Winston Churchill once stated that, “Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential.” There are several different facets of a community association that allow it to operate properly and effectively, but none so important as the organization’s financial stability.  Within the next couple of months, managers, Boards, and committees will begin acquiring costs of current contracts and projections for the upcoming year to start the arduous process of creating the operating budget for next year.

Within the world of condominium management, effectively managing high-rise buildings presents its own set of challenges. Below are a few of the major differences managers of high-rise communities face on a daily basis.

Let the sunshine in.  I am not talking about the popular 1969 song by The 5^th Dimension.  I am referring to the statutes governing Virginia community associations that require all meetings of a board of directors, including any subcommittee or other committee of the board of directors, where the business of the association is discussed or transacted, to be open to all owners of record[1]. These are known as “sunshine laws” and are the rule for community association meetings.  

As with most rules, there is an exception - executive session, during which it is permissible to “close” the door, so to speak.  Too often in our practice, we are reminded that the permitted reasons to convene in executive and procedure are not well understood. This article will uncharacteristically shine some light on executive session and examine what it is and how to do it correctly.

Are you managing the association or are you allowing the association to manage you? We all want to be proactive managers but what does that entail and how do you deal with all the items that creep into the day preventing you from dealing with the tasks that you planned to accomplish?