IS YOUR PRESIDENT’S MIDDLE NAME ADOLPH?

By Jan Bergemann

Published August 21, 2015

  

You wouldn’t believe all the stories I hear from owners about the presidents of the board of their associations. Even folks who seemed to be reasonable at the time of candidacy turn into dictators who may look Adolph, Joseph and Fidel like nice guys!

    

Make no mistake: The old saying “Power corrupts – and more power corrupts even more” fits absolutely.  But in all reality presidents of the board of a community association have very little power – see the Bylaws of the association. They have only one vote at a board meeting – like every other board member. But a dictatorial president combined with board members who don’t know what they are doing and just let the president do whatever he/she wants can create havoc in even the best association.

   

I often hear other board members complain about the actions of the president. They seem to forget that they are the ones who allow the president to be a dictator. It is the fiduciary duty of the whole board to see that rules and statutes are obeyed by. The complete board has to make decisions according to the rules and laws, the president is just an officer with very limited powers.

    

And then there are the “presidents” who think that the “job” comes with some extra cash. We have seen in recent times many examples where presidents just helped themselves – from lots of money to extra cars – to some extra income. Their excuse: “I need to get compensated for all the “extra” work I’m doing.

    

Then we have the presidents who think they have to right to collect kickbacks from vendors – from free lawn care to serious money from contractors. Their approach to vendors: “You want the contract you have to give me this, this and that!”

    

And not to forget the duct-tape presidents : The guys who want to fix everything themselves – even if they don’t have the necessary license to do the repairs and/or service – and charge the associations for doing these repairs.

    

But let’s not forget the many good presidents that serve in Florida’s community associations. They really serve the community and have only the best of the community in mind! And they deserve a medal of honor – not being yelled at by some overeager owners who have a private agenda and are against everything the president tries to achieve!

    

So, what kind of president is running your association? Any good stories to share?


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Jan Bergemann Jan Bergemann is president of Cyber Citizens For Justice, Florida 's largest state-wide property owners' advocacy group. CCFJ works on legislation to help owners living in community  

associations. He moved to Florida in 1995 - hoping to retire. He moved into a HOA, where the developer cheated the homeowners and used the association dues for his own purposes. End of retirement!

 

CCFJ was born in the year 2000, when some owners met in Tallahassee - finding out that power is only in numbers. Bergemann was a member of Governor Jeb Bush's HOA Task force in 2003/2004.

 

The organization has two websites to inform interested Florida homeowners and condo owners:

News Website: http://www.ccfj.net/.

Educational Website: http://www.ccfjfoundation.net/.

   
We think that only owners can really represent owners, since all service providers surely have a different interest! We are trying to create owner-friendly laws, but the best laws are useless without enforcement. And enforcement is totally lacking in Florida !


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