HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - October 7, 2022
Published: Fri, 10/07/22
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HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - October 7, 2022
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In this week's tip, we address a reader's email to us asserting that it's time for older board members to let others take their place.
Our reader writes: "In my area, most boards are retirees, 75-85, and they're not cultivating younger members to replace them.... There's a lot of clash between younger and newer, and by 'younger' I mean 60.
"By the behavior of the some of the older people, doddering, territorial, the younger aren't encouraged to participate in leadership. I see a lot of problems. People in retirement communities aren't stepping out of the way."
So when does the experience brought by long-serving board members become an impediment to new blood and ideas? The answer is that it's complicated.
This isn't so uncommon. Long-serving board members continue to run for re-election, while newer voices stay in the background, either by choice or because they've run and haven't been elected. That could be totally normal, or it could be a problem.
"There are some legitimate circumstances where there just aren't enough people stepping up to the plate," reports Brad van Rooyen, founder and senior member of Tampa, Fla.-based HomeRiver Group and its national specialist for community association management, which operates more than 230 association in three states. "That's causing folks who are continuing to serve to remain.
"Then there are other situations where board members have served, but it's time for them to move on," he adds. "Communities are undergoing a change, sort of a changing of the guard. I think that's where they need to balance the board, to set their ego aside and say to themselves, 'I'm going to stand back and support younger folks being in the community.
"We're going through that now in a community, where a younger group got older board members thrown out, and those older board members are making the new board members' lives very difficult," says van Rooyen. "Those older board members are still reaching out to vendors, making vendors feel conflicted. These are literally old men who are still reaching out to the landscaper and the pool guy and giving them conflicting information. They're also chastising the new board for everything they're doing.
"At the same time, the new board is saying, 'We're sitting on excess cash and the reserves are nearly funded, but we're not deploying those funds on what they're reserved for. It's been a long time since things have been refurbished,'" explains van Rooyen. "The older board members are saying, 'If it's not broken, don't fix it.'
"But that community isn't staying relevant," states van Rooyen. "It's looking outdated, which doesn't make sense because it's not a situation where they don't have the money to make improvements. All the new board members are trying to do is to keep the community relevant, and that community is seeing a generational divide between those two groups."
Some of our experts say term limits can help. Others advise against them. Read the debate and find out what else might work in our new article: https://www.hoaleader.com/members/4590.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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