Gabriel: 0:00

brusforgeh off issues that may happen within your community brush off the negativity that others may bring to the table because they're not doing the job you're doing. You were elected to this position for a reason, you volunteered your time and efforts to do it. And if they wanted to rise to the occasion, they very well could too. But if they choose not to, that's okay. But you've chosen to do it. So empower yourself with the decisions that you're able to make. And with the great sense of volunteerism that you've empowered yourself with to to help your community.

Announcer: 0:36

Common sense for common areas exists to help all 2 million HOA board members nationwide have the right information at the right time to make the right decisions for their future. If you're a board member, that's you. Stay with us weekly for actionable insights that minimize stress, avoid catastrophes and protect your property values. This episode is sponsored by three businesses that care about volunteer board members, association reserves, community financials, and Kevin Davis Insurance Services. You'll find links to their websites and social media in the shownotes,

Robert Nordlund: 1:15

thankless job. What comes to your mind when you hear these two words? Well, having served on the board of my condominium association for several years, followed by decades of experience in this industry. There's one job that without a doubt deserves to be at the top of the list. Elected volunteer HOA board member. So regular feature of our weekly podcast is one episode a month devoted to sharing the stories of real life. unsung Ward heroes. In Our Eyes aboard here was one of the 2 million elected volunteers who are worthy of recognition for simply performing a thankless job. Well, welcome back to Hoa insights common sense for common areas. I'm Robert Nordlund, reaching out to you from out of town where I'm speaking at a conference, and I'm here to share the story of an unsung board hero named Gabriel Albarran. This is episode number 13. And if you missed meeting our first two board heroes, you might want to check out episode number five and number nine.

Gabriel: 2:18

Hi, my name is Gabriel. I've served on the board of Westlake point for just over one year, when I'm not wearing my board member hat. I'm the president of a real estate sales and investment organizations. And three words to describe being a board member rewarding, thought provoking, and I know that's true, but it's hyphenated and difficult.

Robert Nordlund: 2:40

Which like point is a 64 unit townhome community in Westlake Village, California, the property is over 35 years old with an annual budget of about $400,000. Gabriel has lived in the community for about three years. And we asked him what first motivated him to get involved with the governance of his association.

Gabriel: 2:58

So the office that I hold currently as I'm the president of Westlake point, and the reason why I wanted to get involved is we were in this huge insurance issue facing our community, our insurance premium was $60,000 for a walls in policy. And unfortunately our community fell victim to the Woolsey fire, four of our units were burned down. So that$60,000 insurance policy then increased to $624,000. For walls in policy at 60,000 to a walls out policy at $624,000. For what happened thereafter was a special assessment, which half of that $624,000 was paid by the homeowners, and half of it was paid from our reserves. Unfortunately, we felt that people who wanted to run for the board, including myself felt that we could do better, we could find a better insurance policy, we could find a better way to preserve our reserves, our reserve account, and we could find a better way to be better as a community. And so that's really what was the impetus for me to join West like points, Board of Directors

Robert Nordlund: 4:09

be better as a community. These are great intentions when running for an association board member seat. We are one year past Gabriel's election to President. So here's how he describes his personality and the special gifts he's brought to the board.

Gabriel: 4:23

What attributes do I think I have, I'm able to be a good leader and able to provide and design a strategy and way forward. I'm also able to make decisions. You know, one of the most important attributes of being a board member I believe, is being decisive. We have to make decisions on the behalf of the entire community in the community depends on those decisions being made. So employing a good leader or board of leaders to do so really contributes to the vitality of the community. Hey,

Robert Nordlund: 5:00

what's lakepoint has one year terms for each of their board members. So Gabriel is actually up for reelection, Ken wants to stay involved with the association. However, we are curious as to why

Gabriel: 5:11

what motivates me to stay involved in my community is, is really twofold. I love to give back. I love to give back to my community, I love to see things thrive and move forward, and especially when I'm involved in it. But the second part of it is not only selfish, but also for the other homeowners, I want to see, the equity and price of my home continued to increase. And I feel that if I have a hand in helping that increase, by taking a leadership role on the board, then I've done my duty, and I'm doing what I can, and providing my voice and my work to make sure things are done, the way I see fit. And the board of course,

Robert Nordlund: 5:54

like any other board shows that we featured in earlier episodes. Gabriel's goal as a board member aligns with the goals of the community to thrive and to improve property values. But before we get to how these goals were challenged, here's some of Gabriel's favorite aspects about serving on the board.

