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I would hope that anyone who lives in Twin Hickory could live the way that I did for my first 10 years here. That you don't have to worry about. It's taken care of. It's it's nice, and it's it's beneficial to be here. But I think that's what we're here for. We're here to make it right for them, so that they don't have to worry about it. A regular highlight of the HOA Insights podcast is our Board Heroes feature, where we dedicate one episode each month to celebrate the remarkable efforts of HOA board members. To us, a board hero is one of the 2 million elected volunteers who deserve recognition for excelling in a role that often goes unnoticed. Today, we're excited to spotlight one of these exceptional board heroes and share their inspiring story. If you match our definition of a board hero or know someone who does, please reach out to us. Our contact details and those of our sponsors are provided in the show notes.

Welcome back to HOA Insights: 0:57

Common Sense for Common Areas. I'm Robert Nordlund, and I'm here today for episode number 173, the fascinating board member I met at the CAI National Conference in Florida in early June. I happened to sit down at a table for lunch next to him, and after a few minutes, I was captivated by our conversation. I later found out, not surprisingly, that he was there at the conference to receive CAI's 2026 Byron Hankey Award for long-term volunteer service to the community association industry. So I was lucky to sit and chat with him at lunch. Just happened to be a lucky man taking an empty chair, and I'm sure you'll enjoy the opportunity to hear our conversation in just a few minutes about stepping up and stepping into leadership. So, if you're a new listener, we're here weekly with episodes to help you with the hard work of being a board member. Last week, for an example, was episode number 172 with regular co-host and management expert Julie Adaman. In that episode, we talked about how to address and combat the power of denial at your association, just plain ignoring things. So, if you missed it, you can catch prior episodes on our website at hoa insights.org, on any major podcast platform, or on our YouTube channel. And if you like the show, by all means, subscribe and join us in our mission to improve board member leadership all across the country, one episode and one association at a time. Subscribers and positive reviews boost the show's location in search engines, helping common sense for common areas to be found by more board members, helping more associations across the country. Well, if you haven't been to our website, we have some great merch for sale, like this mug that I keep here on my desk, and also some great free stuff like board member Zoom backgrounds that you can download for free for your next online meeting. We enjoy hearing from you, responding to the issues you're facing at your association. So, if you have a hot topic, a crazy story, or a question you'd like us to address, you can contact us at 805-203-3130, or email us at podcast at hoa insights.org. But today's episode is on me, so let me introduce him. Don Boswell is a retired sheriff and law enforcement officer, I should say executive, in Virginia. He's a homeowner and a volunteer at his association and in his local Virginia CAI chapter, and I'm sure I'll miss many other ways and places where he serves others. So, Don, welcome to the program. Thank you for having me, Robert. Well, it's fun to have a Virginia gentleman on the show. I was just enjoying as we were warming up, enjoying your accent and just enjoying what you've brought to the entire community association industry. But let me start out with how long have you been a homeowner in our community association industry? Well, the association community actually opened up first about in 2000, and my wife and I purchased a home then, and we lived here. And I didn't really think about what was involved to keep the community going so well. I just knew that everything looked good. You know, hedges were trimmed, the roads were maintained, the lights, people kept their homes up, and we went about our our lives working and raising a family here. Fantastic! Now we're talking about a small association, big association. Tell me more. Well, this Twin Hickory Associate Homeowners Association is a fairly large. We have about 1500 homes now. There are six sub associations. I'm on the master association, and we also have commercial properties in the development as well. It's large enough that the developer put in property so that we're basically adjoining a new high school in our county. New middle school and a new elementary school. You know that sounds like there's a lot of richness there with developing a fully featured community. They got your commercial. They've got schools. It's not just an association outstanding by itself. And is it done or is it still growing? Tell me more. There. It's still continuing to grow, the developer has has rights to add to this as long as they're within a half a mile of our boundary. And in fact, in the last couple of years, a new section has been developed with some condos, and that condo group is going to have a small commercial section with offices in it as well, so they they're starting to sell, and that's helping us out with the cash contribution for new home purchases in the in the community. is one of our methods of helping to raise a little more money to to operate the community as it grows. Got it. So when