September2017

THE BACKGROUND When we think of modern governance and our opportu- nities as citizens to participate, we still like to believe that our vote counts. Not only does this matter in a presidential election or mayoral runoff, but even in the most local of concerns: that of electing people to a board of trustees for our community association — the place we call home. Yet, for years, this precise issue of owners being denied meaningful access to participate in their own governance has been the source of dispute in one community called “Radburn” located in Fair Lawn, NJ. Radburn was founded in 1929 as “a town for the motor age.” It was one of the first communities to clearly ELECTION REQUIREMENTS By J. David Ramsey, Esq. Becker & Poliakoff, LLP New BOARD

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separate pedestrian traffic from vehicular traffic; contained a spine of open green space and may have been the first community to intentionally contain cul-de-sacs. Today Radburn boasts a community of over 3,000 people who reside in almost 700 residences of diverse style and archi- tecture. Although Radburn’s planning was far ahead of its time, its governance structure — now almost 90 years old — is anachronistic. Radburn is a community where only those nominated by a nominating committee may run

David Ramsey is a shareholder in the law firm of Becker & Poliakoff, LLP, in Morristown, New Jersey. David has practiced law since 1976, with his areas of specialty in community association law, land use and development. David is a past president of the Community Associations Institute, a national educational and advocacy association for community associations, and a past president of the New Jersey Chapter of CAI. He served as the chair of CAI’s Government and Public Affairs Committee from 2008 through 2016 and remains a member. He previously chaired the New Jersey LAC and the UCIOA Implementation Committee. David has also previously served as one of CAI’s designated advisors to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws with respect to updating the model UCIOA act. For numerous years he has been peer rated as a Super Lawyer, listed in the publication Best Lawyers in America and ranked AV (highest possible rating) by Martindale Hubble. David is a graduate of Rutgers University (1973), where he earned his Bachelor's of Arts degree (Magna Cum Laude; Phi Beta Kappa), and Rutgers Law School (1976). He is a member of the College of Community Association Lawyers. During the early part of his career he developed an expertise in community associations, drafting governing documents for commercial and residential condominiums, home owners associations and planned unit developments, and obtained registration of those projects by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. He has since represented numerous associations and been involved in finding solutions to the issues they face. He has frequently lectured and written on matters concerning community associations at the local, state and national level on issues ranging from community association legislation to restricting Megan Law registrants from living within community associations.

Courtesy CAI-NJ.

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