10 Reasons to Not be on the Board
Most of us see the vote at the board meeting or the notice that comes afterward. Here’s what happens in between, when the people who volunteered to serve are also trying to get dinner on the table.
Your phone will ring at the worst time.
A pipe leaks just as you sit down for dinner. Before you can finish eating, you’re trying to find out where the water is coming from, who can shut it off, and which plumber can get there.
The meeting is the short part.
A one-hour board meeting can take several evenings to prepare for. Someone has to read the bids, check the numbers, and follow up on what the board decided.
You’ll have to deliver news nobody wants.
When the insurance renewal jumps or a repair costs more than expected, someone has to explain what it means for the budget and what owners may have to pay.
Everyone has a different first priority.
One neighbor wants the parking lot fixed. Another has been waiting for the walkway lights. Both have a point, and the board has to decide what it can afford to do first.
Your neighbors will bring you their disagreements.
A parking complaint or a noise dispute can put you between people you see every day. You have to hear both sides and still be able to say hello the next morning.
Someone will say, “It’s the law.”
Ask for the citation and you may get three different answers. A volunteer has to track down the source, read what it actually says, and see whether it applies to this association.
You can hire the contractor and still have to chase the job.
Somebody has to call when the crew doesn’t show, check what was included in the proposal, and follow up when the repair fails after the next rain.
People may expect you to make promises on the spot.
A neighbor catches you by the mailbox and asks you to approve a change. You can hear them out right there. The decision may take a review of the documents and a conversation with the rest of the board.
You’ll inherit work you never saw coming.
An old contract comes up for renewal. The last set of minutes mentions a repair, but nobody can find the warranty. Before deciding what to do next, someone has to piece together what happened.
The work that goes best is easy to miss.
When the drain gets cleared before the storm or a small leak is caught early, everyone goes on with their day. That’s the outcome the board was working for.