someone buys in, then they automatically pay one or two months of homeowner assessments that goes into the capital fund somewhere or something like that. Right now, they do a they do a capital contribution at closing of $600 as a new buyer in the in the association. If you're already here and you buy a bigger home, you're you're scot free, but newcomers help to contribute because they they're benefiting from you know the development, the maintenance of the property all along. Well, growth is good, I guess that helps to fund the association. Tell me about your path to getting on the board there. As you mentioned, I was a former law enforcement administrator and executive of sheriff, and we bought him here when it was brand new. Some of so because we liked it, and went about our our daily routine until I retired in 2013. Spent a couple of years, just kind of relaxing with my hound dog around the house. My wife hadn't retired yet, and I was beginning to get a little bored because I'd had a fairly active career and active life. And in my mailbox appears this this brochure from the association saying they needed a board member from my neighborhood, so I I filled it in and and sent it back, and lo and behold, I was the only one and got elected. Okay, so you were like, okay, this could be interesting. I need something to do just to keep my brain going. Volunteer can't be too hard, and you find out you're the only one, so you feel like you've been suckered into something. Or what was your initial experience there? This has been a fairly stable board in this area. Most of the people, when they do come on new, there's usually only one, one or two new, and a lot of the people have been on for like I've been on, this is my 10th year, and we're also part of the part of the expectation that everybody follows is you first you start off as just a director for a few years, and then the then you get to be the secretary, and then you get to be the treasurer and the vice president, and then after nine years I got to be president, and it's it's a very collegial group because of the sub associations for the condos. Some of the some of the activity there, we really don't get involved in that in that aspect of it. Being as big as we are, we we do we do have a large management company that provides an on-site. We have a full-time on-site community manager and a full-time on-site lifestyle director for our recreation and activities. You got a management company to help you out on-site. You have sub-associations, each with their own board, and you have associations that have been there for a long time. You've got the new condo association coming on on one side, so there's a lot of things going on, not only new and old, but I would imagine single family home areas and condos. So it sounds like you have an interesting mix of things happening there. It's a pretty nice mix, and in fact, actually, Hunt actually put a an independent apartment complex. One of their Aberly complexes is is in the center of the association. They don't they have their own recreational facilities and don't use ours, but they're you know they're located in and there's there's also there's also a a three story 50 plus retirement apartments that are in condos that are that are rented leased by people. It's part of our part of the commercial part of the. Of our association. So, one other good thing I hear is that it was somewhat of a stable board. There was a progression, and so it's not like the there was a lot of upheaval chaos. Sounds like there's institute. My term is institutional knowledge, where what we've done, this is the good things that we've done, and you learn before you get onto a position on the board. You're just a voting member. I like hearing that. Tell me, what are the kind of things stylistically that you've been known for? Do you have a guiding mission and vision and values, things like that to say this is how we do things at Quinn Hickory. Again, it's the same. We've had the the same management company since the since the beginning, so that's that they're there long term, and basically we just want it to be a premier place that people would want to live here, would want to recreate here, and work from here. I mean, it's just we just want it to be a great place to live, and want it to be one of the premier communities available. And especially being older, we we want to make sure that we that we keep our facilities upgraded. A couple of years ago, we had an an extremely large water slide for the children at the pool and the young people at the pool. We just re had that refurbished. We've just this year we actually had the main pool had to repanel it and get it refurbished. So I mean, we try to stay ahead of the game in maintenance things that we our irrigation systems. Some of the things that we that we had did we did to upgrade that because it's such a large group and a number of a number of lakes for water retention with fountains and pumps in it. We got a deal where some new wireless controllers that we got a really a really good deal to beta test some some wireless controllers to help reduce the cost of maintenance of the from the mechanical one. So we we try to be a little bit progressive. It's been a very very conservative board the whole time that I've been on it, and in fact this last time we actually had a past president come back and get back on the board. Who's so as I said it's it's a it's very stable. One of the things that helps us that that perhaps that some associations don't have