Gabriel: 6:09

And my favorite part of serving on the board is the camaraderie between the board members right now, as it stands, we have a wonderful set of board members for incredibly astute, smart and really decisive, they provide wonderful input, they're willing to put in the hours to make this community thrive. And they're not scared to really go towards doing hard work.

Robert Nordlund: 6:36

We were curious what Gabriel's least favorite aspect was of serving on the board,

Gabriel: 6:41

the least favorite part would have to be the amount of criticism we get. Unfortunately, this is a volunteer job. And I think a lot of people lack the awareness of that we are giving our time as identified earlier 20 hours a week, if not more to this community and our other board members or to by the way, not only in this community, but around the nation and world. I think, unfortunately, homeowners are quick to criticize rather than the provide constructive criticism, I would much rather see that and identify ways forward rather than bringing people down.

Robert Nordlund: 7:18

In a post COVID World board meetings can be conducted in a virtual room, in person, or even in a hybrid environment, we wondered how what's like point was conducting their meetings and what their meetings were like.

Gabriel: 7:31

So we still conduct our meetings virtually today. But we are on a pathway of conducting our meetings with a hybrid version. So hopefully, we'll be in person in due course. But the great part of being virtual is our attendance to our meetings has been wonderful. We have again, 64 units in our community, and we consistently get 30 households to attend our meetings virtually. So I'm encouraged by that. We will continue to embrace virtual meetings, but then also have a hybrid version. And hopefully that will solicit even more homeowners to come. Gabriel

Robert Nordlund: 8:05

seemed really excited about the amount of participation at Westlake points virtual board meetings, that usually speaks to a healthy, productive culture at Association. And we asked Gabrielle if this was the case.

Gabriel: 8:17

So the culture of the board is actually quite healthy as it exists right now I have the great, the great pleasure to serve alongside people who are seasoned professionals in what they do. And as I said, I've naturally taken on a leadership position, which I enjoyed doing, but I'm supported by people on the board, who serve alongside me who are who have been through that lifecycle as well. We have our secretary who served as Chief Marketing Officer Officer of Kohl's, we have our vice president who is a cyber security professional, our treasurer who unfortunately I had to leave the board, but previously it was there worked with companies like Exxon Mobil, Max Factor, and Sebastian. So you know, I have the great fortune of having board members, or really seasoned professionals in in seemingly corporate jobs. So we understand the nuances of board meetings, how they're conducted, the respect for decisions made and one another and that makes our job collectively that much better and more rewarding, because there's mutual respect between one another so I really appreciate that. And as a result, those board members who I serve alongside have also become wonderful friends.

Robert Nordlund: 9:39

Were curious about whether the current or prior board had passed the special assessment that Gabriel mentioned before. Here's what he had to say.

Gabriel: 9:47

As it stands today. The current board has not made a special assessment. However, the past board did do a special assessment to address our insurance issue. And it was an credibly difficult to hurdle for them. There were so many nuances to what they had to do, they had to meet, they had to create a resolution, they had to meet with legal counsel, they then had to implement the special assessment. And as I identified half of it came from our reserve account and half through special assessment. Through our residents, it was a difficult process, but also one that was necessary in order to maintain not only our community's well being, but also our home mortgages, because they required that insurance. As I said, this current board has not been through that process. But I imagine if we did, it would be incredibly difficult. Some special assessments require a vote of the community unless it's an emergency. Unfortunately, many residents are do not want to do a special assessment, even if it is to work towards the well being of the community. And many times I understand that, I mean, who at the end of the day wants to pay more money towards something, it's difficult to ask people to pay something out of their wallet, and many of our community members are of an older age, and are on a fixed budget. So we're incredibly sensitive to that. And our hope is that we don't have to assess a special assessment unless absolutely necessary.

Robert Nordlund: 11:16

Often, the decisions of a prior board can have long lasting effects. Here's what Gabriel in the current board are doing to mitigate that.

Gabriel: 11:23

So the prior board was really functioning in a different way that the current board does. As I mentioned earlier, we thrive on transparency, with the current board, holding monthly meetings, sending out email transmissions about items going on, in and around our community, really setting our community up for success. Also, a very big part of that is the collaboration with a professional management company, management company isn't everything, but they can be an ally, board members do need to take ownership of vendor contracts, items that need maintenance and financial well being of the community. But working alongside management is so important. And doing that can can really set you up for success. Now, without a full knowledge of the regulations that really dictate how a homeowner's association functions here in California. That's adherence to the Davis Stirling Act, as well as the various civil codes. It makes it difficult to function successfully. And this current board has done that, and continues to respect those regulations not only during our meetings, but also during our inner workings within our community. And within the work that we do in our meeting minutes, as well as our communications with our residents.

