Tuesday, October 8, 2013

SunCrest Owners' Association Board Member Elections

The slate of nine candidates all did a great job articulating their views at the Meet the Candidate Event this evening. There was a two minute intro, lots of questions, and a two minute wrap-up. Notes and results are below. I did my best to keep up with all of the answers, but I'm sure I missed a few things. This should give you a nice overview, though.

Lisa Holcomb - lived here since 2001, loves it, concerned about easements.

Doug Fowler - sent a survey to residents, decided he wanted more of a voice, stood up for the community

Tim Mawhinney - public service sector, worked with businesses, compromise is important, no nonsense

Doyle Judd - attended almost every board meeting for the past four years, lots of HOA experience and boards of public, private companies. Understands governing documents, basically the "constitution of SunCrest" 

Amy Baird - 9 years, involved with SunCrestResidents.org, worked to explain and educate residents, accounting experience, budget/finance committee, and covenants committee for several years.

Larry Nilssen - understands rules, processes, procedures, experience with boards, covenants committee, interested in a strong, fiscally responsible board.

Aimee Hudak - represents the moms, community full of concerned residents, wants to make SunCrest a great place. Working with Draper and ASD for bus stop safety.

David James - dad was city manager, runs a business, willing to carve out time to volunteer in community, concerns about salt dome, fire danger, wants to be the voice.

Ben Crandall - Melinda Crandall's husband, 8 years, concerned about things outside of his control impacting home values. 

#1. Parks 
Ben - salt dome
Larry - interested in Draper turning parks over to HOA
Doyle - interested in working to find a solution to make parks better
David - interested in working with anybody to find the best option
Amy - need park improvement, likes the open space, will work with city and residents, especially on salt dome issue
Aimee - would work with Draper, worst park in neighborhood, doesn't want to turn it over to HOA, thinks Draper should make it better
Tim - HOW are we going to work with Draper? We have a board member on city council
Lisa - knows Draper City, SunCrest isn't special, park maintenance is a city responsibility
Doug - need two-way communication with Draper

#2. Top three concerns/issues, in order
Lisa -
1. Draper owns 2300, wants it to be open space
2. wants protection easements
3. FireWise

Doyle -
1. Work w/Draper City
2. Recognize governing documents
3. Maintain HOA in fiscally sound position

Tim -
1. Land use
2. Relationships with city
3. Salt dome, TRSSD
4. Wants HOA to represent everyone in the community

Larry -
1. Fiscal strength
2. Parks - take them over, a consideration
3. CCRs, rules

Ben -
1. Understanding boundaries of what is OA land and what is Draper's
2. Transition from Draper City to HOA

Doug -
1. Representation on the board
2. Maintain relationship w/Draper
3. Bringing the community together

Aimee -
1. Special tax - can't stop the tax
2. Unite as a community and go to Draper City, volume

David -
1. TRSSD - doesn't want it to be a piggybank for Draper
2. Fire prevention
3. Cell tower

Amy -
1. Better communication, educate residents
2. Good relationship with city
3. CCRs and finances

#3. Why do you want to be a board member?
David - wants to make SunCrest great.
Ben - wants to improve SunCrest's image
Doug - wants better communication
Aimee - feels at home, wants to keep SunCrest a great community
Lisa - representative, working w/Draper, need to get people to City Hall
Amy - likes to be involved, wants to get others involved, has already been involved for several years
Larry - we're almost there, vested interest in a high-functioning board
Doyle - adds value, 40+ years of experience in business, finance, four years of experience serving in SunCrest
Tim - wants to protect the public in SunCrest

#4. Life/work experience?
Amy - 20 yrs accounting, CFO, no problem collecting dues, CCRs, budget/finance committee 5 yrs, Draper Youth Council advisor

Larry - HOAs in other cities, understands the rules and how they function

Doug - small business owner, involved, loves SunCrest

David - 30 yrs business experience, people person, soccer ref for 17 yrs

Lisa - Level-headed, works in IT, real, needs woman on board

Ben - looks for win-win, enjoys the community

Tim - ISEE Sec/Treas, HOA experience, budgets for Utah

Aimee - CEO of Hudak corp, used to being paid nothing and having to work hard, bus stop

Doyle - HOAs, SunCrest OA, CPA, 40+ years, public companies, small companies - diversity of experience. Decisions should be based on facts.

#5. Relationship w/Draper City should be...?

Larry - relationship with Draper City used to be difficult, it has improved, they have statutory authority, better to garner trust.

David - HOA is not a taxing authority so we have no choice but to work with them, can be improved, voices need to be heard, don't need to be offensive

Doyle - Two-fold: Co-owner as declarant, taxing authority. Golden rule. He who has the gold makes the rules.

