Community Association Fundamentals

Member requested posting...

Another member has requested I make this posting on the blog.
Another member who lived out of the area, (not the member who requested this posting) sent me the publication the CAI publishes.  He did this for several years. I would share them with then Board President Flood.  I don't know if that was what sparked our HOA joining. I do know that the current Board members do receive information now, from CAI, mostly Emails.  The member who sent me the publications, is the same member who donated the park bench at Veterans Park and the Deer Lake sign. 

Our biggest problem with the Surfside HOA is the lack of professional management by the Board and staff.  Most of the problems and discontent are our own making.  It does not have to be this way. My answer to the question posed by the contributing member is, the association has failed themselves and it's members.  Maybe, just maybe, new faces on the Board, will move us in the direction that is so badly needed for the Board and the members.

Thank you to the member who contributed the following:     

Hey George,
How about posting the following on the blog?
_________________

Surfside HOA is a member of the Community Associations Institute (CAI), an international membership organization dedicated to building better communities by providing education and resources to the homeowner leaders who govern and the professionals who support them.

The following are CAI’s Community Association Fundamentals; note the emphasis on the community as a whole. AFTER you read them, tell me - how do you think our Association Leadership is doing, based on these guidelines?

CAI Community Association Fundamentals:

Each common-interest community has its own history, personality, attributes and challenges, but all associations share common characteristics and core principles.

CAI developed the community association Fundamentals to foster a better conceptual understanding of how associations function and the roles of residents and association leaders. We hope this primer will help people recognize the core principles at the heart of the community association model and, even more importantly, inspire effective, enlightened leadership and responsible, engaged citizenship.

1. Associations ensure that the collective rights and interests of all homeowners are respected and preserved.

2. Associations are the most local form of representative democracy, with leaders elected by their neighbors to govern in the best interest of all residents.

3. Associations provide services and amenities to residents, protect property values and meet the established expectations of homeowners.

4. Associations succeed when they cultivate a true sense of community, active homeowner involvement and a culture of building consensus.

5. Association homeowners have the right to elect their community leaders and to use the democratic process to determine the policies that will protect their investments.

6. Association homeowners choose where to live and accept a contractual responsibility to abide by established policies and meet their financial obligations to the association.

7. Association leaders protect the community’s financial health by using established management practices and sound business principles.

8. Association leaders have a legal and ethical obligation to adhere to the association’s governing documents and abide by all applicable laws.

9. Association leaders seek an effective balance between the preferences of individual residents and the collective rights of homeowners.

10. Association leaders and residents should be reasonable, flexible and open to the possibility—and benefits—of compromise.

For more information on CAI, visit www.caionline.org