I Could Use Some Harmony, How About You?

The leaders of the Vision Committee have been talking about "harmony" for two years.  But based on current community sentiment, it doesn't seem like they have figured out how to get there.

Everyone wants harmony, unless the details have too many strings attached (like having to purchase a golf course).  Conclusions like this are counter-productive in the pursuit of harmony.

From my way of thinking, it doesn't take two years of meetings to figure out how to achieve harmony.  Perhaps I'm over-simplifying, but it seems like we can move a long way toward this end by applying some simple, common sense.  For example, we could start by:

• Being fully transparent 
• in our transactions and decision processes
• in sharing documentation
• in our budgeting and service contracts
• Making decisions that are representative of the majority of homeowner's wishes
• Working diligently toward building a stronger and more independent community association
• Fixing voting powers so each property owner has a vote proportional to the association dues they pay
• Clarifying our water and septic easement rights
• Ensuring that our service contracts are competitive
• Providing a communication system that allows every owner to be informed in a timely way and to provide timely feedback 
• Ensuring that the community receives fair value for all funds paid to the LLC  
• Realigning our bylaws and covenants so they are consistent with 20 years of actual practices

I only spent about 5 minutes making this list, so it can certainly be improved.  Obviously, this list hits on the core issues of discontent.  Does anyone disagree that living up to these standards would make our community more harmonious?  Do you have suggestions for improvement?

When our current Board was inaugurated last May, they inherited a CA that was failing in almost every aspect of the criteria above.  I am cautiously optimistic that they will move some of them out of the failure category, but I've learned to reserve judgment until results can be observed.  It is unrealistic to expect immediate results for all of these performance targets, but we must understand that until we get most of them under control, some group of owners will continue to feel less-than harmonious.

Here's a layman's idea for moving us toward harmony:

1. We adopt a set of performance measures for working toward harmony, similar to those I listed above
2. The Board assigns each Board member as a Lead of at least one performance target.  Alternately, an owner-volunteer can be assigned as the Lead for a specific performance target.
3. We seek at least one owner-volunteer to partner with each Lead.  This will ensure continuity with the Board's values and objectives; supplement the Lead with additional knowledge; and distribute the labor so our Board volunteers aren't carrying inordinate burdens on behalf of the community.  

This approach results in maximum productivity from all volunteers, both Board and non-Board.  It ensures that all effort is focused on well-defined deliverables, as each individual/team is tackling one specific objective.  Little (if any) time is spent trying to seek consensus among a group of people with divergent thoughts and values.  This divide-and-conquer method is a "get it done" approach to solving problems, and it's worked for me many times.  There's a time and place for committees, but often they become time sponges.

As a community, I believe that realigning our activities to be consistent with a clear statement of standards and objectives (like the list above), will go a long way toward achieving true community harmony.

I realize this is just my simpleton way of thinking, so you're welcome to agree, disagree, supplement, or tell me to come out of the clouds.