All condo owners have the same vested interest and inherent responsibilities to the welfare of the condo association. Condo Boards take a leadership position to help directly manage the affairs of a condo association. However, this does not mean that condo owners should become dependent on trustees. Here are some thoughts on the dynamics between trustees and association members.
· Condo Association Boards have put themselves in a leadership position and need to act accordingly. This means being the model resident; not breaking rules, going the extra mile and setting examples.
· Condo Association Boards don’t work for condo association members. They don’t usually get compensated for their efforts and they don’t expect to getting spoken to like employees.
· Condo Association Boards need to take their position seriously. If they do, a condo building culture will follow and will transform an association to a community.
· Condo Association members need to act more like trustees. At the end of the day, all members are “board members” of their community and shouldn’t leave things to others. If a condo association member sees something, they should do something about it, don’t presume a condo board member will notice it and take care of it for you.
· Condo Association Boards need to make their decision making and decision making process more transparent to condo association members. Nothing creates more animosity than association members not knowing when and why things change.
· If trustees are doing a good job, they should be acknowledged. If they are doing a bad job, they should be replaced. Association members should not complain about quality of a trustee’s work, unless they are willing to take on the work themselves. Any problem a trustee is dealing with is everyone’s problem.
· Condo Association Trustee’s financial decisions aren’t right all the time. Owners should not take financing and key financial decisions made by trustees for granted. Running finances for a condo association can leave a lot of margin for errors. Decisions may meet the personal agendas of trustees more than association members, for no other reason than the trustees were left alone with the decision-making.
