scrabbler1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2009
- Messages
- 6,705
I have lived in a co-op apartment on Long Island for the last 25 years. Other than attending the annual meetings, I had no real involvement with the operation and management of the co-op which consists of 4 buildings and about 225 apartments with nearly all of them owner-occupied. The co-op came into existence back around 1981 or 1982 so it quite stable and well run as well as fiscally sound.
But back in 2005, I became more involved with the co-op during a hotly contended Board election (I was not a candidate), helping to run the Board election which was a major fiasco. The following year, after I submitted a lengthy report with suggestions to improve the process, I was made the Elections Commissioner which put me in charge of reviewing the proxies and determining a quorum and, if we had a contested election (only in some years) overseeing the Board election itself. As I mentioned in another thread, my PC skills were very useful in speeding up the aforementioned processes and put me on very good terms with both the Board and our managing agent, both of which have been very responsive to me whenever I had suggestions on improving the election process as well as anything else.
In the last few years, there have been some openings on the Board due to death (sadly) and resignations, both midyear when an interim replacement is appointed by the Board, and at the end of the term when our annual meeting takes place. Some people have suggested I be a candidate for the Board, and I am flattered.
However, even though I am now an early retiree , and I have the time to put into this work (gasp!), I am not sure I want the grief being a Board member would entail. As I mentioned before, I have the Board's ear when it comes to making suggestions due to all the goodwill I have built up in my tenure of being Elections Commissioner. And the Board and our managing agent have put into place many of my suggestions including some big financial ones. So, if I can pretty much get what I want from the Board without having to put up with the grief of being on the Board, then why be on the Board? Also, my apartment happens to be above the room the Board uses for their meeetings, so I can often hear some yelling and shouting which goes on, not that the 7 Board members necessarily dislike each other. When I hear that commotion going on, it makes me feel glad I am in MY apartment and not that room beneath my apartment LOL!
Still, I have not ruled out serving on the Board at some point. It is not a sure thing all of my issues will be resolved the way I want them to be going forward. What I would like to hear from any of you who have served on a co-op Board is what I might expect if I were to serve on a co-op Board down the road.
Thank you.
But back in 2005, I became more involved with the co-op during a hotly contended Board election (I was not a candidate), helping to run the Board election which was a major fiasco. The following year, after I submitted a lengthy report with suggestions to improve the process, I was made the Elections Commissioner which put me in charge of reviewing the proxies and determining a quorum and, if we had a contested election (only in some years) overseeing the Board election itself. As I mentioned in another thread, my PC skills were very useful in speeding up the aforementioned processes and put me on very good terms with both the Board and our managing agent, both of which have been very responsive to me whenever I had suggestions on improving the election process as well as anything else.
In the last few years, there have been some openings on the Board due to death (sadly) and resignations, both midyear when an interim replacement is appointed by the Board, and at the end of the term when our annual meeting takes place. Some people have suggested I be a candidate for the Board, and I am flattered.
However, even though I am now an early retiree , and I have the time to put into this work (gasp!), I am not sure I want the grief being a Board member would entail. As I mentioned before, I have the Board's ear when it comes to making suggestions due to all the goodwill I have built up in my tenure of being Elections Commissioner. And the Board and our managing agent have put into place many of my suggestions including some big financial ones. So, if I can pretty much get what I want from the Board without having to put up with the grief of being on the Board, then why be on the Board? Also, my apartment happens to be above the room the Board uses for their meeetings, so I can often hear some yelling and shouting which goes on, not that the 7 Board members necessarily dislike each other. When I hear that commotion going on, it makes me feel glad I am in MY apartment and not that room beneath my apartment LOL!
Still, I have not ruled out serving on the Board at some point. It is not a sure thing all of my issues will be resolved the way I want them to be going forward. What I would like to hear from any of you who have served on a co-op Board is what I might expect if I were to serve on a co-op Board down the road.
Thank you.