Good Monday evening. 

Losing to Ole Miss was ……… well words can’t describe!    Less Milage needs to hire two additional assistant coaches, one to manage time-outs, and the other to manage the clock!!!  One comment I read said that Milage was like a deer in headlights.  Another said he became a spectator and forgot about coaching.  Yet somehow he manages to win games, and to LSU fans, that is the bottom line.  Also, congrats to the Jaguar Nation for another win and an outstanding season.

A few years ago, after losing a close game, LSU running back Rondell Mealey, in a post game interview, said he thought the team was laxative!  Well the team was laxative again against Ole Miss.

Now to business.

Today, my wife, acting on behalf of Neighborhood Watch in the absence of Frank Conley, received an email from Caroll Cedotal listing security issues with the clubhouse.  With Caroll’s permission, I’m posting his email below.

“I would like to make someone aware of the security problems at the Clubhouse and Pool areas. The gate has been open on a number of mornings when I arrived to enter the fitness center. It does not close fully; therefore, the electronic latch, even though it energizes, does not lock the gate to the pool area and the gater is left ajar. The door to the back hallway of the clubhouse also does not latch properly and needs attention before vandals enter and cost us some added misery. Finally, the stationary bike in the fitness center has been broken for months. Another resident and myself have fixed it on a number of occasions; but, now it needs service from a factory rep.

I paid my dues and expect to see the facility and equipment secure and in working order.”

Thank you,

Caroll Cedotal

For those of you who read my posts, I wrote about the long standing issues with the clubhouse, the gate, the security lights, etc., a couple of weeks ago.  I’m pleased that Caroll is speaking out.  Every time I hear someone talk about clubhouse issues, I’m reminded that our officers are also “laxative.”  It’s not one thing that needs attention, but several things that are not being addressed.  A few days ago, I wrote about the vandals who broke the railing on the front porch, and the condition of the front window and door.  Pictures were attached. Now Caroll is reminding us of old issues that have not been resolved. 

If the president and board members are not willing to honor their commitment they made by allowing themselves to be nominated and elected, then they should resign.   

Please tell your neighbors about this blog.  I welcome comments and would welcome anyone to author a daily post by simply contacting me for instructions.

Happy trails,

Dan

 

Another weekend of great football ahead.

Yesterday, my wife and I stopped by the clubhouse to look at the recent damage to the front porch railing.  We had heard that additional damage had taken place.  True, more damage was done to the railing.  It’s been a couple of weeks since the initial damage and I saw no sign of repair.  In fact, the broken wood pieces remain in the flower bed.  If I had to guess, I would think that this is the “work” of juveniles.  I can’t imagine that an adult, or adults, would destroy our property.  After making a few more inquiries, I’m now certain that no police report was filed, in either instance.   A portion of our annual fees will have to pay for the repairs.  I’m curious to see what, if any action by the president and board, will take place to discourage further damage and curtail reoccurrences of vandalism.  I made a suggestion in an earlier post to relocate a camera to spot the front of the clubhouse.  

Rather than repair and/or replace the railing, perhaps it should be removed completely.  The porch would look ok without the rails.  Also, there would be less ornamental to attract vandals. I also noticed that the front window, and to a smaller degree, the front door, are bare of finish.  The front window is now basically bare wood.  Before long, if left unfinished, the front window will begin leaking and eventually rot. Not only will the window need replacement, but possibly some of the inside wall and floor also.  No doubt, a costly repair.  This can be avoided if the window and door are scrapped, sanded, caulked, stained and re-varnished.

It’s obvious to me that the clubhouse is not inspected and maintained as should. I understand that signs of termite were noticed at the clubhouse.  But Instead of trenching the complete circumference of the building, a spot treatment was chosen instead. It appears to me that the front of the clubhouse was not trenched, and therefore not protected from termites.

Some attractive attributes of Old Dutchtown are the abundance of green space and the benefits of a clubhouse, pool and exercise room.  Unfortunately, the cost of maintaining the green space and the clubhouse facility is a significant expense. As such, these amenities need to be adequately maintained in order to protect everlasting enjoyment.

