Fostering Positive HOA Engagement
Dennis,
I fully respect the free will and personal choice of uninterested/apathetic owners, however their lack of awareness may have a collective negative effect on the community as a whole if unethical or incompetent Board members are in power. Even if an HOA has competent and ethical board members, it may be difficult for a Board to know the opinions of members in a disengaged community. What suggestions do you have for fostering more positive community engagement in HOAs? Do you think any legislative changes such as permitting (not mandating, but simply providing the option) annual elections for Board candidates by online voting would increase participation?
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Nick,
The board has a multitude of tools available to them to foster better community involvement and participation. They simply have to understand the dynamics of their community and what has happened in the past to generate animosity, distrust or simple apathy. I firmly believe that transparency in the actions of the board is absolutely fundamental to any successful community. Town hall meetings where the board simply talks to the members as peers to understand where the community is and what can be done by all parties to improve the community for everyone. There is no need for these communities to be adversarial if every one understand their role and responsibilities.
My top priority legislation for this session and for the next session will address the voting and election process, and how simple steps can be taken to make that process fairer, more transparent and more trustworthy. I will maximize the flexibility and standardize the process across all communities while ensuring the integrity of the election and voting process.
Current law precludes the use of online voting in these communities but despite that fact this process has been used extensively by most large communities without the authority or any controls for their use. The possibility of significant vote manipulation within these systems is nearly unlimited and needs to be addressed. While I will allow the option to use this tool I will also provide limitations and tools to verify the integrity of the voting process from the use of this tool. While this tool can provide significant cost savings for large communities and result in greater voter participation based on the simplicity of its use. It will do nothing to improve member engagement in the affairs of the community. It is simply a tool and members and boards are people that need to find a way to communicate with each other openly and frankly.
That is where any board must start if they want to truly serve their community.
Dennis