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PEARLS OF WISDOM
CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF THE GREATER INLAND EMPIRE CHAPTER
BY: THE FOUNDING PRESIDENTS OF THE GREATER INLAND EMPIRE CHAPTER
The new decade provides the Greater Inland Empire Chapter an opportunity to look back on its rich history. 2020 marks the 30th Anniversary of the Chapter and three of its founders, Peter E. Racobs, Esq., Mark Jones, AMS, PCAM and Weldon L. Brown, CPM, CCAM have generously shared their memories documenting the inception and growth, shaping the Chapter as we know it today.
PRESIDENT IN 1990 PETER E. RACOBS, ESQ., F IORE RACOBS & POWERS, A PLC
When I opened a Riverside law office for my firm in the first quarter of 1990, one of the then firm shareholders told me “You’ve got to get involved with the local CAI Chapter.” Finding there wasn’t one, I thought I was off the hook, but CAI National was then alerted to my interest in founding such a Chapter. CAI National told me that someone named Mark Jones had expressed a similar interest. I was acquainted with a number of Inland Empire HOA management company executives, including Weldon Brown, Jim McCarthy, Sr., Jim & Glennon Gray, J.B. “Pete” Olhasso, Peter Densmore, among others. Mark Jones was already doing HOA management in LA County and was then starting his office in Canyon Lake. Someone said the Bank of Anaheim, long since merged out of existence, would help support the Chapter, and the Bank supplied one of its vice-presidents, Bob Ruff (who was a reformed HOA manager), as a volunteer.
A CAI Inland Empire Chapter was duly formed. There was some debate over the geographic boundaries of the Inland Empire region, which was resolved by calling the Chapter the “Greater Inland Empire Chapter” to justify whatever overreach we may been guilty of in telling CAI National the extent of our territorial claims.
Management company executives were somewhat overrepresented among the founders of the chapter, but only one lawyer was involved then, so it was decided I should be the first president. The management company leaders soon followed. For many years, the chapter presidents were all HOA managers or former managers who each had great credibility in the industry and thus a successful foundation was laid for the Chapter. The timing of the chapter founding was fortunate, since the region in 1990 was booming with many CIDs and has continued to boom, with some recessions, since then. Here’s to next 30 years!
PRESIDENT IN 1991 MARK JONES, AMS, PCAM, AVALON MANAGEMENT GROUP, INC., AAMC
I am proud to be part of the 30th anniversary of the CAI-GRIE Chapter. In that time, I’ve watched the chapter start with just a few members and grow into the 700-strong membership it is today. This is a testament to the members and their shared vision, commitment, and values to create a chapter that has become a reliable source for community manager and homeowner education as well as a source of networking with each other and our valued business partners. I can say that for the founding members, the chapter has exceeded all of our expectations.
I believe much of the chapter’s success comes from the fact that there is a group of like-minded individuals who understand the importance of continual learning, development, and improvement. The chapter focuses on proactively addressing trends, challenges, and opportunities, including legal, technological, economic, political, and social changes that impact the homeowner association industry in ways we couldn’t have imagined thirty years ago. As a chapter, our leadership has been able to propel the industry forward by implementing innovative technology and set precedents with more efficient processes and practices.
With such a strong foundation and framework, I am confident that the chapter will continue to flourish and evolve, serving as guidance for the homeowner association industry, its members, and the communities it helps. Here’s to 30 more years!
PRESIDENT IN 1992 WELDON L. BROWN, CPM, CCAM WELDON L. BROWN COMPANY, INC.
Thirty years have passed so rapidly and thinking on my years in the association management industry which goes back to the early 1970’s. In those days there were few common interest development community associations in the Inland Empire.
For many years prior to my participation in the founding of the Greater Inland Empire Chapter of the Community Association Institute, CAI, my company as a California licensed estate broker was involved in the management of commercial and multifamily residential real estate. With our background in property management we transitioned into community homeowner association management and were members of the Orange County Chapter of CAI. The memories of us all driving to Santa Ana for luncheon and workshop education seminars were burdensome for the highway system during the 70’s and 80’s was markedly different.
When the 1990’s rolled around, I was familiar with the professionals and business partners serving associations and Peter Racobs law firm, Fiore Racobs & Powers had an established client base in the area and opened an office in Riverside’s Canyon Crest.
During the Calendar year 1991, Peter Racobs contacted me regarding a dinner meeting with two of his shareholder/partners and a person who I had not previously met Mark Jones. Mark had recently moved to the Canyon Lake community and was establishing a new association management company which he named Elite Management. He soon found out that the business name was already taken and he renamed his management company Avalon. Mark and I became good friends and have shared many CAI meeting experiences in those lean beginning years and with other management executives Jim McCarthy, Sr., Glennon Gray, Shirley Prasser. Our CAI organizational meeting, took place at a popular dinner house known as Aesops located on University Ave. From our organizational meeting Peter Racobs was assigned the responsibility of preparing the paperwork and eventually the by-laws for our new CAI chapter. Due to the geographic size of our new planned chapter, we choose the name CAI-GRIE which included parts of East Los Angeles, Southern San Bernardino, West and Southern Riverside counties. These were the days before emails and personal cell phones, so it took the few of us to spread the word about our plans to professionalize and educate the folks living and working in the ‘Common Interest Development” Association Industry. Bob Ruff, Vice
President of the Bank of Anaheim, had many community association banking relationships and was very helpful with his connections to associations and management.
We held our meetings at a church, a conference room at Best Western in Moreno Valley, luncheon board meetings at The Cask and Cleaver, functions at the Ramada Inn, Holiday Inn and even the Mission Inn. Our first Executive Director worked from his home, and this was sensible from a cost standpoint; however, as we grew in numbers it presented several problems, being office size, location and availability to members of the association. Fortunately, space was available in my Tudor Professional Building on La Mart Dr. in Riverside, and as the chapter has grown accommodations for space in this building have always been met.
The Chapter has now grown to around 700 members with 240 association participants, 210 management affiliates and 250 professionals and venders serving the industry. Here’s to the next 30 Years of growth in the Inland Empire!