For those of you that take time to read my blog, please take time to visit the front of the clubhouse and observe the broken rail and the deterioration of the front door and window.  While there, please observe whether the front of the clubhouse was trenched and treated for termites. This is our property.  It’s our responsibility, and our expense to maintain and repair.   Come on officers, take care of the clubhouse!!!

Have a good day,

Geaux Tigers and Jags

Dan

Today was a great day for local college football.  LSU beats Florida, and the last time I checked, the Jags were beating Alabama A&M.

 

This afternoon, an anonymous person posted the following message on the blog.  I trust that this person is OK with me sharing their post in today’s comments.

“AnonymousOctober 12, 2013 at 3:50 PM

I think the whole thing is a mess. I think that everyone is just fed up. Complaints over and over again were gone un noticed. Never fixed..Boats in yards, trailers, wrecked cars...still sitting there. Bad yards...NOTHING. I have complained quite a few times and for years...and NOTHING...no matter who you have in charge..NOTHING

My first impression after reading this post was, the despair that I felt for this, I’m assuming, neighbor. So I decided to use this blog to respond.

The feeling expressed in this post is shared by many, and the very reason this blog was resurrected after four years being idle.  I recently wrote in generalities about leadership and communication.  Now it’s time to write about specifics.

For the past three years, we had the same president along with various board members.  But the common thread is, the same president. During this period, the president has also chaired the ACC committee which is responsible for overseeing violation of restrictions.  Violation of restrictions is the root of most complaints and issues.  The HOA officers currently consist of a president and two other board members. In my opinion, we have a very inactive group of HOA leaders.   It appears to me that the two board members serve at the pleasure of the president, and not the homeowners.  That would explain why the inactivity and lack of communication.  Property owners have to ask for meeting minutes to be posted because the HOA had not posted minutes for several months. I believe two months were posted.  When asked about the other months, the response was, “we don’t have meetings every month.” Really, then how is HOA business conducted?  How does the HOA communicate with the outsourcing management company?  How are all the restriction violations settled?  I read some of the minutes; what a joke.  You would never guess that the minutes represent business conducted on behalf of 200+ homeowners. I happen to believe that no official meeting has taken place in months.

As the poster mentioned, “boats in yards, trailers, wrecked cars still sitting there.” The problem is that property owners have no meaningful way of voicing their complaints and issues.  The online message board is totally useless.  Posting a complaint or any negative comment will get your message deleted, almost immediately.  There is also a “Homeowners Feedback Form” (I’m not sure if that is the correct official name) to voice complaints, or reports restriction violations, but even that is a convoluted and asinine procedure that requires you to establish an account to post.  I’ve read some of the feedback and most are pathetic.  In many cases the feedback is condescending and worse, a smack of mockery to any intelligent property owner trying to get an issue resolved.  So, it’s no wonder that the poster is frustrated and sees no end in sight.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel.  Come election time we need more property owners to show up, nominate someone you think will help the neighborhood overcome some of the inactivity we see today, and vote.  Over the past three years we have not had enough property owners attend the annual meeting to hold elections.  So, special meetings were held to circumvent quorums not met.

My message to you is that we can change the current status by exercising our right to vote.  If you want improvements in our neighborhood, then get involve with the election; show up election night, nominate a board candidate, vote and volunteer.

Finally, here’s an offer.  If anyone has comments to blog, or an opinion, then write your comments to a file, save the file, and then attach that file to an email to me.  I will publish your comments as the blog’s daily comment.  One thing however; I will not edit your comments, so the way you write it will be the way it’s publish.  If you decide to do this then you may want to spell check before you send the file.  If you’re interested, let me know.  I would welcome your comments, and that would give me a break.  LOL.

Later,

Dan

 

Today while riding in the neighborhood, I noticed several lawns being mowed.  Of the five or six that I noticed, all were blowing the grass clipping into the street with no apparent intent to sweep it up. The majority of the lawns were being mowed by hired lawn care professionals. 

