Stephanie
Olshan and her committee ran a very civil program that was organized around
having audience questions written on index cards. The caveat was that any
question exhibiting a personal attack on any candidate would not be presented.
Each
candidate was invited to give a 3-minute presentation to express what he or she
would do if elected to the Board and why he or she was qualified. These opening
statements were the most important things said during the evening. See below for Candidate Statements.
As
most Association members know, we have achieved a significant financial come
back from near financial collapse in 2016 when the reserve fund had been spent
down to approximately $1000. We had lost our FHA certification and we
were under threat of losing the master insurance policy because of overwhelming
water damage claims. Our former management company (Legum & Norman) was
producing inaccurate financial statements and there were over $700,000 in unpaid
bills and liability to Washington Gas, including a termination of service
notice that had not been disclosed. Poor building maintenance put us at high
risk of fire (dryer lint had not been cleaned in many years) and additional
water damage from uncleaned HVAC condensate lines and other pipes. Association
members who wished to sell their units were shocked to learn how their property
values had declined.
A
new financial approach using “Condo Best Practices” and a strategic financial
plan has restored FHA certification, returned the Elizabeth to the primary
insurance market and helped us show a 2017 $26,000+ gain on operations while
keeping our operating expenses under budget through February 1 by $260,000. We
have a general manager who saved us thousands of dollars through renegotiated
contracts and other cost saving measures while still getting building maintenance
accomplished. Money spent on water damage has gone from over $500,000 in 2016
to $49,000 in 2018 so far.
Three
of the candidates running currently sit on the Board which has brought about
significant improvements to our financial and maintenance picture which in turn
is showing an uptick in our property values. They are:
Mak
Dehejia
Lyle
Schwartz
Rhonda
Taller
Christopher
Wemple moved into the Elizabeth in 2016 and immediately began attending the
monthly Board and Budget and Finance meetings, volunteering last year to help
run the Meet the Candidates event.
These
four candidates expressed in their opening Meet-the-Candidates statements a
desire to continue moving the Association finances and maintenance programs
forward into the future for the good of everyone in the Association. Each of
their messages emphasized the positive and the desire to continue a spirit of
cooperation. Chris Wemple particularly emphasized enhancing communications
between the Board, management, and the Association members. Check out their
bios in the Annual Meeting package to see their individual level of substantial
professional experience.
Charles
Bressler is an original Association member who has a vision of the past glory
of living in The Elizabeth. He has served on various ECA Boards over the past.
His Meet-the-Candidates statement emphasized his extreme displeasure with our
current General Manager despite the significant work she has done to help turn
around our finances. Nevertheless, he was very concerned about having enough
money to fund important maintenance projects like refurbing the hallways and
questioned whether the current 2% raise in the condo fee was adequate.
Steven
Schattman bought into the Elizabeth in 1996. He was on the Board that voted to
draw down the Reserve Fund to what became an historic low. His Meet-the-Candidates
statement is remarkable for his emphasis on the word “anger.” He said that the
current Board has no tolerance for opposing points of view, it exercises no
transparency, and it operates in secrecy. These accusations are not true.
What
must be underscored is that our financial turn-around is fragile. Who we elect
to the Elizabeth Condominium Board will make a difference in whether we
continue to show financial improvements, steady building maintenance, rising
property values, and good quality of life here in this community. I recommend
voting for: Mak Dehejia, Lyle Schwartz, Rhonda Taller, and Christopher Wemple.
If
you have questions, please contact me and I will do my best to forward them to
someone who can answer your concerns.
Karren Alenier #301
CANDIDATE STATEMENTS;
CHARLES BRESSLER
LADIES and GENTLEMEN,
IN ABOUT THREE WEEKS WE SHALL HAVE AN ELECTION AT THE
ELIZABETH TO FILL FOUR SEATS ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS. NEVER BEFORE HAS YOUR
PARTICIPATION BEEN SO IMPORTANT. I HOPE FOR THE GOOD OF THE BUILDING THAT THIS
ELECTION WILL NOT BE TOXIC.
THE REASON I WANT JOIN THE BOARD IS THAT IT PAINS ME
WHEN ; -RESIDENTS TALK ABOUT MOVING OUT OF THE ELIZABETH BECAUSE OF THE
MANAGER , TOXIC ENVIREMENT AND I UNDERSTAND.
-THE BOARD
OF DIRECTORS SHOULD DIRECT THE MANAGER AND INSTRUCT HER TO BE MORE VISIBLE TO
THE RESIDENTS, WALK THROUGH THE BUILDING ONCE IN A WHILE AND BE MORE RECEPTIVE
TO GENUINE COMPLAINTS.
-SHE DOES
NOT TELL THE TRUTH WHEN ASKED QUESTIONS AT THE BOARD MEETING SAYING THAT SHE
HAS WORKED OUT AN AGREEMENT ABOUT THE REFURBISHING OF THE GARAGE.