is in in our county. The county maintains all of the roads, so in the subdivision areas for the single family, all of those are maintained by the county. So when when the snow hits us, which we had some heavy in January here, it it makes it a little easier for us. Everybody knows it's the county that didn't do what they wanted instead of the association reaching out to the board. Yeah, we're we we have that off. We have that off. Only the the sub associations, the condos, have to arrange their own snow removal. But so that aspect of it, we've just got a lot of things that have fallen in place, I guess, traditionally, and over time by maintaining our facilities, it's just been a very stable place to be, and most of the we have very few. Most of the concerns that we hear about come from the tennis teams and the swim teams. That, as far as wanting more features and and more time available on the tennis courts and on the and in the pool, we've been fortunate that the middle school that borders our facility, which we have walkways to, they put in a whole group of pickleball. So we have we've avoided that conversation because the people can just go right to right right out in almost in the community area, and and we don't get the pickleball and the tennis people butting heads over the courts. So I guess we environmentally we kind of we kind of have had a calm kind of an easier road than some so some associations have. Got it. We recently had a board hero who was talking about the hurricane that went through their association, and sounds like you've had some of the right things fall in place. So, if you want to play pickleball, it's not like you have the pickleball crowd saying we want to turn two of those tennis courts into four pickleball courts. They can just go over to the middle school and play on the middle school's courts. Right. Cool. Okay. And I got to ask, have you? Tested out the new water slide at the pool. No, I have not. Okay, that's going to be my challenge to you. Unfortunately, I'm one of those fair-haired people that I I don't tan. I just blister and turn red again. I keep wearing all of my fishing shirts and things, and keep hats on when I'm out to avoid avoid getting too much sun. Got it. So you're not a real pool type. And from my background, I got to ask. It sounds like things are going well. Do you have a reserve study company that's guiding you and helping you anticipate the new things that need to be done to to make sure that you are regularly prepared. One of the things that that we do that I have and I've tried to to talk this up a lot is we do rely on on experts. I mean, we very seldom look at anything with anything legally or any writings or rules without having our attorney review it and bless it for us or anything new on financing, or the way we account for things, we have CPA. We even have because of all the water retention situations that that we have here. We've got a retired professional engineer from the county who was actually involved in all of the original planning-we're lucky of that-the original planning of this POD for this community that we retain him to to provide us with that kind of that kind of advice. Even on landscape, on landscaping, part of the responsibility we have an independent horticulturist and arborist that comes in once a month, and contractually he grades the work that month. And sometimes it falls that our expectation was too high, considering rainfall, heat, temperature, some of the things that go on. Sometimes he he rules in favor of the landscaper, and sometimes he rules in air favor and tells them they need to do a little bit better job. But it keeps us from having to be in a be in a confrontational, and we understand that we don't necessarily have all of the expertise that's necessary to make those kinds of judgments as to what's a key thing. Can I get you to say that again? We understand as a board, and I haven't had anybody that I've worked with on our board that thinks that they know so much about any of this that we don't that we feel like we don't need to to go to actual professional people that we retain to to help us and guide us where we need that. Yeah, because after all, you're a volunteer board, and right, you're just trying to do the right thing. And the question is, what is the right thing? And that I've been to so many seminars; they talk about the business judgment rule, which is duty of care, duty of loyalty, and duty of inquiry, and that third is knowing when to ask questions to get the wise counsel that you need. And you're talking about a huge place here, 1500 some homes. It's growing, a lot of diverse home types, people, older homes, newer homes, just lakes, infrastructure, a lot going on. Hey, I don't think I got a clear answer to that question. Do you have a reserve study? Is that one of your onset? Okay, fantastic. Okay, good to hear that. Yes, we do. Well, we've got a lot more to talk about with Don, but I want to hear how he connects years of service in law enforcement with the board and why he is unlike so many board members that just get burned out and frustrated. But we'll talk about that when we get back. It's time to take a quick break and hear from one of our generous sponsors. After which we'll be back with more common sense for common areas. Numbers matter, and we need numbers like game scores and bank balances to let us know where we stand. The same is true

for your association: 19:11