The street is not a receptacle for grass shavings.  If I were to hire someone to cut my grass, I would make sure the grass shavings are either blown back into the yard or sweep up and disposed of in the trash.    If we all blew our grass into the street a couple of things would happen: First, the street drainage would eventually clog, second, the streets would be filthy and unappealing.  Neighbors walk, jog and ride bikes in our streets and no one wants to exercise in a filthy environment.  To some property owners, grass clippings in the street is “no big deal.”  But, it’s the small nick-picky things that sometimes mushroom into significant consequences.  Please, let’s stop that practice. Have your lawn care professional dispose of your grass clippings and help keep our neighborhood streets clean.

Another observation is speeding school buses in the subdivision.  If I had a school age child, I would be concern about the driving habits of some of the bus drivers.  We post 15 MPH speed signs throughout the subdivision, and expect property owners to obey, yet we tolerate bus drivers to drive in excess of 25 MPH with your children onboard.  If you observe the same speeding buses as I do, and concern, as I am, then please report the incidents to the Ascension Parish School Board.  Recording the bus number would certainly help the school board to reprimand the appropriate bus driver.

Let’s enjoy our weekend.  Geaux Tigers and Go Jags!!

Dan

“What day it is, Mike, Mike Mike.”  Its Hump day!

As stakeholders in this subdivision, we should get involved in the HOA.  Committees are not active because of low participation, me included.   There once was an active Pool/Clubhouse Committee, with regularly held meetings.  The Landscape Committee at one time had a number of members.  Today, Ben Morton is the Landscape committee.  The ACC Committee at one time also had a number of members.  Today, I’m not sure how many members are active, but I presume only Chad Becnel, who happens to chair the ACC, and is the president of the HOA.

Getting homeowners to participate in HOA activity could bring a substantial overall improvement to the HOA.  With an active ACC Committee, there would be no need to outsource the monitoring of covenants and restriction.  But it takes an organization of homeowners willing to do a little work, and not fearful of confronting neighbors with issues.

Also, election of board members happens in April/May timeframe.  If you have leadership and communication skills, and have a couple of hours a week to spare, then by all means please offer yourself for nomination.  The HOA by-laws call for a max of seven board members.  Today, we have three.  To assure representation, ideally, we should have board members from each filing (4) plus two members at large, and the president. That is not likely to happen anytime soon, but it should be an objective.

In sports, if you can’t play your position, the coach moves you aside and puts another player in your position.   It’s probably not that the player is incapable; it’s just a matter of whether he wants to work hard enough to earn that position.  That same example applies to our HOA.  I want to think that each officer is abundantly capable of carry out his/her responsibility, but I do question whether they want to work hard enough to do the right thing and get the job done. If we had more homeowners helping, assuming the officers want our help, then perhaps the officers would be motivated to try harder, and eventually be successful.

Dan

Tuesday, October 08, 2013

Another beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Today, I’m writing about communication, or the lack thereof.  Going back to my initial comments at the opening of this blog, I mentioned that lack of leadership and lack of communication were the root cause for most of our issues.  Yesterday, I wrote on leadership, today on communication.

The HOA has no regularly scheduled dispatch of information to the homeowners.  Board meeting minutes are not published for months, which lead me to question whether board meetings actually take place.  We have no idea what decisions are being made, what infractions are being investigated, where our money is being spent, and who hasn't paid their dues.  A few years ago I suggested a monthly newsletter to be published via our website, not only to keep the membership informed, but to also keep the officers on point for bringing good ideas to fruition.  A very cursory effort was made, but never materialized.

Even the online message board is ineffective, that is unless you want to buy or sell something.  If you happen to post a complaint, expect it to be deleted.  Every message is scrutinized before it gets posted.  If the message has a negative slant, well you guessed it; it gets deleted.  Is that what you expect from your HOA?  Does this demonstrate good leadership quality?  Of course not!  In fact this scrutiny not only lacks leadership, but their action is appalling. I resent being treated like a second-class citizen by a couple of paranoid caretakers.  “Can you feel me?” 

