@LiberalLibrarian Why, yes… this flag is legal according to the CC&R’s…

@mikeharmanos You have our vote.

@SECRET_ASIAN_MAN o7

@mikeharmanos As much as it sucks, I think you should totally try to get the position.

The best place to be in when you want to fix a broken system... is holding its reins.

@IrelandTorin Truth be told it really isn’t that broken! The finances are very tight and it spooks people out because they think they’re going to get screwed.

@mikeharmanos While I don't have experience with HOAs specifically, I do have some experience with other orgs.

My advice, if you want to ensure people don't get screwed, see if you can use HOA bylaws to establish robust processes for the types of HOA activity/decisions with high financial risk.

A HUGE one is contracting/purchasing - often lazy or corrupt people will only bother getting a quote from 1 preferred vendor/contractor, sometimes for kickbacks, often leading to exorbitant costs.

@mikeharmanos Requiring that multiple quotes (a lot of orgs require 3, although I've definitely also seen 5 on occasion), each from a different contractor/vendor, be obtained any time contracting/purchasing is being done can really help avoid price gouging;

In the all-too-common "preferred contractor single quote" scenarios a multiple-quote requirement policy can prevent, decision-makers often don't even realize they're being ripped off - even as they get stressed about the org's lack of money.

@mikeharmanos That might sound like a dumb, contrived example... but I've actually seen it happen (with my own two eyes, no less!) on more than one occasion.

Absolutely blew my mind the first few times because I had a hard time believing anyone actually failed to spot bad practices that blatant, but... well, it eventually became disappointingly clear that I had significantly overestimated the baseline level of competence one could expect at that level.