By Jane Muir
Did you know?
- We have 683 households in Marsh Creek and over 1000 highly talented adults but currently only 39 households are contributing their time and talent on MC HOA committees.
Did you know?
- We have nine Board members holding six of the eight active committee chair positions and two vice-chair positions. This means that a relatively small number of Marsh Creek households hold positions that influence all decision making for our community.
Did you know?
- In total, less than 6% of households in MC are participating on the board and/or committees.
Did you know?
- One Marsh Creek household is represented on five committees, holds leadership positions on three of them, and serves on the board.
Did you know?
- The Long-Term Strategic Planning Committee that is addressing our community’s future has only three members and its Chair is also the Chair of Common Property, Co-Chair of the Finance Committee, and a Board member as well.
Did you know?
- Of our 50 current committee members on the eight HOA committees, 22 (almost half) are current or past board members. Since current policy encourages new board members to have previous committee experience, the continued presence of an “old guard” discourages infusion of new blood.
For everyone’s benefit, we need change and with election time upon us, we have an opportunity to make change happen. How do we do that?
Two things come to mind.
First, we need to amend the bylaws to limit one position of leadership per MC household consistent with the existing bylaws that limit one vote per MC household. Additionally, we should limit each adult homeowner to one committee membership. These changes would significantly reduce the burden of those who are willing to serve, create a larger talent pool for future board positions, and ensure greater diversity of thought and talents to address the many issues facing our community.
Second, we need more people to step up and volunteer to serve. While one could argue that there are already ample opportunities to join committees, in fact, factors related to culture and personalities have deterred many from doing so. Some committee chairs are not open to new members, and/or the current holders want to hand pick whom they allow on their committee (my personal experience when I tried to volunteer).
While one must appreciate and admire the dedication and the time commitment of the individuals who serve our community, it seems an injustice to them and to our community that with all the wealth of talent that resides here, we aren’t utilizing more of it.
Changing the bylaws to limit each household to one position of leadership and each adult homeowner to one committee membership would reduce some of the current barriers to participation and assist the MC Outreach Committee to engage more community members to contribute their time and their talent for the betterment of their community.
Interesting to hear such criticism of those who have contributed so much to their community by those that have contributed so little. There are many errors in the statistics being quoted in this post, starting with there are actually 663 owners NOT 683. Also, according to the past 2 Boards, the author has never requested to be on a commitee or the Board so she has never been rejected.
Many people in our community do not choose to be part of the HOA as it requires a lot of time, work, commitment and there is constant criticism for whatever actions and decisions are made for the benefit of our whole community. . It truly is not a job that anyone should enter if they think it is easy to balance the interests of the whole community, not just the desires of the vocal minority.
New blood and diversity of participants are worthwhile pursuits for Marsh Creek Board and Committee participation, but the recent article by Jane Muir overlooks two equally valuable considerations. First, attracting new candidates, particularly for the Board of Directors, has traditionally been quite difficult as serving requires a substantial time commitment and comes with as much criticism as praise. Second, and more importantly, Directors and Committee Members with experience are the community’s only source of institutional memory. Knowing what, why and how things were previously done are essential when considering the implementation of something new. Members with experience provide this background. Change is necessary and valuable, but it should not come by abandoning the things that have made Marsh Creek such a wonderful place to live.
Brent Burkey
Thank you Brent. I agree with your assessment. Well stated with very valid points that need to be taken into consideration before there is a rash attempt to redo the Bylaws. You want your Bylaws to give direction but also not handcuff your organization if you do not get enough volunteers to fill all necessary positions.
Most people on the Board and committees are there because they deeply care about this community and will volunteer for more positions because there are openings that no one else has stepped up to fill. These volunteers, should be applauded for giving of their time and talents in such a big way. It is a big responsibility with many demands and guaranteed criticism. It’s not for everyone, especially people who want to really enjoy their life and their retirement, which is the goal of many in our community.
Thank you Brent for all of your hard work and expertise on the Board and your willingness to serve on various committees over the years. You have made a definite difference and I for one, am extremely grateful.
Many thanks to all for your comments both on the Spoonbill website and to me individually via calls, texts, and emails. It is diversity of thought and informed dialogue that ensure a strong, healthy community. I hope dialog on this topic continues to enable us to develop a mutually acceptable solution for engaging more of the talent that resides in our community.
The numbers and information I used in my observations was taken directly from the Marsh Creek HOA website and while I may have been off by a few households, it does not negate the point that too few are involved with the activities and the decision making of our community. As for the statement that I did not request to be on a committee, there is a Board member/Committee Chair who can confirm that request.
The comment regarding the difficulty in attracting new candidates goes exactly to my point about the need to lighten their burden. Furthermore, the very detailed recent Spoonbill article recapping how our community has addressed speeding concerns in the past was written by someone who has never been on the MC Board and I don’t think has served as Chair of a Committee. This demonstrates that institutional memory can come from sources besides Directors and Committee Members. Let’s keep the conversation going and come up with a mutually acceptable solution.
Many thanks to all for your comments both on the Spoonbill website and to me individually via calls, texts, and emails. It is diversity of thought and informed dialogue that ensure a strong, healthy community. I hope dialog on this topic continues to enable us to develop a mutually acceptable solution to engage more of the talent in our community.
The numbers and information I used in my observations was taken directly from the Marsh Creek HOA website and while I may have been off by a few households, it does not negate the point that too few are involved with the activities and the decision making of our community. As for the statement that I did not request to be on a committee, there is a Board member/Committee Chair who can confirm that request.
The comment regarding the difficulty in attracting new candidates goes exactly to my point about the need to lighten their burden. Furthermore, the excellent and detailed recap in the recent Spoonbill article recapping how our community has addressed speeding concerns in the past was written by someone who has never been on the MC Board and I don’t think has served as Chair of a Committee. This demonstrates that institutional memory can come from sources besides Directors and Committee Members. Let’s keep the conversation going and come up with a mutually acceptable solution.
Did you get my previous comment and when do you anticipate it being posted? Thank you.
Interesting to hear such criticism of those who have contributed so much to their community by those that have contributed so little. There are many errors in the statistics being quoted in this post, starting with there are actually 663 owners NOT 683. Also, according to the past 2 Boards, the author has never requested to be on a commitee or the Board so she has never been rejected.
Many people in our community do not choose to be part of the HOA as it requires a lot of time, work, commitment and there is constant criticism for whatever actions and decisions are made for the benefit of our whole community. . It truly is not a job that anyone should enter if they think it is easy to balance the interests of the whole community, not just the desires of the vocal minority.
Great article! When we are in need of volunteers, I am so disappointed to hear that your efforts to volunteer were rebuffed. What a loss to our community!
Jane, thank you so much for this article about the board. I know there are well qualified people (you being one of them) who would be excellent to serve on the board. I totally agree with amending the bylaws to limit one position of leadership per household and a homeowner to one committee only. Hopefully your article will enlighten the community so that the necessary changes can be made.
I agree, Jane. We do need to rotate new people in and give everyone an opportunity to serve their community.
Ailine,
Everyone does have the opportunity to serve on our HOA. Contact Outreach and let them know your area of expertise and interest. Contrary to the tone of this blog which is rather misleading, no one is preventing people from volunteering their services. For clarity, people found themselves in various leadership and committees roles as there was no one else willing to assume those positions. It was all benign, never nefarious. Please, reach out to Outreach if you have a desire to serve.