Robert Nordlund: 12:49

In his last answer, Gabriel stressed the importance of having a healthy working relationship between board members and the professional manager of the association, he had a lot more to say about what each side is responsible to accomplish.

Gabriel: 13:01

One important point that I think is really something that I came to realize is that a management company is great at what they do. They're great at managing the assets that they have in front of them. But the responsibility of negotiating contracts of making sure the community stays financially responsible and looks wonderful and beautiful. falls on the board. Ronald Reagan once said trust but verify, right? So I trust the work that my management company is doing. But I think it is also important to verify that work. And not only that work of finances and and civil codes and making sure things are conducted correctly, but the inner workings of a community. That's the responsibility of the board. That's the responsibility of the Board to take ownership of those issues and to make sure they're done and done correctly.

Robert Nordlund: 13:56

We wanted to have Gabriel on the program to speak in detail about the community issue that brought him to the Westlake point board, the November 2018. Woolsey fire and the resulting insurance challenges facing the community.

Gabriel: 14:10

As I mentioned earlier, our community was faced with a huge issue our insurance premiums raised from $60,000 per year to $624,000. Half of that money went from our reserve account and half through a special assessment and it was rumored that if we had continued that insurance policy and the following year that it would have risen by hundreds of 1000s of dollars more than the$624,000.

Robert Nordlund: 14:39

Thankfully, Gabriel was able to find a solution for the community. Here's how he figured that out.

Gabriel: 14:44

Luckily, after interfacing with a local HOA community president I was able to identify solution for us to move forward in a very methodical way and for me, it was a learning moment What ended up happening was we as a planned unit development, were able to then pass the liability from the community to ensure every property to the homeowners individually insuring their property. And now the community is only responsible for the community assets, streets, lamps, landscaping, pool, etc, OR gates and more. And this saved our community, hundreds of 1000s of dollars from coming from our reserve account from any further special assessment.

Robert Nordlund: 15:32

As you heard from Gabriel, reaching out to other HOA or community association officials in your area can be a valuable resource. In this case, it was a resource worth hundreds of 1000s of dollars in insurance savings, other Association Board members would have stopped right there. But Gabriel decided that other communities could benefit from what he learned.

Gabriel: 15:52

And I thought of this as a learning moment for me. Again, all of this had come together because I had interfaced with a local HOA president. And I thought to myself, why was this experience exclusive to me? Why couldn't I then share this message with others the way it was shared with me? So I took that learning moment and I had this you know, as Oprah Winfrey would call it, her aha moment. And I took that aha moment and I said, You know what, I'm going to engage the communities in the greater Conejo Valley, and that for us here would be the cities of 1000 oaks, Newbury, Park, oak, Park Westlake Village and agora hills. And so I reached out to each of the city managers within those respective cities. They were incredibly responsive to what I wanted to achieve. And many of them provided their lists of their HOA management companies and their presidents city of Westlake Village being the first I'm so proud to be a resident of Westlake Village, a lifetime resident of Westlake Village. And the city manager couldn't be more supportive, as well as the city council, and especially the president of this initiative. It makes me incredibly proud to be a resident of this community. A majority of our 35 member council now sits from Westlake Village, and a majority of the city council from Westlake Village was in attendance. The first meeting that we held was with Assemblymember, Jacqui Irwin, who was our local South assembly member, and she was able to coordinate a member from the California Insurance commissioner's office to attend as well to answer questions about all of these things, these insurance issues facing our local communities. I think we had a great moments and learning moment, all of us all 35 members for their about what the nuances of the State of California Insurance are. It's incredibly nuanced, and it's changing each and every day. We asked

Robert Nordlund: 17:50

Gabriel to elaborate on those insurance nuances in California

Gabriel: 17:55

late last year, unfortunately, all state said that there will be departing California and won't be renewing. Oh, excuse me not renewing but initiating new insurance policies in California for homeowners. And now as of a couple of weeks ago, StateFarm did the same, I fear it's almost like a domino effect. But what we can do is we can be better informed as communities about how to proceed next.

Robert Nordlund: 18:20

With so many insurance policies changing or providers leaving the state of California entirely. It's tough to feel safe during wildfire season. We asked Gabriel what the California Insurance Commissioner relayed at his meeting.

