It is official. The Board Liaison position held by Mr. Ray Bryant was eliminated this week. Mr. Bryant held this position almost a full year. He, along with his wife Sandra, deserve much credit for working hard to facilitate many functions in the community.
If you recall, the Board Liaison position was created during the 2006 Annual Board Meeting. The purpose of the position was two-fold.
(1.) It was considered to be “a director in training” opportunity for one individual to “learn the business of the Association.” This would indirectly help Amberwood prepare to accept ownership of the HOA once Gehan transferred it to us.
(2.) This individual was the designated voice for our neighborhood. He was the only one authorized to speak directly to the Board as a representative of the entire neighborhood.
NOTE: A description of this position can be found in the 2006 Annual Meeting Minutes. [download] You can get the approved minutes here.
Formal notification of the Board’s decision on this issue will be printed in the upcoming Amberwood Newsletter. Here is a copy of the letter:
July 17, 2007
Dear Amberwood Community:
Mr. Ray Bryant has been the Homeowner’s Association Board Liaison since October 2006. The Board of Directors have had monthly meetings until March 2007 to help train and educate the Board Liaison on HOA Business. At this time the Board of Directors feel that Mr. Bryant, if either elected to have a position on the HOA Board or not, will be a good resource for the Amberwood Community.
The Board of Director’s have elected to eliminate the Board Liaison position at this time. We would like to thank Mr. Ray Bryant for all his time, dedication, and services that he has provided for the Amberwood Homeowner’s Association.
All Committee’s will need to direct any questions and/or concerns through RealManage, the Management Company. Also, all news articles will need to be sent directly to the Management Company for Board review and approval. The various Committee’s are encouraged to have their monthly gatherings, but Mr. Bryant is not allowed to hold the Monthly HOA Meetings representing the Homeowner’s Association.
If anyone should have questions, concerns, or comments, please direct them to RealManage.
Thank you,
Amberwood HOA, Board of Directors
There are some obvious questions that may cross your mind: “Is this a good or bad thing for the community?” “What does all this mean?” Well, it depends on who you ask. Some people see this as just par for the course. Feedback from previous Gehan/Lennar Boards has been non-existent. These people will argue that developer interests are obviously not aligned with those of home owners. Bottom line, they believe the builder just cares about selling homes and not much else. They will cite two sentences in this letter as proof of the Board’s disconnect with the community:
All Committee’s will need to direct any questions and/or concerns through RealManage, the Management Company.
and
The various Committee’s are encouraged to have their monthly gatherings, but Mr. Bryant is not allowed to hold the Monthly HOA Meetings representing the Homeowner’s Association.
I really see nothing wrong with the first sentence. I completely understand the reasoning behind it. RealManage was hired to take care of the ‘day-to-day’ operations, so it isn’t a stretch to make them work for their monthly fee, right? Nothing wrong here.
However, the second sentence may present a legitimate issue. Before elimination of the Board Liaison position, we had a direct connection to the Board. Ray attended the meetings on his own time and expressed our collective issues to the Board. Those issues were usually gathered during our monthly General Meetings. Now all that is gone. From this point on we must individually present our concerns to RealManage, who will in turn present them to the Board, who will in turn think about their response and eventually give that response to RealManage, who will in turn respond to us (gotta love the efficiency here people).
Now outside of individual concerns, it seems like Committee Chairs will be the new “official” representatives. They will be able to present RealManage with collective issues formulated in their groups. This is a big change for us because each Committee conducts meetings at different times of the month for specific purposes. They were not designed to represent the general pulse of the community. In fact, they have wide variations in membership. (Website Committee–still dinner reservation for one!) When our Committee Chairs present their issues to RealManage, can we honestly say they represent the “whole” community?
On its face, this seems like a questionable move by the Board. But, if you look at the big picture this may not be a bad thing. It simply shows we are getting closer to taking over our Board–finally. Now who doesn’t want that? We’ve clamored for this change over a full year. Maybe a better outcome would be “Mr. Ray Bryant–Board Member” versus “Mr. Ray Bryant–Board Liaison”. Two sentences in the letter reference the current Board’s imminent departure:
The Board of Directors have had monthly meetings until March 2007 to help train and educate the Board Liaison on HOA Business. At this time the Board of Directors feel that Mr. Bryant, if either elected to have a position on the HOA Board or not, will be a good resource for the Amberwood Community.
To me, this sounds like they’re already gone. The only things that could happen in the short-term are: (a.) for the Gehan-run Board to notify RealManage of HOA transfer to Amberwood homeowners, (b.) notification from RealManage about this transfer along with date/time of the initial resident HOA Board election, and (c.) Board election. The important thing to remember is this: don’t blink because this may all happen sooner than you think.
