As you all should know by now, our first election to fill the open seat on the board of directors failed to garner enough votes to constitute a quorum. As such, a new vote is scheduled for July 20th, 2011, this Wednesday, at 7:30PM, in the 3834 Filing Room. Whatever votes have been obtained at that time will constitute a quorum.
The candidates in this election are Jason Cantow, the current board President, and Virginia Lichtman a former board member who served in numerous positions.
You are strongly encouraged to vote for the candidate you personally feel most fit to help lead the condo moving forward.
That said, it is the opinion of the rest of the current board that Jason Cantow is better suited to help move Grand Bel Manor Condominiums forward. There is a great deal of information, misinformation, and misrepresentation flying around, so I wanted to clear at least one thing up.
It is a matter of historical record that in the last 6 years Virginia was on the board condo fees increased a ridiculous ~69% and there was a special assessment totaling 18% of the yearly condo fee and the reserve fund was left an an all time low. In several prior years there were no increases. In the past two years, under the current board with Jason Cantow, condo fees have increased a total of ~5%.
It is the opinion of this board that properly maintained reserves would negate the need for such drastic increases and, in turn, such drastic increases have a further detrimental effect on the community by taking an unanticipated toll on owners personal finances leading several to refrain from paying their condo fees, leading others into foreclosure on their units, and in some cases drive owners into bankruptcy. In short, it is our opinion that such drastic fee increases in many ways cancel out the benefits they attempt to compensate for.
It is our opinion that small, steady, and predictable increases are the tried and true way to properly maintain and build adequate reserves at a rate much more amenable to the personal budgets of our residents.
A 2.5% increase a year would take almost 28 years to match the 69% increase imposed on the condo in the last 6 years Virginia was on the board. And that doesn’t even include the special assessment. Not only that, but in the time it would take to grow to a comparable size, a 2.5% increase would actually have brought in more money to the reserves.
I’ll leave it to you to decide which form of fiscal discipline you choose to endorse.
As I said, we encourage you all to vote and to do so for the candidate you personally believe will be best for this community. If you need more information, please don’t hesitate to contact any board member or Shea Management, and you’re also welcome and encouraged to attend the meeting in person!
Thank you,
Greg Yingling
Vice President
Grand Bel Manor Condominiums