An Excerpt From "The Club Voice"
The Newsletter Of A Florida HOA

Once upon a time a Board of Directors of a HOA held a meeting. The time and date had been posted as usual, the chairs had been set up, but lo and behold no residents came. How could this happen? This Board was well intentioned when they were elected and now they were bewildered and worried. They turned to their wise and experienced manager to try to understand what had happened. Here is what she said:

Remember when many people objected to the large expenditures for refurbishing the facilities which they felt were excessive and you brushed them aside? They stopped attending!  Remember when you rejected people who wanted to serve on committees where they had expertise but you stacked the committees only with people who you knew would support your directives and views?  They are gone too!  Remember when you made fun of residents’ suggestions and made them feel small? They did not come back!

Remember when you made unsubstantiated accusations against people who had invested a great deal of their time and expertise and you did not give them the means to refute and clear up the misunderstanding? They are missing too! Remember at the end of the meeting, when people wanted to be heard, you banged the gavel and adjourned the meeting to cut off any further discussion? Those residents never returned!  Remember when you pushed through some items on your agenda without giving the residents a chance to discuss those proposals?  They felt hopelessly left out!

The manager said that perhaps you could have handled things better if you had realized that no resident is willing to be the victim of abuse of power.  She said the Board directors should be concentrating their efforts on matters which are of concern to the community and they should weigh all comments, both negative and positive before making decisions. She also said that if a Board Director feels that a resident has acted in a negative or destructive manner it should be handled privately so that no resident should be embarrassed at Board meetings. To do otherwise divides the community and the Board loses the support of the residents.  After that, the manager looked at the Board, and SHE left!