Date: 09-JUL-2010
To: Kenwood Residents
From: Cheryl Howard, Unit Owner
Subject: KENWOOD PARKING GARAGE
Our garage desperately needs maintenance. As a community, we are challenged with the urgent need to address this project without wreaking havoc on our daily routines, diminishing our quality of life, creating safety hazards, and damaging property equity. There are multiple alternatives to the plan Kenwood Board and its consultants have recommended for performing critical maintenance on the garage. Unfortunately, Board continually relies solely on advice from contractors whose best interest involves maximizing profit to the exclusion of protecting the peace and safety of our homes.
Kenwood Unit Owners generate a lucrative stream of income for Legum & Norman, General Counsel, and every contractor with whom we conduct business. However, Owners have no way to participate in decision-making about how our money is being used. Board is making reckless decisions about the garage project without considering our needs. They have chosen to be directed by corporate interests rather than guided by input from Owners who want to be heard and whose needs should be considered and valued. Town Hall Meetings do not provide Owners with a forum for constructive input into decision-making. They promote chaotic, useless complaining and serve Board and Management by providing a convenient venue for announcing decisions that have already been made.
Engineers who advise Board about garage project statement of work benefit from recommending that an excessive amount of work be performed in the shortest possible time frame. Their direct and overly influential involvement in decision-making about statement of work and construction contract creates an inherent conflict of interest, for which Kenwood Owners will pay. Here’s why: (1) engineers’ fee is determined as a percentage of the projected cost of construction, (2) they have existing relationships with preferred construction firms and insider influence on which construction firms Board invites to bid on garage construction contract; and (3) their involvement is critical in advising Board during review of construction bids and they are predictably motivated to steer decision-making according to what is important to them—PROFIT and EASE of completing the job.
To address Owner needs, it is critical that Board include broadly represented Owner input during design and implementation of garage maintenance. It is possible for Owners to collectively document their requirements, observations, and advice. Furthermore, it is possible to do so in a civil, kind, respectful manner. Read below for some suggestions about what Owners can do.
What We Can Do
1. Compile a written list of Unit Owner concerns that must be addressed by Board and Engineering Contractor during development of technical specifications for Garage Project statement of work. Owners’ list of considerations will also serve as a guide in issuing invitations for bids from construction contractors and evaluating the merit of bids to determine which contractor will best meet the needs of Kenwood Unit Owners.
2. Organize and participate in respectfully facilitated meetings convened for the sole purpose of hearing and documenting every Owner’s voice that wants to be heard. Other possibilities include organizing online efforts conducted through email and listserv. There are ways we can organize ourselves that are not painful, fruitless, and time-consuming.
3. Be aware that whether Owners participate in decision-making about Garage Project is a matter of justice, morality, and community. Regulations set forth in Condominium By-laws might become a moot point if we decide to work together peacefully and productively for our own good. As long as we remain disorganized and divided, we are working for Legum & Norman, consulting engineers, and our future construction company, all of whom depend on our condominium fees as a lucrative stream of income.
4. Attend Condominium Board Meetings. During Unit Owners Forum take the opportunity to introduce yourself and ask a specific question about the Garage Project or any other maintenance issue regarding the building. Although the Board may not provide a direct answer, your concerns should be formally noted in the Meeting Minutes, others Owners will become more vigilant about what is happening in our building and hopefully become increasingly aware of the serious nature of the problems we face as a community at this time.
