CAI-NJ May 2017

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6 M A Y , 2 0 1 7
LOOKING AHEAD
LARRY THOMAS, PCAM | CAI-NJ CHAPTER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
"The Board is dedicated to
assisting our members succeed
in our industry and are
always contemplating methods
to achieve this goal."
I’d like to present and discuss a few updates that were
recently initiated by our Board of Directors. Our ADR/
Mediation program is unique to our chapter. I’m not
aware of any other chapters that offer this service to their
members. The program is becoming more and more pop-
ular every day with my office receiving mediation requests
every week. I anticipate that we will handle over 80 medi-
ations this year. The past program offered two payment
scenarios. There was a “non-member” rate ($500) and
a “member” rate ($375). To be eligible for the member
rate, at least one board member of the community where
the conflict involved had to be a current member of CAI-
NJ. We often receive applications with payment for the
member rate from the managing agent or the association
attorney, thinking that since they are members, the associa-
tion who are not members would receive the less expensive
fee. This is not the case and I would need to go back and
get the additional $125 payment to proceed with assign-
ing a mediator.
The CAI-NJ Board of Directors discussed the mediation
program and agreed that this valuable service should be a
members only benefit. After a very detailed and construc-
tive discussion, the Board agreed to make the following
changes to the ADR/ Mediation program.
Only member organizations can participate in our medi-
ation program.
If a non-member association applies for an ADR/
Mediation, they need to register two current board mem-
bers with CAI. The CAI-NJ Board agreed to assist with
the payment for these two registrants. The cost for the first
mediation would be $500 and this includes a one year
CAI membership for two board members.
The previous member rate of $375 per mediation has
been reduced to $300.
If you have any questions, need clarification, or require
assistance signing up your board members with CAI,
please call my office and ask to speak with me or Laura.
Another recent board decision regards the Jules Frankel
Manager Assistance Program (MAP). The CAI Board of
Directors budgeted $5,000 for this program for 2017.
Originally the program was only available to our manager
members that have achieved their CMCA or higher desig-
nation. If selected, you would receive $250 per M200 or
M300 course that you attended and successfully passed.
The Board of Directors decided to take any monies that
were not awarded and allocate them to our manager
members taking the M100 class in October. The applica-
tion process will be similar to the one used for the CMCA
scholarships. More details will follow as we get closer to
the October M-100 class.
The Board is dedicated to assisting our members succeed
in our industry and are always contemplating methods to
achieve this goal.
We recently concluded our four regional Legislative
Updates. These updates are coordinated and held by the
NJ Legislative Action Committee and are presented annual-
ly. We had record attendance this year. I’d like to thank
all the LAC members who donated their time in making this
program a great success.
In closing, I urge all our members to attend as many of
our educational programs that they can. We have pro-
grams for all our membership categories. Please check
the various announcements in this issue of Community
Trends ® or visit our website for additional
information or to register. n