The Managed

The Board of Directors stated in mid-November that they were going out for tender regarding the hiring of a permanent Property Manager and that co-op members would be notified in January as to who they hired.  It now appears that our present Property Manager is the chosen one as she has circulated calendar notices for January and February, when she will be in the office.  A backgrounder:  Our present Property Manager was one of three 'experts' who were foisted upon us in April, 2009 for a 3-year stint in order to prevent the co-op from going into bankruptcy.  Quite abruptly, when the co-op parted ways with our then Office Co-ordinator, this Board member suddenly became our temporary Property Manager.  She, too, parted with the co-op for a bit and in a re-invented sort of way re-emerged to be our Property Manager once again.  As stated above, the co-op, in order to legitimize the whole affair, while simultaneously appearing to be neutral, has now initiated a so-called tender process.  It appears that this will be the third blessing of our Property Manager.

In August a Must Read notice was delivered to members.  It stated, in part, that 'Over night parking must now be registered through the office either by collecting a visitors parking pass during open office hours or by leaving a message at the office' ... and that  ... 'Members parked in visitors parking will be towed'. The latest notice circulated to members stated that 'After hours parking will still be enforced'.*

There's a problem with the implementation of the above instructions.  There are no Visitor or Member parking signs in our part of the co-op.  In the summer time parking spots were enumerated in bright paint on the pavement.  It is now winter and the yellow lines, letters and numbers are no longer visible. 

The notice reminds members that the office is open from 9:00-12:00 p.m. until December 31, 2012 with the exception of the holiday closure.  The holiday closures are from December 21, 2012-January 1, 2013 - a veritable mind-numbing oxymoron!

The co-op is now looking for members to volunteer on three committees, a By-law review being one of them.  However, the Board of Directors will approve the four members for this committee, and no doubt, will closely monitor the input and impact this committee will have on the By-laws.  Translation:  The Will of the Board of Directors will be imposed.

The newsletter ends with a quote by the Property Manager. Although the quote is rather lame, it is a step above other quotes, the likes of Abraham Lincoln and the German writer, Goethe, plucked from the internet and which has no relevance whatsoever, other than an egotisical attempt to appear to be well read.


* I have yet to see a Visitor's Parking Pass in the windshield of any car in the co-op.  For a satirical take on this public parking fiasco, see my September 4th blog post entitled The Strange & Loving Saga of Stéfan & Stéfane.