is yours thriving or struggling? Let me introduce you to the FiPho health score, like your own personal FICO credit score. Now, in one simple number, owners and boards can learn the combined financial, physical, and operational health of their association. The good news: it's free ourFiPhO.com. That's our f-i-p-h-o.com. Learn how your association measures up. And we're back. We're speaking to Don Boswell, fantastic Virginia gentleman with a background in law enforcement, specifically the sheriff's department in Virginia, and I want to ask Don, connect me if you can between your years of service in law enforcement and now your years of service in volunteering for the board at your association. I feel there's a lot of similarities between the responsibilities of of law enforcement. I mean, in Virginia, our law enforcement code of ethics. The first thing is is that the fundamental duty of an officer is to serve the community and safeguard lives and properties, and that's the fundamental responsibility of of boards and the managers for a for a community. We're supposed to, as a law enforcement officer, you're supposed to smile and stay calm in the face of of scorn and ridicule as well as danger. You're not supposed to act officiously, as we we know the negative versions of the so-called Karens in in the community, the police officers that that do that cause an equal amount of of consternation and and problems for the 1000s of law enforcement officers that do what they're supposed to do. So I see the parallels in in a bad decision from a homeowners association meeting the news to the same thing with with police officers that have gone bad and done something of that nature. Again, you're supposed to, from a code of ethics, you're supposed to to not permit your personal feelings or your prejudices or your aspirations, or animosities, or friendships to affect your decisions. You're supposed to make the best decisions, irregardless, because you're deciding for the community. You're not deciding for you, as as an individual. You're supposed to do it without fear or favor, without malice or ill will. And then another part of this that I that I take very seriously. One of the last things in the in the law enforcement code of ethics is to take every opportunity to enhance and improve your level of knowledge and competence in doing what you're doing. That was my rationale for studying and and obtaining the certified community association manager designation, which I was able, which I did, so that I would I felt obligated, and most of my activity, the levels of activity that I have continued to evolve in, is I'm trying to learn as much as I can to have the greatest impact on making sure first that my association is well prepared to continue in the future. My wife and I are 75. We know that there'll be somebody here in this house in in the future, and I want it to be as good for them and and ongoing. And as I said in the first part, how our board has built and has longevity and service and and a longevity and and the knowledge of what makes this a good community. I will hope to pass that on to the next group when I when I do go off the board, and if I can have an impact at this at my chapter level for the Central Virginia region, and even at the national level, which which has motivated me to get on the homeowner leaders council to do that. I will say that that you know the the big one big difference is is that it is the boards make the decision. It's not an individual thing like it is with a police officer out on the street, and we're very cautious about giving off the cuffed answers as individuals. Our off the cuff answer is is that'll be a board decision? I can't make that decision. I can bring it up at the board, and I can talk with the other board members and reflect what what your concerns or issues are. But the board it's the board's decision is the only is the only thing that counts, not what I say as an individual. So governance is is is different, quite different. Well, it sounds like all the things you've been talking about resonate with your heart. I'm not sure if that's the way you grew up, or just it just became how you think, how you act. But I can see the parallels now, and I'm seeing so many good things at Hickory twin hickory. You didn't have a real mission statement, but it sounds like the board is aligned in saying we want to make this a great place to live-not just now, but into the future. And so they appreciate that they're carrying the baton. You're right. Perhaps the first couple decades of owners there at Twin Hickory, and there will be many of other decades of owners after you, and so you're setting the stage and the pace with the right kind of things. And boy, building a culture, and I'm gonna write that down. Build a culture. I would hope that. Anyone who lives in Twin Hickory could live the way that I did for my first 10 years here. That you don't have to worry about. It's taken care of. It's it's nice and it's it's beneficial to be here and to be a premier community in the in in the western end of our county. And I hope that that it could be that easy for the vast majority of the homeowners here and residents that that aren't intimately involved in the governance model. But I think that's what we're here for. We're here to make it right for them, so that they don't have to worry about it. I got into this entire industry by being the president of my 71 unit condo association. I was a young professional. I was mortgaged up to my eyeballs. Had to make this condo thing work. Had to make money on it, and so I plowed a lot of time