Message from the Executive Director

Message from the Executive Director

By David L. Jones Executive Director As I write this article the Board of Director 2018 elections are well underway, with a week still before the Annual meeting we have already reached quorum! Thank you to all who have voted and participated in this important process. Although voting opened later than anticipated, things are going smoothly, homeowners are utilizing the online voting process and, new this year, can telephone in their vote. A third-party vendor facilitates the online and phone voting; at the end of the election the results are turned over to our inspector of election who adds any paper ballot votes to the totals, and the totals are announced at the Annual meeting. Thus far, very few paper ballots have been received (under 20 at this point), most are finding the online and phone process easy and convenient. Again, thanks for voting and I hope to have seen you out at the Annual meeting.

Also new this week, as you visit La Casita, see if you can see what is different. As I parked to come into work, I thought wow what has changed…here at La Casita our maintenance department had begun preparing for the volleyball court conversion, changing it into a patio. The first step of the actual physical process was removing the wrought iron fencing dividing it from the parking lot. It amazed me that a simple change like this made such a difference. This is a great time of year to remember this in terms of our homes…take a close look at the exterior of your house, before it gets crazy hot, what simple changes can be made to freshen up the appearance.

The upcoming volleyball court conversion has been written about in the Roundup over the last year, plus, but in case you missed it, I’ll give a little background. I am excited to see this project come to fruition. As with most Association projects it began simply as an idea, the space was not being utilized and it was brainstormed how we could better be taking advantage of this area. Ideas for projects to make the Ranch a great place to live come from various avenues; the Board of Directors, committees, homeowner surveys, homeowner emails, homeowners attending Board meetings, Association staff, and many more. Once an idea is brought to the Association it is often referred to a committee (usually the Master Planning committee). The ideas feasibility is evaluated on all different levels then brought to the Board with the question of is this something we should pursue. If the answer is yes, the committee and / or staff will then work again on specifics, the scope of the project, cost, details, etc. Throughout the process the ideas are publicized in the Roundup, on committee and Board agendas, discussed in meetings and ultimately brought back to the Board in an open Board meeting to make the final decision of if the project moves forward, deciding on the cost and often the vendor that will be utilized in making the idea a reality. Sometimes homeowners will be in the audience, at a Board meeting, at this final stage in the process and it appears that, wow, that was a quick decision, when in reality, the item had gone through all these phases to finally be either approved or denied. The volleyball court conversion took this exact path. Numerous iterations of design were presented. Thank you to all who helped to accomplish getting us to this point! I am excited to see the results of everyone’s hard work and to watch the process of transforming this space into an area for homeowners to enjoy.