message board home
Next
3/5/2015 4:09:31 AM
 
Reply
or ReplyNewSubject
Section 5: OPA Board Subject: GM Challenges Board Msg# 915153
|
||||||
|
Mr. Reynold’s: thank you for accepting my sincere apology. You have my pledge that as long as I remain a member of this forum that I will do so with civility and professionalism.
You’re probably correct when you state we have more in common. I absolutely agree that the existing structure is the way it is supposed to work and I wish that would be true. However, my contention is that this Board, and prior Boards, have attempted to micro-manage a process that is well beyond their scope. The GM (Management Company) should be focused on the day-to-day issues such as: have we rationalized pricing and utilization of our amenities? By way of example, the Beach Club closes at 6pm in the height of the season…why? We have an enclosed pool however if there is lighting it must close….why? The Yacht Club excludes an important demographic when families with children are not welcomed on a daily basis…why? The Yacht Club pool must close early because in a $5 million dollar renovation there is no outside lighting…why? Does the DPW have the right mix of full time and part-time employees given the seasonal nature of some of our maintenance needs? The Board should be focused on the larger issues of the types of amenities the membership desires, what level of financial support we are willing to provide; to include the financial support for the non-self-sustaining amenities along with intermediate planning for the capital expenditures necessary to maintain the integrity of our infrastructure, and lastly holding the GMs feet to the fire….but not in a mean spirited way. The GM should be in the weeds…not the Board. I just have a sense that neither the Board nor the GM is serving the best interests of the larger association membership. Lastly, I will gladly defer to your “institutional memory” given your longevity in the Pines…so possibly there are plausible explanations/answers to the above questions? I know…more questions than answers! |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
For reference, the above message is a reply to a message where: No problem, Ev. We all get upset from time to time. I also know my love of sarcasm can infuriate at times. I've been at this online forum stuff since about 1988.... pre-Internet, managing forums for CompuServe and later for Microsoft. Ted Nugent and I used to have some interesting discussions on CompuServe. You and I are tame compared to Nugent. 
Anyway, with regard to your premise of OPA hiring a management firm to handle day-to-day operations, I would have no objection if the board decided to explore that idea. In fact, OPA is already doing that in golf, where an outside manager is hired and all the golf employees work for the management company. Tom Olson, the gentleman who preceded Bob Thompson as OPA General Manager, is, I understand, working as manager of a HOA in Delaware but as an employee of a management company in charge of the overall HOA management. I believe the current board, or pretty much any board in the past, would say that your description of how OPA should operate is actually how it does operate..... board makes policy and GM/staff carry out that policy in the day to day operation. Overall, I'd say that is more or less the way things have worked for the 26 or so years I've lived here fulltime. This political wrangling between the board and the GM only began with the hiring of Bob Thompson in my opinion. Hiring of an outside management firm would not eliminate an OPA Board of Directors, nor would it eliminate the human propensity for those board members to involve themselves, to one extent or another, in the day-to-day operations. Our Board of Directors, like any means of governance including the government of the United States, is never going to be perfect but I have yet to see a better alternative proposed. Finally, I hope you will continue to participate on the forum. Truth is, we probably have a great deal in common when it comes to how we look at politics in OPA....... and make no mistake, this place is as political as Washington. |
| Calendar |
OPA Board Meeting - Golf Clubhouse
1/25/2025 - 9: A.M. |
|
OPA Board Meeting - Golf Clubhouse
2/22/2025 - 9:00 A.M. |
|
OPA Board Meeting - Golf Clubhouse
3/29/2025 - 9:00 A.M. |
|
OPA Board Meeting - Golf Clubhouse
4/26/2025 - 9:00 A.M. |
|
OPA Board Meeting - Golf Clubhouse
5/24/2025 - 9:00 A.M. |