Tyler P. Berding, Esq.
COMMON
SENSE
Thoughts for New Association Board Members
Y
ou’ve just been elected to the board of directors of your community association! Congratulations? Condolences? Which of those do you deserve? Perhaps the answer depends on just how you plan to approach the duties of your office. Board members, like any other representative, come in all shapes and sizes, and of course, all frames of mind. Were you tricked into accepting the nomination by your (former) best friend? If so, you might be asking yourself, “What am I doing here?” Did you run for the board because you didn’t have anything better to do, and now you’re asking “When does the fun begin?” Did you actively seek the responsibilities of a board member because you did not like the bums in charge and were determined to do something about it? Or, were you like most board members and felt that it was your turn to give some time to the community? Whatever the reason or circumstance that got you into the job, all of you have one thing in common; your service to the community will depend upon whether you have a desire to just do the job, or to do the job right! The responsibilities of board members are a serious and major undertaking. The physical plant of the association alone could be worth millions of dollars. Add the cost of insurance, management, utilities, reserve contributions and all of the many other items of the budget, and your association could easily be a multi-million dollar corporation— and you are one of the directors of that corporation! Want to quit now? Don’t. Your friends and fellow homeowners are depending on you. They are depending on you to be the trustee of the corporate assets—their homes. So what have you decided? Are you ready to be an effective board member? If you’re ECHO JOURNAL
Education of board members, new and old, is what ECHO is all about.
still reading, I assume the answer is “Yes”— and that’s fine because you are the ones I want to talk to anyway. What does it take to be a responsible and effective board member? Experience, certainly. Managing the affairs of a community association requires many of the same skills you acquired running your home or business—a basic understanding of finance and budgets; reasonable management and “people” skills; a knowledge of what makes property valuable, and what makes it lose value; and garden-variety common sense. This knowledge and these skills are useful, but they are secondary to the most important trait of a good board member—a willingness to listen and learn. As a board member of a community association, you do not need to be expert in any field. There are many good professionals 5
available to help you, starting with your manager. In fact, the most effective board members usually do not undertake to provide the association with any specific expertise directly, but rather use their skills to evaluate the recommendations of the professionals and contractors that work for them, listening and learning. If you spend more time listening to the recommendations of experienced professionals and vendors, you will spend more time learning the basics of good community association management. You will then be very well equipped to make the decisions upon which your neighbors are depending. Education of board members, new and old, is what ECHO is all about. For 35 years, ECHO has provided the directors of its member associations with quality seminars and publications. The ECHO Annual Seminar coming up this June (and the many regional and mini-seminars held around the Bay area throughout the year) are wonderful opportunities to expand your knowledge and increase your effectiveness as a board member. For new board members, the Basic Training track presented at the Annual Seminar each year is an absolute must. Those of you with greater experience will be able to choose from a long list of relevant topics. You as a community association board member hold a position of considerable authority over the lives and property of the members of your association. You enjoy their trust. These privileges carry with them a measure of responsibility—the responsibility to listen and learn!
Tyler Berding is a founding partner of Berding & Weil, a construction defect and homeowner association law firm and is a former member and the immediate past president of the ECHO board of directors. FEBRUARY 2007