About Us
We are a group of owners within Greentrees Village dedicated to the open-minded research of the cost/benefits of employing a Management Company for our community.
This group is not associated with the Greentrees Village, Inc. Board of Directors. The views expressed on this site do not reflect the views nor any action executed by the Greentrees Village Inc. Board of Directors. All group members and contributors to this site are members of the Association of Lot Owners of Greentrees Village, Inc.
Why A Management Company Research Group
In 2006, the Greentrees Village Board of Directors realized that the community was getting too large to be managed by volunteers and moved to employ a professional General Manager (GM). GM Louis Dashofy, stayed with us until the end of 2019, when he retired. Since that time, Greentrees Village has struggled through four unsuccessful attempts at replacing the GM, creating increasing turmoil in the community as volunteers struggle to manage staff and the day-to-day running a $2M business.
Unable to Retain a Qualified General Manager
We are currently without a GM and in the midst of search. Finding and retaining a GM has been unsuccessful primarily for the following two reasons:
- Lack of Available Qualified Professionals: Living on the Coast has so many benefits; having a large pool of management professionals available to choose from when hiring a qualified General Manager is not one of those benefits. Other Florence HOAs have been successful hiring from within and effectively building a GM from the ground up. We may not have the time or the support structure to do this as our HOA is already in crisis.
- A Divided Board and Community: Over the last several years our community has become fiercely divided. That divide has extended to our Board of Directors to the point where they have lost their ability to be objective. Yearly, as the Board changes the Board majority also possibly changes from one faction to another. One Board hires a GM then, when the Board majority changes, the next Board subsequently fires and rehires a new GM, and the cycle continues.
Lack of Volunteers
From 2006-2019, Greentrees staff, HOA finances, and HOA business was managed by a GM who then interfaced with the Board through the President. The elected Board of Directors was responsible for making business decisions; those decisions were executed or enforced by the GM and staff. Our Boards changed yearly and there were no qualifications for Directors to have specific business expertise; therefore, the Boards were supported by the GM and a number of Committees to advise them in making sound decisions. The GM provided continuity for financial and business policies, processes, and day-to-day business; committees, made up of long-time volunteers, provided Greentrees-specific continuity and expertise for specific critical areas (Finance, Property, ACC, GERT, etc.). This mode of operation depended heavily on volunteers.
Today, fewer and fewer owners are wanting to volunteer to help with running the HOA. Most of today’s owners have no intention of volunteering or becoming involved in an HOA. Long-time members of critical committees are aging out with no owners with the needed expertise to replace them. We struggle more and more each year to fill a nine-member Board.
An Uncertain Future
Without the ability to hire and retain a qualified Manager, each successive Board is taking on more management responsibilities for the HOA day-to-day business and finances that should be run by qualified professionals. At the same time, fewer volunteers with business, financial, and management skills, training, and expertise has left the management of our HOA solely on the shoulders of volunteers without the training, knowledge, and skills needed to effectively run a $2 Million Business.
The results are devestating: Dues are increasing year to year as we fail to successfully negotiate new contracts, we fail to efficiently use our resources to maintain our infrastucture, we fail to efficiently manage our service contracts, we fail to manage our finances and retain accurate records, we fail to manage and retain staff, and we fail to operate the HOA in accordance with Oregon State Laws, leading to increasing legal expenses and risk of litigation.
Is a Management Company the Answer
We don’t know. Change is hard. Being self managed was a good solution for a long time; however, as Boards become more and more polarized and empowered to take charge, it will take a very strong GM that can gain the support of both factions in the community. If the GM is unable to take charge and resist being undermined by a forceful Board, they will be unsuccessful and difficult to retain.
Given the difficulty of “staying the course” that was set back in 2006, we need look at all of our options. Part of that is researching the viability of a management company. With that in mind, the goal of the group is to provide a comprehensive set of data to outline the pros and cons, costs and benefits of employing a management company in the event that the decision to employ a management company is put to a community vote.