The jump from condo critic to condo director

“When you protest, you want the government to do something, but now they expect me to do something for them. It’s no longer the government to blame but you who will be responsible for the mess. It’s a very different feeling.”

—Boniface Mwangi, Kenyan political activist

So you want to make the jump from being a condo critic—a person who can find fault with everything—to running for a position on the condo board. Are you really sure this is something you want to do?

Being a condo critic can be fun. However it is far less enjoyable once you have joined the board and you now are responsible to clean the mess that you have been complaining about.

Once you're on the board you will have to deal with multitude of problems.

“I literally went home every night for the first three months and said, ‘Oh, my God, what have I gotten myself into?’ ”
Marty Walsh —48th mayor of Boston

Public person
Joining the board, especially if you become president or treasurer, makes you a public person within your condo community.

When they see you, the residents will want to talk to you when you are in the lobby, the elevator or the mail room. They have requests or complaints that they want you to attend to.

Time
Forget the bull that being a director takes just two hours a month to attend a board meeting. Especially at first, expect to spend ten to fifteen hours a week getting to know the building, the contractors, the employees and the the fire plan, touring the maintenance rooms, reading the Reserve Fund Study, reading the previous board meetings, reading the residents' complaints and suggestions, studying the monthly financial reports, getting authorization signatures changed at the bank and on and on.

Life-safety
First thing to do is to tour the complex inspecting the life-safety systems. Open the white box in the lobby and read the fire plan.

Then walk through the building checking the fire-pull stations, fire hose cabinets, the garbage chute closers, the door closers and all building exits.

Check all the maintenance rooms to see if they are clean and orderly. They are not to be used as storage areas. Then read the last two annual fire inspection reports.

Check to see if all the employees and contractors know their roles in cases of emergency. Open the First Aid boxes to insure they are fully stocked. Ask to see all the security guards' licences and First Aid certificates.

The finances
Far too often, there is not enough money. The list of needed repairs, updates, replacements, cleaning, painting and landscaping can be endless.

Yet, there is little money to do all that is required let alone to do what would be desirable. In a some condos, the electrical bill is often paid late which results in late penalties that adds to the condo's money woes.

Worse, there is constant pressure to keep the fees low. Many owners, influenced by our short-sighted governments, have no taste for fee increases.

The owners
Some are in arrears and others have back charges that they won't pay. Others have high expectations. As one seasoned director told me: "They want Four Seasons luxury on a Motel 8 budget."

You will be lied to. Games will be played.

This cheque was dated for the 10th of February yet it was not dropped off at the management office until the first week of March. That owner was always a month late in their fees.

Insults, suggestions & threats


As the blunt of the residents' anger, demands and threats, you will enjoy:

Complaints that our fees are too high.

Hearing people at the AGM yell that you have to listen to them because they are owners. How dare you tell them to wait for the Question & Answer period.

Having people call you a crook who is stealing their money.

Constant complaining about needed repairs.

Hearing that the cleaners are lazy and the guards are always sleeping.

Complaints that the manager takes long lunches and never answers the telephone or replies to their e-mails.

Getting threats that they will call the city inspectors.

Hair-brain suggestions that, if implemented, would cost millions.

Seniors wagging their fingers at you while they hiss: don't you dare raise our fees.

Constant reminders that you work for them.

And yet this abuse is small beer compared to the troubles you'll have when you start trying to fix all the problems you uncover with the limited money you have available.

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