-SHE SHOULD
REPORT TO THE ENTIRE BOARD WHEN A BOARD MEMBER ABUSES HIS PRIVILEDGES AND
VIOLATES HOUSE RULES..
-THE PRICE
OF OUR APARTMENTS HAVE NOT INCREASED AND ARE ON THE MARKET LONGER THAN OTHER
BUILDINGS AROUND.
- REPORTED
SAVINGS MADE BY MANAGER HAVE COME WITH A REDUCTION OF QUALITY IN SERVICE.
BI-ANNUAL UNIT INSPECTIONS ARE REDUCED TO ONCE EVERY 18 MONTHS. THE
MATERIAL LIKE THE FILTERS ARE OF POOR
QUALITY AND COULD DAMAGE THE HVAC UNIT.
-THE PRESENT
BOARD AND PRIOR BOARD DESERVES SOME CREDIT FOR THE TURNAROUND BUT AT WHAT COST.
WE HAVE TURNED THE CORNER BUT AFTER CONDO FEE INCREASES OF 13% IN 2017 FISCAL
YEAR AND 7% IN 2018. WE STILL HAVE TO PAY THE LOAN OF $2,4M
IN 2015 THE BOARD OVERSPENT BY CLOSE TO $900,000 AND
STILL SPENT MONEY.
I HAD PREDICTED THAT WE WOULD HAVE A FINANCIAL PROBLEM
WHEN I SUGGESTED AN INCREASE OF 6% IN 2014 WHEN I RAN FOR THE BOARD. UNFORTUNATELY
MANY RESIDENTS THOUGHT THAT I WAS A BIG SPENDER AND DID NOT VOTE FOR ME. I AM A
PRUDENT SPENDER.
I BELIEVE THE ELIZABETH SHOULD LIVE WITHIN OUR MEANS,
JUST AS YOU DO IN YOUR LIVES. WE CANNOT FUND EVERY PROJECTS IMMEDIATELY. AS A
MEMBER MY VOTES WOULD REFLECT THIS.
I WILL ALWAYS BE AVAILABLE TO HEAR YOUR SUGGESTIONS
AND COMPLAINTS AS DID WHEN I SERVED FOR 22 YEARS ON THE BOARD AS MEMBER, VICE
PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENT.
MAK DEHEJIA
Good
evening!
Thank
you for this opportunity to introduce myself and to share with you some of the
reasons why I am running for the Board and to ask not only for your support,
but also to ask you to have your friends and neighbors support my candidacy.
I
am Mak Dehejia. My wife and I own 1711L. After 2 years here I still don’t know
why we have an L behind our unit number when no one else seems to call it that
way
I
want to tell you briefly why we purchased a unit in the Elizabeth, why I am
running for the Board and what I have to offer to this condominium association.
First,
Why the Elizabeth. I want you all to know that my wife and I consciously chose
this place to be our final residence. We were first introduced to The Elizabeth
through our interest in watercolor painting. So, I wrote to our watercolor
instructor in Maine asking him to put us in touch any of his former students
living in this area. He introduced us to a Barbara who lived here in the
Elizabeth. She invited us over for cocktails when we met her husband Ed, an ex
IBM executive. The 4 of us hit it off extremely well which resulted in our
visiting their unit in The Elizabeth quite often. They had a beautiful unit in
the 11 th tier. We liked it so much that my wife and I decided that an apartment
in the 11th tier had to be our final residence. Barbara & Ed’s
unit came up for sale; we bid for it but lost. We were very disappointed. So,
we asked our real estate agent to keep looking for a sale in the 11th
tier. When 1711 came to the market we instructed our realtor to make sure that
we would get it. And we did!
So,
my being in the Elizabeth is a deliberate and conscious choice, not something
we inherited or found at a bargain sale.
Why
do I wish to serve on the Board?
I
have been fortunate in having the opportunity of serving on the Board filling
an interim vacancy. During the past few months, participating in Board
discussions, I have realized that my prior experience with management of
condominiums and cooperatives, as well as my long experience in the academic
and business world can be useful to the work of the Board here.
The
kinds of issues we have encountered here – replacement of sliders and windows,
leaking water pipes, problems with the management company, upgrading hallways
and corridors, stretched financial condition, borrowing funds etc. – are what I
have come across before and experienced how they have been addressed. As one
popular ad for an insurance company points out: “WE KNOW A THING OR TWO BECAUSE
WE’VE SEEN A THING OR TWO”
In
addition to previous experience with condos and coops, I have found in my
working life that my approach to problem solving stemming from my background in
mathematics and physics – the practice of going down to first principles – has
always stood me in good stead. I saw this at work very clearly, for example,
when the Board was discussing the garage repair project. It was very easy for
me to see right away that the biggest issue in estimating the project cost was
the estimate of the square footage of the damaged area. When I raised that
question with our consulting engineer, everyone recognized that the usual 10%
contingency provision in the budget is not likely to be adequate enough.