What about the message board at the exit of the subdivision?  How long has the current message been posted? What about the ones before; how long were they posted?  We paid a reasonable sum of money to install, and maintain that message board.  What purpose does it serve if the messages change only once a quarter?

Just recently I sent a message to the President, with pictures, asking whether he was aware of the damage to the railing on the front porch of the clubhouse.  His response was short; yes!  So I assumed that all was taken care of, i.e., a police report was filed and, at least, the board members were made aware.  Now, there is a cloak of suspicion whether the police was called, and whether the two board members were informed. I happen to believe that nothing was done; no communication was initiated. 

I realize that some homeowners are really not interested in HOA activity.  And that’s OK.  But some of us are truly concern what happens in the neighborhood.  We worry about whether the investment we made will continue to build equity.  In the current economy, with so much uncertainty, I personally worry about making the right decisions to stay ahead of that snowball that’s right behind me. Taking care of business at home is a high priority, and one that I can control.  I grimace every time I see a neighbor falling short on his responsibility to maintain his property.  I grimace every time I see HOA officers falling short on their responsibilities to do the right thing for the homeowners.

Perhaps, if we bind together and take a participatory role in the HOA, we can make this a better place to enjoy.

Please post your comments. 

Geaux Tigers

Dan

Monday, October 07, 2013

Beautiful weather in the neighborhood!

Riding through the neighborhood this afternoon, I noticed for the first time in a while; no boats on driveways or front lawn.  Also, I noticed that a utility trailer parked in a driveway for a few weeks is also gone.  That is good news!

Today I am going to write about leadership.  I wrote earlier that lack of leadership and lack of effective communication are at the root of most of our criticism and issues.  So I think it fitting to describe what I think leadership is.  There is an assignment for each of you at the end of my post. So look for that assignment before you leave the website.

I mentioned in my introduction that I had an active bog back in 2009.  It was basically the same subject matter as this blog and is still appropriate for today’s issues. The original post was Wednesday, July 15, 2009.  So, I enclosed the entire message in quotes to reflect something already published.  So, here it is.

“Leadership is defined by certain qualities in individuals. The qualities you hold toward a leader may be different than mine. I think of leadership as having more to do with expectation than any other principle. A good military leader wins wars; that is our expectation.

Leaders are all good. If you have a bad leader, then obviously you have no leader.  A person in charge is not necessarily a leader; they are simply, "a person in charge."

This is how I define leadership:

• Responsibility - Leaders will accept responsibility, good or bad, and seldom take credit for success, always giving credit to someone else. The reason for this behavior is that leaders are always in quest of a successor, and quick to give the chosen one, praise and recognition.
• Humility - Leaders are usually modest individuals, the opposite of self-centered, and arrogant. Leaders are quick to ask for help, which is usually to remove obstacles in their path to success.
• Caring - Leaders are genuinely interested in helping others, and unselfish. "Doing the right thing" is always at the forefront of engaged activity. Leaders are available when needed, and willing to offer assistance.
• Communication - Leaders communicate effectively. A good speaker is not necessarily a good communicator. A good communicator informs. He/she delivers pertinent information, whether it's done in the "Queen's English," or in simple conversation, the message is delivered effectively and consistently.

Given an opportunity, leaders will thrive in an environment where community members are encouraged to take ownership of issues and opportunities, encouraged to participate in activities, and encouraged to assist others when needed.

Other examples of leadership described in few words:

·     "Walks the walk, and talks the talk"

·     "Doing what's expected"

• "Inspect the expected"
• "Sets stretch goals"
• "Quick to offer praise and constructive criticism"

A leader is apt to be your friend. And, a leader will give you "face" time, rather than email, voice mail, and snail mail.

Have you identified HOA members as leaders? Are any of your selections on the Board? What have you done recently to help them succeed?