Gabriel: 18:33

And what the California Insurance Commissioner's Office is really promoting an initiative called safer from wildfires. And what they're trying to do is promote home hardening fire hardening initiatives around homes and communities. And they're saying this would promote a decrease or a savings in one's insurance premium, which this insurance insurance companies are promoting how that's actually going to be done how that's going to be put into practice has yet to be seen.

Robert Nordlund: 19:00

Gabriel kept using the word trying to describe what the safer from wildfires plan is aiming to accomplish. Here's what Gabriel on the board at Westlake point are doing to make their community feel safer.

Gabriel: 19:13

We are encouraged especially at at our community at Westlake point to this commitment to fire hardening efforts. That means making sure we have responsible landscaping irrigation trees that are not close to our buildings, clearance from our buildings that include you know, a five foot dirt perimeter around our buildings, making sure our roofs are in line, making sure that our gutters are cleaned and that we have venting that does not allow embers in should a fire come round. These are all great things that everyone should practice but this goes into the certification of being a fire safe community and these fire safe certifications are being promoted by your local Our County Fire Department, as well as local fire safe communities that are nonprofit organizations that do assessments for free of your home in your community. This is just the first step in this HOA Council. It's been wonderful. It's been a great exercise. And last Saturday, as a matter of fact, we had our second meeting with our local water district. It was sponsored in part by last Virginia's principal Water District. And I wanted to bring people together because there's a greater conversation beyond just fire. It's about responsible irrigation and landscaping, and also responsibly planting lands that are fire resistant. So involved in that conversation was not only the water municipalities, or districts, but also the fire departments.

Robert Nordlund: 20:52

We live in a time when insurance policies, regulations and information about community associations are all rapidly changing. We asked Gabriel to speak on his experience.

Gabriel: 21:02

keeping up to date on all of this information can be incredibly difficult as a board member, it really can. There's so many nuances between insurance and water and contracts. But I'm trying to disseminate that information as much as possible to not only our community, like I said, I have that 80 hours and trying to translate that into a one hour meeting. But I'm trying to also give that information and empower local HOAs to do the same to because I really am a firm believer that we're stronger together than we are separately. And so many times I hear and I also said this, too, that I am operating like an island, I'm operating myself. And oftentimes I don't know what I'm doing. But the truth is, if we all work at this together, and we're all interfacing with one another and talking about the issues our communities are facing, we can be better together. And I really believe in that ethos.

Robert Nordlund: 21:58

It was clear to us that Gabriel had not only gained wisdom and experience from being involved in his association, but also shared what he learned with other communities in his area. So our final question to Gabriel was to share once more any advice you would give to someone considering volunteering for the

Gabriel: 22:14

board? Yeah, the word of advice that I would give to board members is brush off issues that may happen within your community, brush off the negativity that others may bring to the table because they're not doing the job you're doing. You were elected to this position for a reason. You volunteered your time and efforts to do it. And if they wanted to rise to the occasion, they very well could too. They could add their name to the hat to the next lesson and be elected and do the same. But if they choose not to, that's okay. But you've chosen to do it. So empower yourself with the decisions that you're able to make. And with the great sense of volunteerism that you've empowered yourself with to to help your community.

Robert Nordlund: 22:59

We want to publicly acknowledge Gabriel for performing a thankless job well, and compliment the entire board of directors at whistling point HOA for taking their responsibility seriously, to act in the best interest of the association. We hope you gained some HOA insights from Gabriel story, and that it helps you bring common sense to your common areas. Thanks for joining us, and we look forward to another great episode next week.

Announcer: 23:27

You've been listening to common sense for common areas. Thank you to each of you for your engagement and support. To continue the conversation you can follow the social media links for Robert Nordlund, Kevin Davis, and Julie Adamen in the show notes. If you liked the show, and would like to support us, you can do so in a number of ways. You can subscribe to common sense for common areas wherever you find your favorite podcast, and please share it with another board member. You can do us a HUGE favor by going to iTunes and leaving us a five star rating and review. And you can also support us by supporting the brands that sponsor this program. You'll find links to the website and social media for Association reserves, community financials and Kevin Davis insurance services in the shownotes. But the most important thing you can do is to engage in the conversation. You can email your questions or voice memos to podcast@reservestudy.com Or call our 24/7 voicemail line at 805-203-3130. This podcast was produced by Stoke Light video production and marketing. With Stoke Light on your team. You'll see sales grow as you reach more customers with videos that inspire action. See the show notes to connect with stoke like. Finally, remember that the views and opinions expressed by the podcast including host co host and guests do not constitute legal advice. We encourage Your audience to consult with their own legal counsel before making important decisions