Page 8 - SFL Cooperator Fall 2019

8 THE SOUTH FLORIDA COOPERATOR
—FALL 2019
SOFLCOOPERATOR.COM
CONT...
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ing to take personally.”
Communication, and the ability to
calmly articulate why one board member
may disagree from another – or a near-
consensus – is critical. “Some disputes are
caused by a lack of understanding among
board members as to the regulation and
operation of the association and the func-
tion of the board, which can be due to the
inexperience of some of the directors,”
explains Elizabeth Bowen, a shareholder
with the law firm of Siegfried Rivera in
Coral Gables, Florida. “To this end, a good
management company with the ability to
effectively communicate with a board re-
garding the needs of the association is im-
portant.
“Truth be told,” Bowen continues,
“some board members assume their posi-
tion with aspirations of control and world
domination – even if that world only con-
sists of the association. Those board mem-
bers are potentially the most difficult per-
sonalities to incorporate into what should
be a ‘team.’ It is important for the mem-
bers of the board to be reminded that their
function is to effectuate the administration
and governance of the association pursu-
ant to their best business judgment. Some-
times that purpose gets lost if directors
come with personal agendas. Many times,
association general counsel can act as an
experienced ‘voice of reason’ and assist the
board in attempting to move through its
difficulties to keep the corporation moving
forward.”
“In a harmonious board, members are
genuinely committed to either supporting
or opposing matters that come to them
based on whether or not those matters are
in the best interests of the building and its
residents,” adds attorney Michael E. Fleiss
of Schwartz, Sladkus, Reich, Greenberg,
Atlas LLP in New York City. “Also, the
members are free of hardline or absolut-
ist positions when it comes to the building
and building-related issues. For example,
instead of insisting that maintenance or
common charges must never be increased,
or that the lobby must be renovated before
any other project is undertaken, they are
willing to adjust if necessary to best ad-
dress the conditions and situations with
which they are presented. This does not
necessarily mean abandoning wholesale
the positions they espoused when running
for the board, or their deeply-held views
about how best to manage the building,
but it does mean being open to consider a
variety of possible options.
“Finally,” Fleiss continues, “effective
board members respect the views of ex-
perts regarding matters within those ex-
perts’ fields. Few board members – even
long-serving ones – can master all of the
details of the many subjects with which
they must deal. That’s why boards retain
architects, accountants, lawyers and man-
aging agents, and why successful boards
have different members with construction,
financial and legal backgrounds. Harmo-
nious boards give appropriate weight to
the expert opinions of their members and
of the professionals they hire.”
Fighting Toward Consensus
While some minor conflict can be al-
lowed to simply blow over, some intra-
board squabbles are not likely to fix them-
selves without some kind of intervention.
In these instances, members who find
themselves outside the conflict, or even
third parties, may need to insert them-
selves into the melee in order to guide it to
a reasonable solution.
It’s important to handle matters inter-
nally before they spill out and create issues
among the broader association. “Gener-
ally, there are an odd number of members
on a board so that when a vote needs to
be taken, the board can move forward”
without being stuck with a tied vote, notes
Robin B. Steiner, President of manage-
ment firm RMR Residential Realty in New
York City. “But, while it shouldn’t happen,
sometimes the losing side of a vote will ex-
press their disdain for the decision to the
community at large, and, all of a sudden,
gossip is circulating at breakneck speed.”
“Occasionally, board members can’t see
the big picture due to their perception of
certain people, and will be unable to make
rational decisions” adds Edie Davis, Senior
Property Manager with Maine Properties
in Scarborough, Maine. “In the rare occa-
sion that a vote reaches a stalemate, I have
had mediators come in to resolve con-
flicts.”
Sometimes, factions develop among the
ownership unrelated to board dealings,
and then members of those groups run
for board positions in order to advance
the interests of their smaller group. It’s not
hard to see how this can lead to problems,
as those members clearly do not have the
whole of the association in mind when
governing.
“Serving on a dysfunctional board is
exhausting for the members who may
well opt to resign rather than continue
to ‘fight the fight,’” says Davis. “That level
of dysfunction also typically leads to in-
creased expenses for the association, as
board members may have more cause for
requesting legal opinions to support or
offset arguments among themselves. Oc-
casionally, when there is a bad actor on a
board who is causing so much difficulty
that it interferes with the function of the
association, there may be a political effort
waged to have that member recalled by
membership through a statutory process.
MANAGING...
continued from page 1