Again, this is my opinion on leadership, initially expressed four years ago.  The source of these comments was taken from years of being exposed to numerous executives (leaders) throughout my career.  It is my model to gauge leadership.  However, the comparison of this model to our HOA officer may not be reasonable.  In Banking, which is my background, candidates are groomed and schooled to be leaders.  Obviously, no one in the HOA is “groomed, or schooled” to be an HOA leader.  So we, as homeowners, rely on “first impressions,” and other intuitive characteristic to nominate and elect HOA officers.  But if I was to extract characteristics from my model and apply to our assessment of our HOA leadership, it would be the following:

1.       Are our leaders meeting our expectation?

2.       Are our leaders leading, or are they simple people in charge?

3.       Do they accept responsibility?

4.       Are they self-centered, and arrogant?

5.       Are they effective communicators?

So here’s your assignment.  Using the above five questions, how do you rate our HOA leaders?  Please post your comments on this blog.  Please, please, don’t post anonymously.  Let’s all be up-front on who we are and not post anonymously.  For whatever reason, if you feel uncomfortable using your name, then use an alias.   Then we’ll all try to guess who you are!   LOL

Have a good one,

Dan

 

Saturday, October 05, 2013

Glad to hear that Storm Karen has not intensified and doesn’t appear to be much of a threat to Gonzales and the surrounding area.  Thank God for that.  Here are my comments for today.

Clubhouse

Recently, vandals busted the rails on the front porch of the clubhouse.  As I commented in an earlier post, Frank Conley asked for details from the HOA officers to which his request was basically ignored.  This incident brings to mind a few questions:

·         Is the Clubhouse inspected after every event to check for damage?  Who has that responsibility?

·         Prior to noticing the damage, who was the last to rent the clubhouse? 

·         Was there a police report filed?  If so, when was it filed?  Who filed the report?

On another issue, it is my understanding that camera(s) were installed at the clubhouse.  To my knowledge, no notification was sent to the homeowners, nor was an expense report sent on the cost of installation.  Is there one camera, or more?  If there are two cameras installed in the back of the clubhouse, then perhaps one should spot the pool gate and the second camera moved to spot the front entrance.

Another long outstanding issue is the pool gate.  Why can’t we find someone to fix it for a period longer than a day?  What is it about that gate that can’t be fixed?  Do we need to replace the entire gate with more robust material?   Who has responsibility for fixing the gate?

Outsourcing to Management Company

When will the homeowners learn about the responsibilities of the management company?  What is the HOA expecting from this company?  How is the subdivision monitored?  What is the frequency of monitoring?    I believe Frank Conley spoke to the management people and asked questions about the service agreement.  Perhaps Frank can share details of that conversation by posting on this blog.

I’m a firm believer that no one can manage my property better than me.  What is it that the management company can/will do, that we can’t do ourselves?  I am dead set against outsourcing HOA responsibilities.  To do so is basically an admission that one, I can’t handle the responsibility or two, I don’t want the hassle, or three, I no longer care so let someone else handle it.   Outsourcing has its place in the business world.  A classic example is a startup company that doesn’t have the manufacturing capabilities and is forced to look elsewhere for help.  In our case, we have the capability and resources to do the work ourselves.  We basically took HOA responsibilities that should be handled as part of the duties of elected officers, and then, those same officers approved to pay a company over $1,000 per month to handle their responsibilities.  What a rip-off.

I’ve heard second-hand comments from the HOA: “I’m not going to police the subdivision.”  Another one was, “I don’t have time.”  I don’t doubt that these comments were factual.  If HOA officers don’t have time to take care of business, then why did they subject themselves to elections?  What was their motivation when they allowed themselves to be nominated?  Obviously, it wasn’t to take care of business and solve issues.  Read Frank Conley’s post where he listed a number of outstanding issues pertaining to the subdivision and you’ll realize that my comments are spot-on.

The root cause for most of these issues is lack of leadership; and that trickles down to a lack of organization.  I, for one, share the blame by not attending the annual meeting and not taking an active role in turning these issues around, until now.  One person should not have dual responsibility of president and chair of the ACC.  Also, to my knowledge there are no currently active committees.  Ben Morton has been actively involved with beautification projects and maintenance of some common ground, but I think he basically works alone.  The Neighborhood Watch program is the only active committee, and that organization is independent from the HOA.

