6303 S. Rural Rd.
Tempe, Arizona 85283
| info@oasisatanozira.com |
| 480-820-3451 |
Heart to Heart From Your HOA President…
comment : 7
Thoughts from your HOA President…
In the last few years since I have joined the team of volunteers on the Oasis HOA Board it has continued to be an eye opening experience to learn about people. The reason for this post, unfortunately, is to talk about the some of the unpleasant experiences brought on by fellow homeowners, most recently from the “Wall Opening Discussion.” We have many good people in this community who do their part in trying to make this a fun, safe, vibrant community and understand how to have adult conversations and respect for others when communicating.
In a community of 387 homes I completely understand there will be different viewpoints, thoughts, wants, needs for the community and it should be that way. The issue is simply in how the information is communicated to the Board. It is important that everyone keeps in mind that the Board is made up of volunteers that take many hours out of their personal schedule to try and help maintain the community in good working order. As a resident you are more than welcome to put your name in the hat and help make your community better by joining the Board. The management company and its representative are a paid vendor. None of the aforementioned roles are servants to the community. We do not take orders from community patrons nor will we tolerate rude and childlike behavior. It seems ridiculous that I would have to remind the community that threats, tantrums, and other childlike behavior will not help you get your point across or get us to want to help your situation. I could talk about this much further but I think everyone is understanding the point.
Onto some recent examples…
In the recent community survey to ask the residents if they were interested in having a wall opened on the Southeast side of the community ,because of a few homeowner requests to the Board to do so, we received close to 60 responses. Instead of the Board acting on behalf of the community without trying to gain some feedback first we decided to maintain our fiduciary responsibility and open up a survey to understand how residents felt about this recent homeowner suggestion. The responses were simple, either a yes, a no, or indifferent. There was room for comments in the event someone wanted to present their case or evidentiary reasons as to why they had a certain opinion. As much as I would like to publicly name some of the childish residents who clearly have no respect for others including themselves I will simply share some comments made. Underneath the comment I will re-write the comment in a more appropriate manor in case the individuals need some assistance in phrasing their opinions and avoiding using “telling” or “derogatory” statements…
“Dumb idea…you should be on Tempe Council”
–Proper Comment: I don’t think an opening is in the best interest of the community
“There was an opening in the wall when this housing project was built and the HOA closed it. Wow lets spend more money and fix something that was right before. The board is amazing. How about cleaning up the weeds palms and shrubs growing over the side walk. Owners need to take ownership of there yards this place looks like hell”
–Proper Comment: Years ago I remember some openings in the wall that were closed and I was happy that decision was made at that time.
“We eliminated the original openings due to repeated crime. Why would we want to be open to that again???? There is already and opening off of Kenwood, to the area. DO NOT NEED ANOTHER OPENING. TOO MUCH FOOT TRAFFIC FROM INDUSTRIAL PARK INTO OASIS”
–Proper Comment: My understanding is that we eliminated the openings due to crime in the past. With the alternative routes offered currently within the community I feel strongly that we do not need another opening as it may lead to increased foot traffic from the industrial park into The Oasis community.
“Absolutely not”
–Proper Comment: I am strongly against creating an additional opening on the Southeast end of the community.
…Keep in mind this is a sample set from just the most recent thing we have tried to gain public opinion on. These and some much worse, including threats, come in from homeowners and it happens a lot more often than I would like to see for a neighborhood that is in good working order, with adequate reserves, and an overall clean look.
Many comments simply come from lack of education as to what the rules, boundaries, and limitations are of The Board. I ask that when you make comments, statements, suggestions, or any other items with an agenda to better the community that you re-read your request and ask yourself if it sounds like your are “demanding/telling” or if you are “asking” for some consideration. Also, be neighborly! If you see something going on at your neighbors and you think you can safely walk over, knock on the door, be a courteous neighbor and ask if they would be willing to do something to accommodate you and/or the neighborhood that could go a long way. With the amount of homes in this community we do not pay for 24 hour monitoring through Kinney Management to find every detail and address every situation. As many of the residents do, continue to have and show your pride of ownership and keep making The Oasis the best community in Tempe.
