December 2016

LOOKING FORWARD LARRY THOMAS, PCAM | CAI-NJ CHAPTER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

A s we close out 2016 and welcome in the new year, regardless what CAI membership category you are part of, we should all start thinking about how we can improve our community’s operations and life- style. It is in the best interest of all our members to work together to make the lifestyles of every one of our residents as enjoyable an experience as possible. We all need to remember that your residents moved into your community because they expected a certain quality of life. Whether it was for social reasons or the transferring of certain mainte- nance duties, your community was selected as their home. In my position as Chapter Executive Director, I constantly mentally refer back to my years as a community manager. This background allows me to view matters from the other side of the desk when I get phone calls from residents of a community that feel they are not receiving the services they are entitled to or feel their rights as a homeowner have been violated. I also have the luxury of being in charge of the mediation program here at CAI-NJ. This gives me first-hand insight into some of the disagreements that occur in our communities. One of the major factors that lead to a community’s disagreement is residents not being informed and the lack of the board not to (at the very least) give the resident an opportunity to be heard and present his/ her case to the board. As community leaders, we need to take a broader look at our communities and recognize and address the resident issues that we frequently come in contact with. I come in contact with dozens of communities either through their management team or their board members. I’ve found that the most successful and harmonious communities are the ones that have created transparency and have developed

a method to meet and listen to their residents’ concerns. This is done by way of “town hall” meetings, establishing a designated time for residents to meet one on one with the board or management team or having your key leadership volunteers or staff attend neighborhood or club functions. We all understand that there will be disagreements that will require outside assistance to resolve. You may want to consider using the CAI-NJ Mediation Program. It’s a lot cheaper than getting your attorney involved and elimi-

"As community leaders, we need to take a broader look at our communities and recognize and address the resident issues that we frequently come in contact with."

nates the sometimes uncomfortable situation of using your residents as mediators. My office handles around 80 mediations per year and the success rate is very high. If you’d like additional information, please visit our webpage — www.cainj.org. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention what a great job our Conference and Expo Committee did with this year’s event. The committee led by Kevin Oliver and Patricia McGlone and staff liaison Angela Kavanaugh did an outstanding job in creating a top notch experience for all of the exhibitors and attendees. A huge thank you to all of the committee members and CAI-NJ staff for working together to exceed all of our expectations. n

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