
CONT I NU E S ON PAGE 74
PRESIDENT’S
CORNER
DENISE BECKER, CMCA, AMS, PCAM
CAI-NJ 2017 PRESIDENT | HOMESTEAD MANAGEMENT SERVICES, INC., AAMC
"Continuing attempts to negotiate
on an issue that has already been
decided will negatively affect the
entire board and community."
“Everything is awesome! Everything is cool when you’re part of a team!
Everything is awesome, when we’re living our dream!”
Tegan & Sara (featuring The Lonely Island) – “Everything is Awesome”
I
hope that you are reading this on a beach or at your
community pool, slathered in sunscreen, drink in hand,
enjoying the “dog days” of summer. Speaking of dogs,
as a dog owner/lover, this is also a great time for nice,
long evening walks with my two of my favorite guys, Jaeger
and Zander. Those two furry guys make everything awe-
some for me, (even the unpleasant task of cleaning up after
them) because we want to be responsible members of our
community, a part of the team that makes our community a
great place to live.
I’ve been thinking a lot about teamwork over the last few
months. As most of you know, a lot of hard work goes into
the management of a community association, whether it is
nine units or nine hundred. That work cannot get done well
or in a timely fashion without the help of many, many team
members.
Let’s start with the board members, the Homeowner
Leaders. Educated and responsible board members know
that they cannot do everything themselves and entrust the
management of their communities to their management
teams. The best boards communicate amongst each other
with respect and with thoughtful concern for the questions
and issues facing that specific community. Just because
you are the Board President does not mean that your vote
counts more than the Vice President, Secretary, or other
board members. Does that mean that all the board mem-
bers have to agree on every given issue? No, of course
not, but once a vote is taken and a decision is reached,
the board should act with one voice and as one cohesive
unit to advance that decision.
Too many times in recent years (and even recent months)
I have seen boards torn apart because of issues that could
have been dealt with through better communication and
respect for the opinion of their team mates, owners and
management. Everyone should want the best for their
communities. Once a vote is taken and decision is made,
stop discussing it. Continuing attempts to negotiate on an
issue that has already been decided will negatively affect the
entire board and community. Trust your professionals. Strive for
the best outcome and the highest standards. Know that you
shouldn’t compromise quality for cost (consider the high cost
of re-doing or fixing something not done right the first time).
Now, let’s talk about the dedicated community manag-
ers. Managers don’t punch the clock at 5:00PM. They
stay late to finish that one more thing, they miss dinners with
their families to attend evening board meetings. Making
this sacrifice is part of the job, we all know it, so let’s do
the best we can to bring quality bids and recommendations
to work smarter, not harder at achieving the goals of the
community. Respect the time the vendors give to go out
to bid on the projects, agree on the specifications before
you approach them, and if they aren’t apples to apples,
have the discussion with the vendor before you bring it to
the board.