Thank you all for listening if you have made it to this point and hopefully that has brought some clarity to a few select people in their future approach. Remember, “You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar!”
Respectfully,
Jake Ulrich
HOA President
2016 Picnic Signup
The Annual Picnic is this coming weekend. Please take a moment to sign up in the box below indicating how many people you expect to attend in your household. BBQ will be provided as well as sides, dessert, and water. The event will be in the usual location by the Pump House off of the Los Feliz entrance & Anozira Parkway. We will have a bounce house for the kids! The time will be 4-6PM. If you have not already signed up, please do so below so we can get a proper headcount! We have a pretty good crowd so far so help us maintain the count.
Thanks for the Heart to Heart, Jake. Believe it or not, your efforts and those of the board are appreciated. I had no opinion about opening, but I thank you for soliciting the opinions. Unfortunately, we are living in a time, when respect is not always there.
Thanks Ron. Appreciate the comment. That is true, many will never get how to communicate in a respectful way, yes they won’t take the time to help the solution by taking action in a leadership role!
Jake:
I appreciate both the time and effort given by the board.
I agree, in that, if you ask for input by residents, profanity/etc. should be avoided.
Having said that, your “heart to heart” comments make it sound as if residents expressing their strongly held opinions and points of view are not acceptable .
The Oasis is a residential community. It is not a political forum where all opinions and replies need to be politically correct. To state” we already have an increase in the amount of foot traffic from the industrial center into the Oasis” is a statement of fact, yet you objected to it.
From a residents point of view, the board should hear” what” the residents said and not be so concerned about “how” it was stated.
Unfortunately Sandy, my words have fallen on deaf ears in your case. Expressing your opinion was absolutely encouraged in the post. It had to do with how it was being said. There is a difference between using “telling” statements versus giving your opinion. When you say something IN ALL CAPITALS it is implied that you are yelling. IT IS UNNECESSARY TO EXPRESS AN OPINION THAT WAY. Just simply figure out a better context to communicate your opinion. That particular piece was by far not the same as saying things like “dumb idea” as it has a certain level of intellect, but it still implies that you are “telling” what to do versus offering up a strong opinion to the situation.
I understand the view that the board members are not “servants” to the community and totally agree that rude and childlike behavior isn’t appropriate.
I will also clearly state that I did not respond to the survey as I do not have a strong feeling about the particular issue one way or the other.
However, I do take exception to the fact that a President of an HOA deems it proper to tell people how to speak in either written or spoken words. I reject that as well as as other childlike behavior. This is a diverse HOA and I for one will not write nor speak as others so. I will not be spoken down to.
Your response to “Absolutely Not” which was clear concise and not in any way rude is not really improved by a 15 word reply. This is not an English Lit class.
I personally feel that this Heart to Heart steps over the line as well as several responses that your survey received.
Unfortunately it is not worth saying anything further to you Bob as you are not grasping the concept of the post. Your response is public so that is fine if others agree with you. If the post had one positive impact on just one person to re-think how they address others that would be great. If you would like step up and take over the presidency if you feel what I do is not appropriate please let me know.
Jake, I took a bit of time to reply as I chuckled and then will follow your approach and no longer have anything to say on this medium.
You posted this in a public format criticizing others and so, yes, the replies are public. I also agreed with the basic principle of being civilized. But from your responses, Sandy doesn’t get it, I don’t get it. But you are doing what you were being a bit critical about. So I think you went a bit to far in telling people how to write responses and you want to resign because of one persons’ reply?
Well, if you want to do that do it. If you want to stay, stay. I will become more involved in the meetings but please, don’t think we haven’t been involved in the neighborhood. My wife, Cindy, was the driving force in working with Tempe to get the Shutterfly horizontal orange line removed. To the point where the Tempe planner was calling her directly and giving her updates.
So, peace, and do what makes you feel the best. I hold that everyone should do that.