Page 8 - New York Cooperator February 2019

8 THE COOPERATOR — FEBRUARY 2019 COOPERATOR.COM BOARD RELATIONSHIPS Board Optics The Perception of Performance BY MIKE ODENTHAL C ommunity association and co-op showing its work can still face backlash boards typically consist of elected from residents who interpret the board’s volunteers whose job is to serve discretion as secrecy, or who don’t see im- the best interests of the community in day- to-day decisions both big and small. In an endeavor. ideal world, every board would live and die by its fiduciary duty, making well-informed choices that not only keep its community Thomas O. Moriarty, a principal at the or building solvent, but also maintain a law firm of Moriarty Troyer & Malloy in pleasant environment in which to live. But Braintree, Massachusetts. “While percep- would even that ideal scenario be enough? tion of performance alone is obviously not If a board is doing all the right things but enough to deliver results, results alone are fails to communicate the hows and whys of not enough to ensure contentment among its decisions to its constituents, will those unit owners. The fact of the matter is that decisions be received approvingly? Truth is, in addition to making good sure that unit owners believe they have a decisions, it also falls to the board to com- municate those decisions – as well as how owners may never be happy with the re- they were reached – to its community in sults. In addition, if the actions and delib- a clear and digestible way. The reason- ing for this goes beyond just getting re- elected; to a diligent and capable board, issues the board is confronting – never- optics may seem performative, but they’re mind whether the board has done a com- actually a crucial part of being open and petent job pursuing resolutions. transparent with the residents that board represents. A certain amount of market- ing and salesmanship is often needed to unit, they become members of a self-gov- get buy-in from the folks most directly erning association,” Moriarty continues. impacted by a given board decision. A “While they might not volunteer to serve board that does the right thing without on the board, they nevertheless have an mediate positive results from the board’s The Messaging Matters “Optics are extremely important,” says unless a board has systems in place to en- voice in the process of governance, those erations of the board are not transparent, unit owners may not even be aware of the “Knowledgeable unit owners under- stand and expect that when they buy a important economic and personal interest in how the board conducts its business. A unit owner who cannot obtain enough in- formation to reasonably assess the merits of his or her board’s decision-making is not going to develop confidence and trust in that board. This can lead to frustration and skepticism.” Moriarty goes on to say that when boards fail to communicate their process to owners, owners nearly always perceived that as negative. “While there are always exceptions based upon the need for con- fidentiality – attorney-client privilege, for example – or because statutes may prevent the disclosure of certain information,” he says, “in every other circumstance it is almost always better to communicate as much information as possible, even if the information is not what the owners want to hear. Reasonable unit owners will un- derstand that not all news is good news, and they will be more content with board operations and governance if they have more accurate and reliable information, good or bad.” A current board can make association business easier for its eventual replace- ment by being explicit with its decision- making methodology. “It’s essential to pay attention to the details, or there can be problems in the future,” warns Mark N. Axinn, a partner with the New York City-based law firm of Brill & Meisel. “For example, when files are reviewed by a future board, it should be clear what the people at the time were considering, and why a particular decision was made. Records should be kept in such a manner that someone who is not familiar with an issue can easily ascertain what happened and why certain decisions were made.” According to Jacqueline Abraham, Regional Director for Lieberman Man- agement Services, which has offices in Chicago and Elk Grove Village, Illinois, a resident will occasionally run for the board with the intended goal of improv- ing its optics. “Once elected, these board members realize that there is a need for greater transparency, and make efforts to steer the other members to commu- nicate more with the community,” Abra- ham says. “This could mean forming a committee to create and send a monthly or quarterly newsletter; sending meeting minutes to owners electronically immedi- ately following a board meeting; install- ing a bulletin board in the common area on which they’ll post community updates and notices; or utilizing a community website to store documents and share in- formation.” Backlash For a board, neglecting optics and ig- noring the public relations aspect of its job can have abject consequences. “Boards often forget the messaging aspect inherent in getting information to owners before a new policy takes effect,” notes Axinn. “This is especially true if there is a new restriction or a new charge being considered. For example, if a board decides to implement a fee for subletting, it is important to convey to the owners that \\\[the purpose\\\] of the fee is to raise funds to help limit future maintenance increases.” Different states have different laws concerning how information can be dis- tributed to condo or co-op residents; some allow for electronic communica- tions, and some require actual hard cop- ies to be sent via registered mail or to be hand delivered. Regardless of the rules ISTOCKPHOTO.COM