SFL Cooperator Fall 2019

Fall 2019
SOFLCOOPERATOR.COM
Community association and co-op
boards typically consist of elected volunteers
whose job is to serve the best interests of the
community in day-to-day decisions both big
and small. In an ideal world, every board
would live and die by its fiduciary duty, mak-
ing well-informed choices that not only keep
its community or building solvent, but also
maintain a pleasant environment in which
to live. But would even that ideal scenario
be enough? If a board is doing all the right
things but fails to communicate the hows
and whys of its decisions to its constituents,
will those decisions be received approvingly?
Truth is, in addition to making good
decisions, it also falls to the board to com-
municate those decisions – as well as how
they were reached - to its community in a
clear and digestible way. The reasoning for
this goes beyond just getting reelected; to a
diligent and capable board, optics may seem
performative – but they’re actually a crucial
part of being open and transparent with the
residents that board represents. A certain
amount of marketing and salesmanship is of-
ten needed to get buy-in from the folks most
directly impacted by a given board decision.
A board that does the right thing without
showing its work can still face backlash from
residents who interpret the board’s discre-
tion as secrecy, or who don’t see immediate
positive results from the board’s endeavor.
The Messaging Matters
“Optics are extremely important,” says
Thomas O. Moriarty, a principal at the law
firm of Moriarty Troyer & Malloy, which has
continued on page 9
In a community association, it falls to the board to put out any fires that ignite among
the property’s residents. But what happens when the blaze springs up between the board
members themselves?
Those who volunteer to serve on their community association or co-op board are
likely to bring strong convictions – and personalities – to the table. As in any decision-
making body, there is likely to be a difference of opinion, which, if the stakes and tem-
pers rise high enough, can occasionally escalate into a war of words – or even knock-
down, drag-out fisticuffs. Preventing any and all conflict is impossible, but minimizing
and mitigating it is essential in order for a board to do its job. Board members should
actively anticipate arguments among their ranks, and have a strategy on hand to ease
tensions and reach an acceptable compromise before things get out of hand.
Talk It Out
One way to keep things copacetic among board members is to identify which attri-
butes most contribute to a board’s functionality, and reach for those as a base-line when
things start to drift off-track.
Volunteerism is arguably the bedrock of
co-op and condominium communities. One
buys into one or the other with the expecta-
tion of participating in the governance and
operation of the property. Volunteering for
board or committee service, though, is of-
ten a matter of time – something many of us
don’t have much of these days, especially the
‘extra’ kind. As a result in many communi-
ties, it’s the older and often retired residents
who have the hours to offer for board and
committee service. The result is that often
boards are dominated by older, longer-term
residents, which in itself isn’t necessarily a
bad thing – it’s just a fact.
It should also be noted that the compo-
sition of a board is usually representative of
the residents of the building or association,
and different types of communities tend to
draw different demographics. So in a small-
er community, perhaps a 10-unit co-op in
a walk-up building with only studio apart-
ments in a newly-fashionable neighbor-
hood, everyone living there may be under
40 – thus, that board will likely be composed
of younger people. Conversely, in an over-55
community, the board will mostly be com-
posed of older people. But these specific
situations may not be typical of most com-
munities.
Legislative Fix?
Can a co-op corporation or condomini-
um association do something specific with
its bylaws or rules to require that board seats
be distributed between various age groups?
“Absolutely not,” says Mark Hakim, a co-op
and condo attorney with Schwartz Sladkus
Reich Greenberg Atlas in New York City.
“You cannot create age limitations of any
kind relative to the board. It’s illegal. And
that’s under both federal and state laws and
statutes.”
Frank A. Lombardi, a principal at Good-
“I think that the key to harmony on a board is that its mem-
bers have the ability to agree to disagree,” says Tina Straits, Vice
President and General Manager of Baum Property Management
in Aurora, Illinois. “Any one group of people is not going to reach
a consensus on every issue. Where there is disagreement, it is
vitally important that board members listen respectfully to each
other and understand that having a difference of opinion is noth-
Managing Board
Conflict
How to Maintain Harmony
BY MIKE ODENTHAL
Board Optics
The Perception of Performance
BY MIKE ODENTHAL
Board
Demographics
Old Guard Versus
New Blood
BY A J SIDRANSKY
205 Lexington Avenue, NY, NY 10016 • CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED
continued on page 8
continued on page 10
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