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CAI-GRIE Legislative CAI-GRIE Visits
Meeting with Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh
BY: JAYCEE GERBER OF ALLIANCE ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT
On July 18th, 2024, four members of the Chapter’s Legislative Support Committee (Betty Ross, Daniel Heaton, Robert Riddick, and myself) arrived at Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh’s local district office hoping to sit down and speak with her for about fifteen minutes. Instead, we were privileged to have the Senator and her staff engage with us for about an hour and twenty minutes! During this extended meeting, we advocated for the Senator’s support in addressing the pressing concerns of homeowners and community associations throughout the State. Senator Ochoa Bogh was attentive and very passionate as we discussed AB2159, SB900, and the ongoing insurance crisis in California.
During our discussion of AB2159, we were able to address Senator Bogh’s potential concerns about ensuring security in utilizing electronic voting process. We explained how similar fears about security problems have been prevented in the other 27 states that have already approved and are currently utilizing electronic voting systems. Because this is not a new concept, it will continue to be integrated in all our systems given our expanding age of technology. After hearing this information, the Senator was eager to do more research and learn more about the bill.
When we brought up concerns regarding the state of insurance in California, the Senator was very sympathetic. She expressed her understanding of the struggle that homeowners face in trying to keep our livelihoods safe. As the Senator was recently added to the Senate Insurance Committee, she was determined to learn more regarding this issue so that she could help find a solution to the problem. This was a great opportunity for us to discuss our own experiences so she could understand the crisis from a homeowner’s perspective. We described the ongoing efforts by CLAC to seek solutions and offered to help put the Senator in touch with members of the established Insurance Task Force.
Finally, we discussed SB900, including certain logistical issues that the Senator raised about what might happen if a special assessment or loan is approved for emergency utility repair, if down the road there is an eventual insurance pay out. We discussed that many associations have built provisions in their governing documents to address this particular circumstance, as well as additional ways to address emergencies without creating financial issues. The Senator was grateful for the additional insights and spoke with her staff about additional areas of research that she wanted to conduct on the bill in order to look at it from the perspective that we discussed.
We also had an opportunity to talk with the Senator about CAI in general, and the efforts of the Chapter’s Legislative Support Committee. The Senator had not previously heard of our organization, and we were able to take advantage of the opportunity to discuss the work that CLAC has done in the past, as well as potential projects that she may be interested in for the future. Senator Ochoa Bogh was very interested in our work and loved the idea of using us as a direct resource for education in the future.
The Chapter’s Legislative Support Committee has been hard at work meeting with government officials all over the Inland Empire to express the needs of homeowners throughout California. These types of meetings allow us to provide information to our governing officials and make change happen in our communities. The benefits of these efforts can be seen in the changes that have already been made in the legislation directly impacting homeowners. By continuing meetings like this, homeowner voices can be heard, and further positive changes can be made.
We are grateful for the support of legislators like Senator Ochoa Bogh, who are open to working with CAI and CLAC and continuing such wonderful dialogue and education with the goal of further strengthening our communities.
Meeting with Senator Kelly Seyarto
BY FRED BARTZ, MORGAN HILL BOARD PRESIDENT
On June 28, 2024, both Mallory Paproth and I met with Senator Seyarto in his Murrieta office, along with his head of staff. During the meeting, we discussed AB2159 (Electronic Voting), AB2114 (Inspection of Exterior Elevated Elements), and the state of California insurance.
We started out by thanking him for his continuous support for HOAs. I have worked with him on other issues, and he has always been very supportive.
The Senator was very familiar with AB 2159. We mentioned that homeowner associations are the only type of corporation that cannot vote for board members electronically and that 27 other states already permit associations to vote electronically. The Senator agreed that this bill was only logical and that it should be approved. He also mentioned that he is a member of the Senate Housing Committee and that he personally had made the motion to approve the bill and send it on in the process.
We also discussed AB114, which would add civil engineers to the list of approved persons to conduct balcony inspections. The Senator was also very receptive to this concern and expressed that he hoped other legislators would feel the same way.
We spent most of our allotted time discussing the state of homeowner insurance. The Senator was very interested in reviewing the background information that we provided on this subject. We also discussed how in my HOA (Morgan Hill – 1090 homes) many homeowners had their insurance canceled and were having great difficulty finding replacement policies at a similar level of coverage.
We thanked the Senator for taking the time to meet with us and for his ongoing support of HOAs. I was also very appreciative of us coming to visit with him.
Meeting with Assemblyman Bill Essayli –Assembly District 63
BY BETTY ROTH, CMCA, AMS, LSM, PCAM CAI GRIE CHAPTER SECRETARY AND HOMEOWNER LEADER
On July 18, 2024, I was able to join two other members of the Chapter’s Legislative Support Committee, Robert Riddick and Daniel Heaton, and we had the pleasure of meeting with Casey Deaver, a staff member of Assemblyman Bill Essayli from the 63rd Assembly District. As a constituent of the Assemblyman, I was excited to meet with his staff to discuss the CLAC-sponsored bills which were being reviewed by the California legislature.
We began by thanking him for the Assemblyman’s support of our priority bills AB 2159 (Maienschein), AB 2114 (Irwin), and AB 2460 (Ta). We also thanked Casey for the Assemblyman’s support of Community Associations in general.
We also put SB 900 (Umberg) on his radar and discussed the necessity for certain additional amendments to the bill when the legislators return in August in order to make it more favorable for our communities.
We also discussed at length the state of homeowner insurance. We explained that we did not see the legislature engaging in insurance bills this year, and that our communities may need Assemblyman Essayli’s support to assist us in helping community associations with affordable insurance in the future.
Casey was generous with his time, and we thanked him for a very productive meeting.
