One battle is won; the main battle lies ahead!

My hats off once more to the wonderful owners at International Village for again saving the day by responding to my call to protest the $1.4 million special assessment plan that was to be approved on Monday. You didn't let me down. You emailed the Board in droves and showed up in impressive numbers at Monday's Board meeting, and the Board wisely backed down. 

As you recall, I had pledged to make a motion to table (postpone) this outrageously timed plan until after the election. But before I could say the word “table,” our Board Vice President Collette Goslin had beat me to it, and I was reduced to only seconding her motion!! Then, without a word of discussion, the roll was called, and one by one all six Board members present voted “Yes” to table it. It’s something you really have to see to believe, so check out the 12/16/13 video HERE. (The scene comes toward the end of the meeting.)

Why the stunning turnaround only a day after at least one Board member was still strenuously defending the special assessment? It was you! You made your voices heard – logically, forcefully, and yes in some cases quite passionately – and it had an impact. Most of the Board is up for reelection next month, and they apparently don’t want to face that kind of wrath at the ballot box.

But there’s no time to bask in the glow of victory, because the main battle is now upon us. Tonight (Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m.), the Board will take up the proposed 2014 budget, which if approved without cuts will result in a 7.4 percent maintenance fee increase for all owners.

I call once more upon our property manager, working with our Board president and Treasurer, to identify a set of cuts before tonight’s meeting to eliminate the need for any maintenance fee increase next year. They are welcome to use my proposed cuts as a template, but by no means should they feel a need to limit their cost-cutting strategies to those areas. Out of a budget of approximately $3.5 million, I am confident in their ability to find the necessary $159,000 in savings. In return, as I stated before, I pledge to support the proposed 4 percent salary increase for employees, because they’ll be earning it by stretching our dollars.

However, if the budget is not reduced 7.4 percent before it comes to us tonight for a vote, I will be forced to make a motion to eliminate the proposed pay raises from the budget – thus saving $30,000 – because I cannot in good conscience support a salary increase at the same time owners are being asked to sacrifice another 7 percent out of their own paychecks to pay for maintenance.

I believe this is a fair solution that rewards employees for being innovative and learning to do more with a little less, while at the same time giving hard-working owners a well-deserved break from ever-rising fees and assessments at International Village.

But it’s up to you to make it happen by speaking up again. Many of you have already written the Board about this, but I encourage you to email them again HERE all the way up to the time of the budget meeting, because you've proven you can make a difference. And show up in force again at tonight's meeting, because you certainly make an impressive crowd.