Being a Board member can be a thankless and time-consuming job. Most of us don't have the time, and many of us the temperament to deal with exasperated owners who have had their bushes trampled or who believes someone taking "his" parking place or making noise after 8pm should be imprisoned.

But those who ask for the job have a very important responsibility to be fair, prudent, and honest. Next year's HOA budget is projected to be over $2.5 million dollars. That is more money than some of us have seen in our lifetime.

One of the issues in the next election will be the underfunding of HOA Reserves. We were told recently in the cover letter to the 2004 Budget Packet dated November 12, 2003 that this fund, which is used to resurface roads and repaint and repair units, has a projected balance of only $283,260.00, and should have a balance of nearly TEN times that much. So now the Board is considering a special assessment of over $2 million dollars, which would be about $3660 per unit/owner.

What were Board members doing and thinking about for the past 10 years???

Many of our Board members serving now (2003) have been elected to the Board by "acclamation". That is a fancy way of saying that no one ran against them.

According to the HOA office, Roger Lubin was elected to the Board last February-- by acclamation. Bob Blum was voted onto the Board. Terry Arnold was previously on the Board for about 12 years, left, and was appointed (not elected) by the Board itself in July. Gerald Carlin, current Acting President, was re-elected--by acclamation, and is now into his 3rd year on the Board. And Chuck Barbaglia was re-elected -- by acclamation, and is also serving in his 3rd year on the Board. In other words, 4 of the 5 current Board members were “elected” without anyone running against them.

How ever a Board member rises to office-- by election, appointment, or default--does not in itself have a bearing on what kind of job he will do. But if there is a pattern of appointment rather than election, it is usually not in the best interest of those they serve. Competition in politics, like business, is designed to benefit the consumer. That is why it is important that we have quality competition for the 2 open seats that will be voted on at this February's Annual Meeting.

Board members are entitled to their privacy. And a Board seat at Mesquite is not the U.S. Senate. But if people are serving an entity that will handle-- and hopefully not mishandle -- more than 2 million dollars a year, we should know more about them than the 3 or 4 paragraphs that they submit to the "Mosquito" in their required biography.

Recently a Mesquite owner wrote to the HOA office and asked the following question:

"As we approach the elections would you please ask all current Board Members if they have ever been removed by the Board of other Condo Associations in the past 10 years -- either by vote or recall. If so, when and where?" As of this posting, we are still awaiting that reply.

We believe that is a fair question. If someone is asking us to vote for them, or to represent us, we have a right to know how they have preformed in a similar job under similar circumstances. In fact, this request would seem to be in the spirit of the Board's new "Rights and Responsibilities" outlined in the Fall issue of the “Mosquito” newsletter. Those guidelines said that Community Leaders (Board Members) have a responsibility to "provide complete and timely disclosure of personal and financial conflicts of interest related to the actions of community leaders." We believe that also relates to disclosure of any problems they may have had in performing the same type of job they now have.

Finally, we recommend that you urge the HOA to develop a question and answer format for all candidates running for Board elections this Fall. That would include their education, job experience, experience dealing with financial matters, as well as what they would like to change, improve, remove and in general do to make Mesquite a better place to live. We should also know if the person has ever been arrested for a felony, and other background information regarding financial or personal impropriety.

Acclamation in and of itself is not bad. But new blood may be better. In any case, competition is designed to produce a better product. Let's hope that will happen at Mesquite with truly qualified candidates running for election and/or reelection this February.

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