Tim - Voters in Draper, clout, getting out the vote to change out City Council members. Voting delegates should motivate residents to vote against council members who don't support SunCrest

Amy - timeline for plan to turn over MDA, better communication, have them come to SunCrest to educate residents.

Ben - close relationship, should be non-adversarial

Doug - cooperative but separate, Draper City shouldn't be on OA Board

Aimee - I've seen Draper not like us, but we can come together and change things like with the school district. Things have improved drastically

Lisa - it's everyone's responsibility to represent our community at City Hall, motivate residents to step up

#6. How would you describe the OA to someone who doesn't have an understanding of community associations.

Doug - understand it as a business, CCMC does great job of working on finances, have to have revenue, costs involved

Aimee - people want to get rid of HOA, however, we need the HOA for what we have and what we pay. Supports the OA, it is a business.

Ben - OA as a business, income/revenue, rules/regulations, great service for the money

Larry - power with the people, who vote for the delegates, who vote for the trustees, who hire the management company

Tim - not for profit business, important to understand what is being done by the HOA board, website to ask questions, have elected board members dig up info for residents

Amy - board is responsible for money, how it is being spent

Doyle - OA is not a for profit but business principles are sound. Maintain a certain quality of life based on governing docs for all who live here, increases property values.

David - non-profit, democratic, representative form of government, vote people off if you don't like them, be motivated to get involved

Lisa - check and balance w/finances, important to have a third party be a second set of eyes.

#7. Communication - how will you communicate? Be specific.

Aimee - communication is through representation. Chain of command. Every resident has a voice that goes to the delegate, delegates need to be at meetings to communicate with the board.

Amy - better communicate, SunCrest residents.org blog, minutes at OA board meetings, a website to look at

David - We need to know where we can go. People don't know or care about their voting members. Info needs to be disseminated to all residents.

Lisa - paper. Something in everybody's mailbox. Old-fashioned way works. Lure people in. Do raffles at budget meetings.

Doug - need voting delegates wanting to communicate. Make sure you get to know your neighbors.

Ben - effective communication is vital. Blog, e-mail blasts, website, delegates, direct mail, personal communication.

Doyle - channels we have are underutilized. Voting delegates keep their constituents informed. OA has a website. OA emails.

Larry - Resident responsibility to click on email to know what is going on. Residents want confidence in their voting members that their interests are being represented.

Tim - interactive website. Townhall. Be available to answer questions for residents at BBQ.

#8. What are the primary board roles? (Advocate, ambassador, fiduciary duty, neighbor, friend) What will YOU be the most useful for?

Tim - Advocate, relationship w/city, ambassador, fiduciary duty, neighbor.

Doug - advocate, communicate with neighbors.

Lisa - Princess. :) Advocate to city, rebrand SunCrest as the crown jewel of Draper.

Doyle - Governing docs determine fiduciary duties of the board. Advocate with city for the interests of residents. Be a good neighbor.

Larry - Role is clearly defined in governing docs. We want to be wise and instill confidence in residents for our decisions.

Aimee - advocate, friend. Others think she knows everything that's going on here. Communicate those concerns to the board.

David - deals w/problems/customers. Knows what it takes to work with people. Helpful to have a marketing campaign to excite people to get involved.

Amy - A little bit of all. Follow CCRs, budget/finance in good hands, educate residents, communicate, be a good neighbor.

Closing Statement:

Doyle - hope you're convinced already without speech at the end. Value add to the board because of experience.

Ben - wants to be ambassador, advocate, neighbor, but not a princess. Effective communication.

David - advocate to make sure our interests are better served. But won't lose sleep if not elected. Very busy.

Larry - Problem-solver, experience, seen functioning boards, wants SunCrest OA to continue to be a functional board.

Tim - Won't jump the gun, will not fail to learn from previous board members, will not not listen. Your decision will effect HOA for 6-9 months. Choose a candidate who will get the job done. Does what it takes.

Doug - Proud of this community. Enjoys walking three-mile loop. Stand up for SunCrest.

Aimee - stay at home mom, loves her community, will do anything for SunCrest for her children.

Amy  -will be a leader, make sure it doesn't turn into dysfunctional board, lots of experience to bring to the board, more residents on committees, proven track record.

Lisa - crown jewel. Functionality is a big part of what we would do for homeowners. Make some changes to governing docs. Can't be stagnant - either moving forward or backward.

RESULTS: A big thank you to all who were willing to run for one of the board member seats!

And, congratulations go to Amy Baird, Doyle Judd, and Aimee Hudak!






















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