Jadedone4 (Virginia)
Posts: 495
Posts: 495
Posted:
Jack, we all applaud your interest in learning how your particular community is governed/managed. If every member here had 10% more of our community involved, as you are trying to be, this board would be full of "cobwebs" and elevator music. When I started out as President of my HOA, I created a library of sorts, from internet sites, articles, a few hardcopy books, etc - to better prepare myself for what I needed to understand. That growth has been a learning process, which involved legal issues, people issues, contract issues (of which I have over fifteen years of experience in my professional life), and many others (understanding landscaping, engineering, cost performance, utilities, how insurance works in relation to an HOA, why this pesticide and not another, etc).
You are asking very important questions of the folks here, and to those that have agreed to represent your community, as you should. However, if you take a step back and take a moment to better verse yourself in HOA's, I can assure you that you will have greater success with your elected rep's. As was mentioned here, there are some "power hungry folks" who get involved with HOA's for their own reasons/agendas. If you have your research, you can defuse them very easily. HOA's are no different from learning how to drive a semi-truck, versus a car - you have to have the information readily available to you, so that you fully understand how to drive the different forms/types of vehicles.
Here are some references which have aided me (in addition to the good advice on this board). Most if not all of the below, will act as a "springboard" of sorts and put/provide you with additional links/sites which provide even greater information.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeowners_association
http://www.caionline.org/
http://www.ahrc.com/new/index.php/src/home
There are numerous books out on the market. Here are a few that I have used...
"Homeowners Association Manual"
"Robert's Rules of Order"
There is a "former President" here who authored a book, it is listed as a resourse, if you do a search from the above search engine.
Do a web search on Homeowners Associations - have your printer fully loaded to kill a few trees, and print out information, articles, sites, etc - that will become good resources for your understanding of HOA's.
Most importantly, SHARE that information with your neighors (yes that may include the folks on your board who have not assisted your efforts, too). Get the message out, about how the HOA should be ran, so that other residents/owners are just as empowered as you, and are armed correctly with the tools to properly manage, or secure appropriate management of your community.
You are asking very important questions of the folks here, and to those that have agreed to represent your community, as you should. However, if you take a step back and take a moment to better verse yourself in HOA's, I can assure you that you will have greater success with your elected rep's. As was mentioned here, there are some "power hungry folks" who get involved with HOA's for their own reasons/agendas. If you have your research, you can defuse them very easily. HOA's are no different from learning how to drive a semi-truck, versus a car - you have to have the information readily available to you, so that you fully understand how to drive the different forms/types of vehicles.
Here are some references which have aided me (in addition to the good advice on this board). Most if not all of the below, will act as a "springboard" of sorts and put/provide you with additional links/sites which provide even greater information.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeowners_association
http://www.caionline.org/
http://www.ahrc.com/new/index.php/src/home
There are numerous books out on the market. Here are a few that I have used...
"Homeowners Association Manual"
"Robert's Rules of Order"
There is a "former President" here who authored a book, it is listed as a resourse, if you do a search from the above search engine.
Do a web search on Homeowners Associations - have your printer fully loaded to kill a few trees, and print out information, articles, sites, etc - that will become good resources for your understanding of HOA's.
Most importantly, SHARE that information with your neighors (yes that may include the folks on your board who have not assisted your efforts, too). Get the message out, about how the HOA should be ran, so that other residents/owners are just as empowered as you, and are armed correctly with the tools to properly manage, or secure appropriate management of your community.