You Sure Know How To Make An Entrance, MP
We held the "Community Roundtable" meeting last Wednesday night. All five board members were there, along with MP and several other homeowners.
MP was running a bit late, and everyone else was already assembled in the meeting room when he made his entrance. And wow, what an entrance it was! Instead of going through the front door of the Rec Center and signing in as you are supposed to, MP decided to take a shortcut and enter through a side door, which was clearly marked "No Entry". In doing so, he set off the ear-piercing fire alarm, which seemed to take about an hour to shut off (though in reality was probably closer to five minutes).
The chairs were arranged in a circle to encourage participation from all. Immediately upon arriving, MP wanted to know who in the circle was a homeowner and who was a board member — as if the two were mutually exclusive! Michael quickly reminded MP that "we are ALL homeowners here". MP also threw a tape recorder into the center of the circle, so Michael whipped out our video camera and started taping the ceiling, but capturing the dialogue. Intimidating action, assertive response.
MP generously "let" the other homeowners raise their issues first, most of which were related to maintenance issues which had not yet been addressed to their satisfaction. Someone's got a leaking gutter. Another has a rotting deck board. Our management company agent was there to take notes, so he could followup. As the homeowners were discussing their issues, I watched MP out of the corner of my eye and noticed that he was practically jumping out of his skin with anticipation. You would think he was about to take center stage at Carnegie Hall!
Once it was MP's turn to speak, he presented everyone (even - surprise - the five board members!) with a spreadsheet detailing his vision of how expenses should be allocated and how we could lower our HOA dues by $50/month beginning in 2009. Fantastic! I'm all about saving money. But wait - no money for barkdust? And what about tree trimming? And inflation assumed to be only 2% per year? What was he thinking?
It all became crystal clear in footnote #13, which was part of his detailed "ATTCHMENT 2" which accompanied his revised budget and reserve study: (spelling and grammatical errors left as is)
"Face lift and architectural mumbo jumbo are avoided as they do not help strengthening structure or building in any way. Economical condominiums can not be transformed to white house, no matter how many decorations are added. Basically, low income group prefer condo because they can not afford regular house. Maintenance of the buildings and decorations should accomodate their life style and their pockets."
Ahem.
First, MP wrongly assumes that all people who live in condominiums do so because they cannot afford "regular house". While this may be true in some instances, people mostly choose to live in condos and townhomes as a lifestyle choice. People (self included) who choose to purchase a condo instead of a single family home do so because they don't want the hassle of maintaining their own buildings and landscaping. We would rather pay someone else to do it so we can focus on other things. And yes, we could afford a "regular house" but prefer the convenience and small environmental footprint of a condo.
Second, if MP is part of the "low income" group, then why the HELL did he buy a condo in L.O? L.O. has one of the highest average home prices in the entire Portland Metropolitan area. If he was looking for low-income housing surely he could have found a comparable condo somewhere else, for less. Also, the monthly HOA dues have been the same since he moved in. He knew what the fees were before he moved in, but now he wants to bitch about it a year later?
Third, he just insulted those of us who have lived in this community for years, and consider our homes to be an investment and not just a cheap place to sleep. It is because of homeowner participation and board oversight that our community remains a desirable place to live even though the buildings are over 30 years old. Over the past 8 years, values have increased steadily and remain strong, even in today's soft housing market. And that didn't happen by ignoring critical items like tree trimming and barkdusting.
Our chairperson is working on a followup communication to the community, but I doubt this story will end here. I'll keep you posted on any updates.
MP was running a bit late, and everyone else was already assembled in the meeting room when he made his entrance. And wow, what an entrance it was! Instead of going through the front door of the Rec Center and signing in as you are supposed to, MP decided to take a shortcut and enter through a side door, which was clearly marked "No Entry". In doing so, he set off the ear-piercing fire alarm, which seemed to take about an hour to shut off (though in reality was probably closer to five minutes).
The chairs were arranged in a circle to encourage participation from all. Immediately upon arriving, MP wanted to know who in the circle was a homeowner and who was a board member — as if the two were mutually exclusive! Michael quickly reminded MP that "we are ALL homeowners here". MP also threw a tape recorder into the center of the circle, so Michael whipped out our video camera and started taping the ceiling, but capturing the dialogue. Intimidating action, assertive response.
MP generously "let" the other homeowners raise their issues first, most of which were related to maintenance issues which had not yet been addressed to their satisfaction. Someone's got a leaking gutter. Another has a rotting deck board. Our management company agent was there to take notes, so he could followup. As the homeowners were discussing their issues, I watched MP out of the corner of my eye and noticed that he was practically jumping out of his skin with anticipation. You would think he was about to take center stage at Carnegie Hall!
Once it was MP's turn to speak, he presented everyone (even - surprise - the five board members!) with a spreadsheet detailing his vision of how expenses should be allocated and how we could lower our HOA dues by $50/month beginning in 2009. Fantastic! I'm all about saving money. But wait - no money for barkdust? And what about tree trimming? And inflation assumed to be only 2% per year? What was he thinking?
It all became crystal clear in footnote #13, which was part of his detailed "ATTCHMENT 2" which accompanied his revised budget and reserve study: (spelling and grammatical errors left as is)
"Face lift and architectural mumbo jumbo are avoided as they do not help strengthening structure or building in any way. Economical condominiums can not be transformed to white house, no matter how many decorations are added. Basically, low income group prefer condo because they can not afford regular house. Maintenance of the buildings and decorations should accomodate their life style and their pockets."
Ahem.
First, MP wrongly assumes that all people who live in condominiums do so because they cannot afford "regular house". While this may be true in some instances, people mostly choose to live in condos and townhomes as a lifestyle choice. People (self included) who choose to purchase a condo instead of a single family home do so because they don't want the hassle of maintaining their own buildings and landscaping. We would rather pay someone else to do it so we can focus on other things. And yes, we could afford a "regular house" but prefer the convenience and small environmental footprint of a condo.
Second, if MP is part of the "low income" group, then why the HELL did he buy a condo in L.O? L.O. has one of the highest average home prices in the entire Portland Metropolitan area. If he was looking for low-income housing surely he could have found a comparable condo somewhere else, for less. Also, the monthly HOA dues have been the same since he moved in. He knew what the fees were before he moved in, but now he wants to bitch about it a year later?
Third, he just insulted those of us who have lived in this community for years, and consider our homes to be an investment and not just a cheap place to sleep. It is because of homeowner participation and board oversight that our community remains a desirable place to live even though the buildings are over 30 years old. Over the past 8 years, values have increased steadily and remain strong, even in today's soft housing market. And that didn't happen by ignoring critical items like tree trimming and barkdusting.
Our chairperson is working on a followup communication to the community, but I doubt this story will end here. I'll keep you posted on any updates.
Damn that's a good post! Wish we could mail a copy of it to every homeowner, MP included. Yes he was insulting and clueless. Here's hoping he finds another "hobby" to pursue.
Reply to this