Candidate
Once a year we get a chance to get to know more about our future community leaders. Condominium associations have “Candidate Information” sheets and distribute them to their residents before an election. Now we see many more associations holding “Meet the Candidates Night”. Some associations also provide their residents with both forms of candidate information. I like the forum where you can meet a candidate personally and assess their capability by their answers. A “Candidate Information” sheet, many times will not answer any of the questions below.
A “meet the candidates” forum is a perfect time to find out more about your potential community leaders. After their summary of experience and their reasons why they want to be on your Board of Directors, it is a great time to ask the following questions to get a good handle on whether they are qualified and whether they will be good Board members. The following questions are not all inclusive, as many associations have issues, problems and structures that require different Board member qualities, thus additional or different questions would be needed. Some good questions are:
1. Have you served on a Board of Directors before? If so, how long have you worked with Boards of Directors of this type of association?
2. How long have you resided in Florida and are you aware that our laws may be different than the state where you came from or currently live?
3. Are you conversant and knowledgeable on the Florida Statutes governing our association and our association documents? If not, what will you do to update yourself in these regards?
4. How much time do you have to devote to this position and are you willing to read meeting packet materials, minutes, financial statements and correspondence prior to Board Meetings? In other words, will you be prepared and engaged in the ongoing operations of our association?
5. Are you a full-time owner of a unit in this association or a part-time owner? If part-time, how will you stay involved with association activities? Will you be able to attend regular meetings?
6. Do you have a criminal background, and if so, has it been absolved?
7. Why do you want to be on the Board and what do you bring to the table to help the association through these tough times?
8. If I had a unique problem, how would you handle it for me, with the Board and overall for the association?
9. If you wanted to change any association rule or amend the documents, what would they be and why so?
10. Will you be readily accessible to the unit owners? How do we contact you with questions; should we attend the meetings, or call you, or contact you through management?
11. Are your dues currently paid up and your account in good standing?
12. Are there any reasons you would not be able to attend Board of Directors Meetings and would you be available for any extra or emergency meetings?
13. Are you currently in violation of any association rule or regulation?
14. How well do you work with other people and do you consider yourself to be a team player? If so, why, or do you have any examples?
15. What is your vision of our association? What would you like to achieve during your term in office?
I am sure that you can come up with more and different questions of your candidates for your association, too. These questions and the resultant answers should give you a good sense of a candidate’s motivation and capabilities for serving on the Board of your association. Try them at your next election.
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