Over the past 12 years, I have come across a number of presidents whom I like to call the know it all presidents.
When I joined the committee of my community, I must admit I knew little about community matters, running, rules, and the law. Over the two years as a committee member, I started learning about how the community works and before I knew it I was pushed forward to replace another president.
As I accepted the job, I once again admit that I knew little about what it entails, what are my obligations, rights, and the law. I was lucky that I had many friends who were presidents and throughout my time as president I called upon these friends and as Urbytus grew I learnt more and more from all the presidents and administrators I met.
I purchased several books during that time, about bookkeeping in communities, The Horizontal Property Law, and so on, but I must admit none were as useful as asking other presidents about the issues I was facing. From the issues with the Town Hall, the mancommunity, debtors, and so on and on.
Many communities lack this connection and opportunity of being able to connect and over the years I met with many presidents who were doing what they thought was right and I don’t blame them because at one point in time, I would have thought the same. It only seemed logical and correct. However, the law has little to do with logic at times. What is the law, is the law and you cannot rule above it. Was it not for the vast connection of presidents and administrators I may not have been able to navigate some of the difficult situations in our community, yet for the better or worse, I took advice from others who had previous experience and expertise in order to deal with many of the issues I faced, if not daily at least several times a year.
What surprises me Is yet how some presidents can claim to know it all, that they do not need to ask or consult anything with anyone. They alone with their administration company and maybe legal help keep things running perfectly fine. Or that’s what they think as more than often I have arrived at those urbanizations from numerous disgruntled owners and the only thing I observe is a dictatorship style of ruling where communications are kept to the basic minimum and transparency is at best none existent. In many cases it is just an old outdated management style and in some cases it includes issues where some are benefiting from the position and this is the method in which they keep control and the tap running in their favour.
Running a community is very similar to running a country. In a recent interview with one of the presidents, I asked him what advice would he give to other presidents, to which he replied “Listen to the owners and address their concerns”. Well, that’s only two of us here who think that listening and communication are important, we may be wrong but history has shown otherwise.