Leewood Homeowners  Association

Volunteering

Our Annual Meeting is in March. At that meeting, board members for the next year will be elected. All the board members that will be serving at that time will have been appointed – so to serve longer, all must stand for election. Not all have been polled yet, but it does seem that at least a couple of them will run for the board. That means we can avoid the situation of last year when nearly the whole board had to be elected. Let’s hope that means a more stable and prosperous Association next year. It is looking like we will need 2-3 volunteers however.

Volunteer out of love for your community, volunteer because you have some time you can devote to your surroundings (why don’t more retired people volunteer?), volunteer if you have complaints on how the Association is run and think you can do a better job.
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What makes a good volunteer for Leewood?

• You should be internally motivated, rather than externally driven. Although some members of Leewood go out of their way to say “thank you” most do not. Thus, you must (in general) take your “atta-boys” from what you have done, rather than what people say to you.
• You should be able to identify tasks and do them with little supervision.
• You should have a sense of responsibility with respect to your volunteer work. People are counting on you to do it. Treat it as a job.
• You should have the right reasons for volunteering. If you get your kicks out of helping people, making a business run smoothly, or performing a task well – you will enjoy serving Leewood. You get to do these things nearly every day. What doesn’t work is if someone volunteers for the power of it all (there isn’t any), to achieve one particular thing (say, a tree planted in front of their house), or other self-driven reasons. Those people invariably are unhappy volunteers and their view of their time as a volunteer is quite often poisonous.

It should be added that you should not have to have a hide of steel to be a volunteer. In recent years there seems to have been a “culture of criticism” that has sprung up. Let’s try to all be a little more positive and support our volunteers in their efforts. We probably all think our criticism is constructive – perhaps we should test it out on ourselves first and see whether we would like it directed at us.

The Property Owners Act

Some of you might be aware of the broad outlines of the POA legislation, especially if you have recently moved into Leewood. One of the many things it requires is a “disclosure package” to be given to a prospective buyer of property in a community governed by an Association. You will hear us refer to the POA representative (the person who puts that packet together), the POA packet, etc. There is an extra “A” added sometimes, so you get POAA.

This law gets changed yearly, and bestows both rights and obligations on the association and homeowner. There is a series of “sunshine clauses” in it requiring openness in the association’s dealing with homeowners. These are often referred to as the “Homeowner’s Bill of Rights”. As in any Bill of Rights they do you little good unless you know what they say. There are other sections that expand the power of the association – notably when it comes to assessing penalties for violations of its rules, and collecting on obligations due the association.

We have posted this very important law on our website. Do visit, read, and be informed!

Board Down to 3 Again

This month Dune Ly quit the board (he was the last remaining member of the “class of 2004"). Anne was scheduled to leave anyhow, due to pregnancy. The three remaining members of the board have all been appointed this year after they volunteered to help keep our association running. Never in the history of Leewood have we had the turnover rate that we experienced this year. Let’s hope next year we will come up with some dedicated volunteers who are committed to making our association work.

No matter what form of management you choose you need a board and other volunteers. You also need some type of continuity. A year or less term of office doesn’t provide any type of stability at all. One board member from another association said that he thought three year terms were perfect –“ the first year you have so much to learn, the second year you know what you are doing and are at your peak, the third year you are beginning to burn out”. We have three year terms, and generally people have lasted throughout their tour of duty. There has always been some attrition, and indentured servitude is illegal, but most people did manage to serve out their entire term. In fact, often they ran for a second term of office.

Classifieds

• Reliable snow shoveler wanted. Call Elizabeth Moya.
• Lose a watch about a month ago near 7021 Leebrad? Call Judy Currier.

Remember, Assessments were Due on 1 January!

Website

There have been various comments about the tone of some of the posts on the message board. Please remember that this is a new experience for Leewood and we are groping around trying to find out how to allow the message board to fulfill its potential of being a meeting ground for ideas, yet not turn into a method of throwing slings and arrows at the very volunteers that make Leewood function. If you have suggestions on how to achieve this, the board and website committee would be interested. Meanwhile, trust us, we are working on it – you may see two steps forward, and one step back for a while. At the moment we have passed out “nice pills” to all posters on the board (just kidding there) and the discussions are reasoned and calm.

If you have a brilliant idea for the design of the web page or of a new banner – don’t be bashful. Sketch it out, and send to webmaster@leewood.us. You don’t have to know how to code to contribute your ideas – leave the “technical” to us!

Mailbox Notices

We are trying a new method of communication within Leewood – trying to reach those people who neither read the newsletter nor visit the website. If you have ideas for mailbox notices please contact either secretary@leewood.us , webmaster@leewood.us or post your idea on the website message board . You could even write up the notice as you would like to see it published and send it in. Soon we will all be masters of the sound bite!

Snow Reminders

• Remember that everyone is responsible for shoveling their front sidewalks and the common area sidewalks in front of their homes. If you have an infirm or elderly neighbor, consider doing a good deed and help them with the shoveling.
• Parallel parking on the streets of Leewood is illegal anyhow, in a snow storm it interferes with the safety of all as the plows can’t get through. Your vehicle may be immediately towed.
• Check the website for updates during snow times
• It is wise to not dig out your car until after plowing has been completed. Otherwise, you might see all your work go to waste!
• Snow that has already been shoveled is much harder to move – don’t pile it in the streets.
• Trash pickup is quite often cancelled because of the snow. If you can at all avoid it, don’t put it out when snow is predicted or has fallen. The trash contractor sometimes refuses to pick up trash even when Backlick and Braddock are perfectly clear. It is very difficult for the association to get them to commit to trash pickup in the snow.
  

If your trash might blow in the wind, weight it down!

Post of the Month from the Message Board

Right now we are having a interesting exchange of views about property management on the message board. There is a post by (it is rumored – soon to be President) Julie King that, amongst other things, explains how the association works. To paraphrase part of it – A board of directors is fairly well occupied, if they are doing their job, in making Leewood run smoothly. Other issues, such as searching for a property manager, are generally handled by either standing or ad hoc committees. Those that want such things need to carefully analyze the situation and report to the board about their findings. Eventually they should put together requirements for the job and get proposals that meet those requirements. Then the whole board and the community can make an informed decision on the subject. The role of the community is not to come up with ideas for the board to execute; they should contribute to the process.

Important Dates

Regular Recycling days: Every Thursday