into it. And inside, I felt good because it wasn't just for me; it was for 70 other people, and I felt so good about that that everything I did selfishly for me and my unit ended up being good for everyone else. And I I hear that in your voice too about wanting to make it a good place for so many other people, so they don't have to be on the board, so they can relax. And that's that was one of my motivations of being active in the in the legislative action committee for Virginia, which unfortunately I'm terming off this year because I've done that for 10 years. I had done that professionally in criminal justice, and I got asked almost immediately, would I be interested in serving on the LAC? And I and I did, but I took about six years before I agreed to move up to be you know to be the chair because I felt like I needed to learn a little bit more to do that. But there, we're trying to make sure that we have good legislative laws in Virginia that benefit and maintain the autonomy to the greatest extent we can of the of the individual community. So again, there, I'm trying to make a statewide impact through that. I don't know as far as as what I do. In I caught a little line that I that came from Law and Order in in 2003 that I heard that resonated with me when the the character of of Arthur Branch was talking to Jack McCoy, and he about something that went that he did, but it didn't it didn't benefit him. He said sometimes the good you do doesn't do you any good, and you have to look at things in my perspective to look in the mirror and to know that I've done the right thing that I can live with, and if it doesn't turn out so good for me, you know that's all right as long as you as long as you've done the right thing, and I try to live by that. I like that. I I was able. I was scribbling here quickly, and I'll get that into the show notes. So, as I asked you at the very beginning, before we started recording, what makes your experience so different? We have so many board members that are struggling, that are frustrated, that find this hard. They can't wait to get off the board, and here you are going deeper and deeper and deeper. And you said you were disappointed that you were getting termed out of something, and you were cautious in taking leadership at the legislative action committee level, so it sounds like you are taking careful steps forward. But can you summarize why it has been such a positive experience for you? Something that you have chosen to continue to do in your life to serve your community. Well, I guess it would go back to the to the last line in the J.C. Creed, and I don't know if you know what the J.C.s are. They're not any anywhere near as big a organization as they as they used to be when I came along as a young man. But the last line of it is that service to humanity is the best work of life, and I have continued to to believe that, and do whatever I can do to contribute to serving my community, my fellow residents, the people in my state, the people in the in the country. I feel like that's that's the purpose that we they we have put here, and I'll continue to do that as long as I am able. Yeah, leverage starts with you, starts with your spouse, starts with your family. It grows out and out and out from there for the good decisions you. Help other people enjoy their life and make life easier and better. Life is hard. It's hard being an adult. It's hard being a responsible person in the world. It's hard for me owning a business. There's so many regulations, so many requirements, so much staff. Life is hard, and if you can plug in and make life a better place, that's a wonderful thing that allows you to fall asleep peacefully at night. Well, Don, thank you so much. It was great having you on the program to help our board members see that there can be calm out there in the midst of the the struggle of being on the board. Any closing thoughts to add at this time. Thank you so much. Well, that's fantastic to our audience. We certainly hope you learned some HOA insights from our discussion today. That helps you bring common sense to your common areas. I've captured some of what Don said. I'll make sure I get those into the show notes, and we look forward to having you join us for another great episode next week. You've been listening to HOA Insights: Common Sense for Common Areas. You can listen to the show on our podcast website, hoainsights.org, or subscribe on any of the most popular podcast platforms. You can also watch the show on our YouTube channel. Check the show notes for helpful links. If you like the show and want to support the work we do, you can do so in a number of ways. The most important thing you can do is engage in the conversation. Leave a question in the comments section on our YouTube video. You can also email your questions or voice memos to podcast at hoa insights.org, or leave us a voicemail at 805-203-3130. If you gain any insights from the show, please do us a huge favor by sharing the show with other board members you know. You can also support us by supporting the brands that sponsor this program. Please remember that the views and opinions expressed by the podcast do not constitute legal advice. You'll want to consult your own legal counsel before making any important decisions. Finally, this podcast was expertly mixed and mastered by Stokelight Video and Marketing. With Stoke Light on your team, you'll reach more customers with marketing expertise that inspires action. See the show notes to connect with Stokelight.