The Annual Meeting for the Cypress Village POA is fast approaching. Owners should save the date for Wednesday, March 26 at 7:00pm for the meeting. As the planning for the Annual Meeting continues, there are two (2) important items that require everyone’s attention: candidacy for an open board seat and electronic voting.
Board of Director Candidates
Cypress Village members have the opportunity to select three candidates to sit on the Board of Directors. These seats are filled by election of the CVPOA membership at the Annual Meeting. The process begins very early, with interested property owners deciding to announce their candidacy for the three annual seats. Each term is for three years.
CVPOA members have shown a capacity for volunteering for the various committees which enable the CVPOA to function. Volunteering for election to the Board of Directors is, for the CVPA. a paramount act of volunteering to serve the community. The Association cannot function without committed members acting to guide the Association and the members.
Being a Director does indeed require a considerable time commitment. There is the one meeting a month which can last two to three hours. In addition, there will sometimes be “special” meetings. Also, Directors serve as chair and co-chairs of various volunteer committees. And, of course, there is that time required to prepare for meetings.
To make things even more pressing on individual time, are the State requirements for in-service training. A Director must also take a certification course near the beginning of their term.
Yes, there is that kind of time commitment It’s safe to say a good many of us have served on directorial boards in the past, and we know the demands. Of course, having done that also means we have valuable experience.
Very simply put…the Association needs members to step up and seek candidacy to the Board of Directors. When we have few candidates, we have few choices in our own leadership. There have been instances where there were not enough candidates to actually have an election.
Formal candidacy is due no later than Dec 6. Yes, December seems some time away, but now is a good time to begin thinking about seeking election. Contact the CVPOA office for the required information to become a candidate.
Electronic Voting
CVPOA has in place a system for electronic balloting – eballots. There are many reasons for the CVPOA to transition to electronic balloting. Our past method was time consuming, cumbersome, and often prone to criticism.
In the past we would have to begin very early to gather all the information needed to be presented to members for the Annual Meeting. That was actually an easier part of the process. The Association would have to have large outgoing envelopes, letter sized return envelopes, and possibly a dozen pages of voting materials printed. After the required elements were prepared, volunteer members of the Association would be called upon to physically assemble the packets that were to be mailed to each member. All of this physical work would begin as early as November, just so the member packets could be mailed by mid-February
Electronic balloting compresses that whole time frame. Essentially it cuts out that physical preparation and assembly of packets to be mailed. Once information such as proposed governing documents amendments, the annual budget, a question on the annual assessment, candidate biographies, and upwards of five ballot pages are adopted by the Board, that material is placed in an electronic file and, at the appropriate time transmitted to GetQuorum, who handles our electronic voting. When members access the GetQuorum site to vote, they will be guided through the ballot. That process takes about fifteen minutes, and your vote is cast.
There will be more information on electronic balloting coming out in the near future. We will put together a fact sheet explaining eballoting and attempting to answer frequently asked questions. When that comes out, if your question is not asked or answered do not hesitate to contact the Office.
When we process the Annual Meeting packets in printed form, they cost the Association…the members…upwards of $11.00 per packet. That price is heavily influenced by the cost of supplies, postage, and the number of pages. In essence, we are looking at a low of $20,000 to maybe as much ad $30,000 for printed and mailed packets. $20,000 to $30,000 of member money.
Electronic balloting costs a fraction of that. During the last Annual Meeting, eballoting cost the Association $3800. That is a set amount and not influenced by any extraneous factors. That is what eballoting will cost the Association this year for the next Annual Meeting.
In a time when the Association is working with a restricted budget and at a time when we all know there are inflationary pressures, eballoting simply makes sense. The membership wants the Association to economize…rightfully so. The more we use electronic balloting the more we ease the pressure on the Association budget.
As noted earlier, there will be more information coming on electronic balloting, but what can you do now? The very first step is to make sure the Office has your email address and that you want to be notified about electronic balloting. That’s the first step…
By Edward J. Hanlon, Director/Annual Meeting Committee Chair