President’s Report – December 2022

As published in The View, December 2022:

John MacDonnell
President

Ho, Ho, Ho, and Happy Holidays to all owners and residents of SCSH.

Although I am writing this View article in mid-November, by the time it becomes available on the official website and hits your mail tubes, we all will hopefully have enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday with food, family, and friends. In addition, we have the Hanukkah celebration and the wonderful Christmas season to look forward to as we come to the end of yet another year. Boy do they go by fast, and it seems to get faster each and every year. We will all be celebrating the coming of the new year, 2023, in the blink of an eye.

This time of year, I personally like to reflect upon the past year, and make resolutions for the year ahead. I am sure many of you do as well. In last month’s President’s Report, I cataloged some of the accomplishments achieved in our HOA during 2022. I will not belabor those again, although I do think it helps to keep them in mind as we move forward together as a cohesive community.

As I anticipate to the coming year, I am pleased to say that your HOA has a dedicated, hardworking crew and group of contractors, as well as a large number of wonderful volunteers who devote a vast amount of their two most precious commodities, time and experience, to help our Association operate as efficiently and economically as possible.  Their combined efforts help maintain and improve our facilities and help us to appropriately manage our finances to get the best “bang for our buck” as we strive to enjoy our homes, our retirement, and our golden years, and perhaps most important, these efforts ensure that we are prepared for future contingencies that cannot always be predicted with any certainty, particularly in somewhat difficult economic times out of our control. Still, I am pleased to report that the state of our HOA (including its finances) is excellent.

In addition to our dedicated crew, contractors, and volunteers, I have been most encouraged by the increased participation by homeowners at Board meetings, townhalls, and community events. Lifestyle activities are almost always well attended and over-subscribed, and our clubs are very active and a credit to the Community.

In 2023, we will be focusing on maximizing the use of our present facilities and planning for potential improvements that will expand them to meet our owners’ desires, predicated upon economic reality and the support of the majority of our homeowners. That means we should all be prepared for more surveys and more open discussion of what we want and what we can reasonably afford. Through dialogue and exchanges of views we can create a better community together.

Your Board members, of which I am but one, are each individual, often with differing viewpoints, dedicated to exercising their best judgment to achieve what is best for the community. This is the obligation of each Director according to the law and our Governing Documents. We will not always agree on every issue or path, but it is through the exchange of ideas that good decisions result. As difficult as the process may sometimes seem to the observer, what is going on daily in the management of the HOA is in the interest of all homeowners.

My personal New Year’s resolution is that, for so long as I am one of your Directors, I resolve to work hard for this community. This is my home as well, and I want to see it continue to get better each and every day. I hope you will all join with me in that resolution.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all. 🎄🕎

Contact the author at john.macdonnell@scshca.com.