Board of Directors: An Overview
by Karen Pacifico

My January article focused on various components of the Board including its structure as well as the duties and responsibilities of the Board.    In this column, I’d like to focus on my perception of what residents should consider when becoming a candidate.

The first thing that comes to mind is time.  People always make time to do the things they really want to do.   When I made the decision to run for the Board, I realized that if elected, I would need to learn to balance my life in a way that I hadn’t done since retirement.   In the last ten months I’ve found that representing fellow residents requires dedicating substantial hours to answering phone calls, responding to e-mails, reviewing background information on specific topics and attending meetings.    Most weeks I spend over thirty hours each week attending to these duties and appreciate my free time more than you can know.

As I’m sure you can imagine, an essential ingredient in successfully carrying out the duties and responsibilities is having strong communication skills.   Clearly one needs to have strong oral and written effective communication skills to fulfill the role.  The diversity of the topics, people and concerns facing this community must be dealt with in an effective manner and that brings up the next consideration, i.e., strong organizational skills.

So many of us volunteer but we want to spend our time wisely.  But to do this right takes planning.  Serving on the board means balancing my personal calendar to meet the business needs of the community and I strive daily to create the right balance.  You must have the ability to set priorities, review information reducing it down to its’ basic level and recognize that this community is truly a city growing every day.  

We all should realize that now, in this moment of time, we are creating and writing the legacy of our community and with that comes the need for short and long term goals.   To accomplish all that is needed also requires management, administrative and financial skills.  These relate to golf operations, strategic planning, fitness, and government structure just to name a few.  And, as a result of liaison roles with the board-appointed committees, the Neighborhood Representative Council and the Inter-Club Council, the Resident Board Members are working with each of these important groups of dedicated volunteers.  To encourage successful committees, the board must give the committees meaningful tasks, adequate authority to complete them and seriously consider their recommendations.    Therefore a Board member must be able to work with diverse groups and understand their needs.  The position requires that one be versed in all areas of our community working toward transition, i.e., after the developer departs.

If you have relevant experience and feel you would be a viable candidate for the position available, please submit an application.  They are available at the CAM office in Pinckney Hall, but must returned by 5 p.m., Monday, March 14^th.