Hopefully you are stepping up because you want to help your community and you don’t see many others volunteering. Unfortunately, there are always a few owners who run for a board position because they have an axe to grind and want to be on the board to “turn things around”. Those in the latter category rarely succeed in making the community a better place. Why you ask? When a new board member has an agenda, this can often cloud good judgement and reasonable decision making.
A common mistake made by new board members who were dissatisfied with the performance of the previous board is to immediately want to do everything differently… better. If the preceding board was to lenient, the incumbent board often rebounds and becomes too strict. Forgetting that the community had adjusted (rightly or wrongly so) to the modus operandi of the former board. If owners that have parked their cars in the street for the past three years suddenly get a letter from the new board stating “move it or lose it” you can expect a response… and probably not a good one.
After a few agressive advances by the board, there could be other Napoleons in the community already planning a coup d’etat. Before you can say, “knee jerk reaction” the new board is facing a recall and is replaced by board number three which (you guessed it) has an agenda: to be more lenient.
A word to new board members: check your motivation. What is your agenda? It should be to represent the best interests of the community based on feedback from the community. This isn’t about you being “right” or “winning”. It is about being reasonable and avoiding the temptation to overcompensate for what you believe to be the former board’s weakness.
Be a part of the solution… otherwise, you are just another problem.
