Eduardo Garcia to me
hide details Dec 24 (5 days ago) Reply
Chipper,
In spite of fees being lowered $150 by the bd for 09/10, the fees remain relatively high for the services and amenities offered at this community. Privately, bd members act as if they are doing us a favor and should have no reason for complaints. I have several friends in nearby, year-round communities and their overall yearly dues are much lower with consumer satisfaction very high. How about that? Why can't that happen here at LA?
Take for instance Breezewoods Acres, where the board actually realized savings of over $150 in their yearly fees for 09, so their members are paying much less than LA and their recreation events and services are better, too. Their board meet on a regular basis and their minutes are posted within the same month, but more important, decisions are acted upon promptly. Look at Birchwood Lakes, there's transparency in the bd and the community is actively involved. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE LA, but things need to improve dramatically, and very fast.
I know there are others that share my concerns and perhaps an alternate slate should be fielded for the next elections; like-minded people are required to push a system that is lacking inertia. I was an auxiliary police officer, ran a little league softball team and do realize the power of volunteers in our community. If you poll members, most have expertise in area's needed to help maintain a lively and safe community. Maybe a call for volunteers to participate in minor maintenance/building projects can free paid staff to do larger tasks, without having to paid exorbitant fees to contractors for certain specific jobs. Of course there are tasks that are best left to the professionals, but that doesn't mean that experienced members in a particular field can't comment on a related contract. Would it be swell if we had a data base of skilled members who are asked to review and comment on contract/projects. How do we know if we are getting our money's worth and the contractor not taking short cuts at LA expense? Just because you are a paid staff or a bd member doesn't mean that you have the only cost-effective solution. Physically-able members should volunteers a number of hours as part of their yearly dues to handle something like tree clearing and planting, re-furbishing existing structures, etc. The kitchen can be run in a similar fashion. What about an auxiliary unit to supplement security during peak months...I will not talk about a Fire department for LA.
The bottom line is how much we are asked to pay in fees and how much savings LA can expect from professionals wanting to do business with our community. Additional savings can be realized across the board with closer supervision of paid staff management and cleverly negotiated contracts with outside vendors. Our volunteer should be able to receive a discount in their yearly contribution. This is the incentive, and the task of managing the volunteers for projects goes to the paid LA manager. Members that can't devote hours, for whatever the reason, will pay the customary dues. I know that bd members read your blog, so I want them to be aware that they must be creative and think outside the box...or ship-out!
Respectfully,
Eddy
Sunday, December 28, 2008
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This is one of the best commentaries I've read on this blog. I nominate you to run for Board President. I've often questioned why our board minutes take months to be published while other communities post theirs the same month. I've also noticed in reading board minutes from other communities their attorneys attend the meetings and you are correct items are assigned acted on quickly. There was a meeting scheduled with our new attorney in early Sept to address the 12' wide issue, nothing was ever published and questions on the issue go unanswered. The "new" attorney took over this project six months ago and progress remains a mystery. Volunteers may not be appreciated by this board. Information and suggestions are not acknowledged, at least that's been my experience. Unfortunately we lost a decent and hard working man in Joe. This is a huge loss and creates an even bigger management vacuum. The BOD is not expected to run the day to day management of the community, however they created a situation where more is expected of them than it appears they are willing or able to give. Meeting once a month handling administrative duties isn't the same as being on site every day. They could meet four times a month but that still leaves 27 days of no one working the daily issues. Some suggest that all we do is gripe on this site but if things were running smoothly we would have nothing to complain about. There are many things I like and enjoy about LA and that list is certainly longer than the list of things I don't like. This is a place we can express our opinions and hope the BOD can use that information as a barometer for items most important to community members.
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