Please give serious consideration to getting involved with improving the conditions of our subdivision by either running for office, or organizing a group to address specific issues. 

Stay tune for more,

Dan

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!

The Good.

It’s fitting that today’s comments would be about something good happening in the neighborhood.  I want to give a shout-out to Frank Conley.  Frank has been on top of Neighborhood Watch for a few years.  He has organized “block captains” and through this organization has diligently kept homeowners informed of suspicious activities and police reports as these activities occur.  Without fail Frank sends an email at month end summarizing the Neighborhood Watch activity.

The Bad.

 Unfortunately, he doesn’t always get cooperation from the HOA officers.  Just recently, a section of rails on the porch of the clubhouse were busted.  Frank requested a report from the HOA Officers to determine whether a police report was issued, or not.  To my knowledge he has yet to receive a response.  Why couldn’t the HOA give Frank the information he requested?  Another instance of the lack of communication which I believe is at the root of most issues in the subdivision.  The HOA President and Board Members should take a lesson from Frank and follow his lead on communication and responsibility.

The Ugly.

The clearly disregard to Frank’s request for information, clearly supports my initial comments in the opening of this blog.  One can only suspect that the HOA officers are either oblivious to neighbor activities, or simply too arrogant to respond.

Thanks Frank for your diligent and effective Neighborhood Watch program.

Hopefully this forum will serve the homeowners to voice their opinions and comments about our neighborhood.  The HOA has an online message board.  However, it is heavily scrutinized for comments that are detriment to the HOA officers.  Comments, unless you want to buy or sell something, are usually deleted.  Complaints are deleted within hours of posting.  What kind of message board is that?  What purpose does it serve?  If I needed a classified ad, I would quickly turn to Craigslist, or eBay, certainly not the HOA message board.  So, again what is the purpose of the message board?

My commitment to this blog is that I will not delete comments unless crude and offensive language is used.  As long as the comments are civil, I will allow the posts.

Have a great day,

Dan

 

Please read the comments at the bottom of the page.  Today, Frank posted a list of issues that he accumulated over the past few weeks. 

 

 

“Déjà vieu all over again!”  Back in 2009, I established a blog for the same reason as this new blog.   In 2009 communication between the HOA officers and members were basically nonexistent, just as they are today.  Board meeting minutes, if any meetings take place, are not communicated to the members.  Financial conditions, i.e., income and expense reports are nonexistent.  No activity is communicated to the members, nothing!  In many respect today’s condition are worse than 2009.  Do any of you know how many members have not paid their annual dues?  Do any of you know how many of these delinquent owners have liens against their property?  Are any fines being levied for ACC violations?  As cooperative members shouldn’t we know that?  I happen to think so.

There is one basic concept that the current officers have yet to realize, or understand.  An HOA, such as ours, is a classic cooperative.  By definition, all members have an equal stake in the endeavor.  Ours is not a corporate entity where you have major and minor shareholders, with the major shareholders have most of the power and decision making clout.  In our cooperative endeavor, the president and board members all have one vote, the same as you and me.  And since we are all equal shareholders, we should all share the same information, financial and otherwise.  It’s not happening, so we should demand it.

The HOA officers are serving at the members’ discretion.  I don’t think they fully understand.  As an equal shareholder, I am appalled at the way business is conducted, or perhaps I should rephrase, at the way that no business is conducted.

We’ll have plenty of time to discuss all of the issues in detail as this blog gains momentum.  Please forward the blog site to neighbors that have the same concerns as you and me.  Many property owners are not interested in getting involved, so consequently this blog will not appeal to them.  And that’s OK.  For those of us who see our stake in this subdivision has a substantial investment, then let bind together and affect change.  Please post your comments as frequently as you identify issues.

You can access this blog by typing www.olddutchtown.blogspot.com in your browser.  Save the address in your favorites to have it readily available.  To post a comment, please scan the bottom of the page for "Posted by Old Dutchtown at (time).  Immediately to the right click "no comment," or "comment (#)" to open a new page where you can post your comments.

Thanks for reading.  I hope to hear from you soon.

Dan