Finally,
may I say that my wife and I are very much looking forward to spending our
final years in in this lovely community in an atmosphere of mutual trust,
friendship and caring. In order for this to happen we must all work to
restoring the trust between owners, management and the Board. In order for that
to be possible we have to ensure that the fabric of the building is sound and
pleasant. And, for that to happen we need to have a robust financial situation.
The
Board that I have been privileged to serve has taken significant steps towards
these goals.
I
seek your support in allowing me to serve you all to further these goals in the
coming years.
Thank
you!
STEVEN SCHATTMAN
Good Evening. I’m going to make this short and to the point,
I don’t want to put anyone to sleep.
For those of you who don’t know me My name is Steven
Schattman. My wife Robin and I bought our apartment here in the Elizabeth in
the Fall of 1996 and moved in a few months later. I have been involved with the
Association in one aspect or another for many years. I was on the original
Finance committee, I was the long-time chairman of the Fitness Room committee
and I have served on the Board of Directors both as an officer and a director.
I did a year as Vice President and a Year as President.
Years ago, when I first ran for the Board I did so because I
was angry. I felt the Board had its own agenda and had no interest in what
anyone else had to say. Well, I’m angry again. The same situation exists today
only its worse. The Board has little or no tolerance for opposing points of
view. They are regularly discouraged and ridiculed, whenever possible they are
simply ignored or suppressed. Transparency is almost nonexistent. The Board
operates within a culture of secrecy. This began with the former President and
continues with the current one. It is very obvious that there are issues being
discussed and decided upon in Executive session that have absolutely no business
being in that venue. Maryland
Condominium law is quite clear as to what can be done in Executive session. It
is basically limited to two areas, employee issues and legal issues. Having the
Attorney in the room and asking him a question does not make something a legal
issue. This is unacceptable and needs to stop!
As owners and members of the Association you have a right to
know what is going on. You also have a right to have your ideas, your thoughts
and your concerns taken into account when decisions are being made. This is not
happening and that is why I’m running for the Board.
LYLE SCHWARTZ
Good evening
everyone. My wife and I moved to the
Elizabeth two years ago. Besides location, we selected it as our home because
residents seemed friendly and engaged. Our stay here has reinforced those
impressions and we’ve begun many new friendships in this community. We’ve also
learned of and shared the concerns about the fiscal health of our association
and the appearance and safety considerations in the Elizabeth. I felt that by joining
the Board of Directors, I could help address the challenges we faced.
I enjoyed a
career that included 20 years in academia and an equal amount of time leading
major science/engineering activities in the Federal government. I’ve been
retired for 14 years and continue to serve as volunteer to several organizations.
With this history, I brought experience to the Board including
technical/computer skills; more than 25 years of condo living in Chicago and
here in Friendship Heights; and many years of service on committees, boards and
other management bodies. I’ve learned how to work with diverse views, arrive at
informed group decisions and to publicly address groups, large and small, to
help them understand and support those decisions.
During the
last 10 months, while serving on the Board, I was privileged to play a significant
role in transitioning from a near bankruptcy fiscal situation in 2016 to the
current, much more hopeful environment. While my service on the Board has been
brief, I think it had impact. Besides working directly on planning with my
colleagues on the Board and our GM MaryAnn Hall, I’ve spoken publicly to owners
to explain financial and Bylaw issues to address their very real concerns. I’m
impressed by the progress we’ve made in this last year and want to complement
both MaryAnn and my colleagues on the Board.
My goal now
is to follow through to implement plans for the ECA established over the last
10 months. These plans keep condo fees as low as prudent while delivering
service to the residents through well managed operations, completion of necessary
maintenance projects, accelerated loan repayment and increase of capital
reserve funds to restore the fiscal integrity of our homes and investments.
However, we
have been so fully occupied with fiscal and capital improvement issues that
other management needs haven’t gotten sufficient attention. Chief among them is
communication. Better use of Building Link and restoration of a newsletter should
be major goals for next year. A second focus should be clarifying our onsite management
structure in a manual of procedures available to all owners.
Next year
will be busy, with Board oversight required as the garage project proceeds, the
staged hallway project initiates, and we address the budget for the next fiscal
year. I look forward to participating in this process of making our shared home
a better place to live and hope that you’ll give me the opportunity to serve by
voting for me.
RHONDA TALLER
When my husband and I
moved to the Elizabeth in 2015 we were not aware of the challenging financial
situation, however like all owners we felt the pain of significant increases in
condo maintenance fees over 3 years. In
2016 we saw the value of a unit we owned drop significantly from the price paid
in 2015. That did not preclude us from
purchasing a larger unit at the Elizabeth in a great neighborhood.
At the Elizabeth we are
all part of a community who want the same thing as owners. Our homes are our biggest investment and
source of pride. I want to commend my
fellow board members for their hard work, as volunteers, and diligence to
addressing our financial challenges along with our GM, MaryAnn Hall. Along with my appointment to the Board in
late 2017 I had the opportunity to chair the B&F Committee this year. The committee reviewed the operating budget
monthly while making recommendations on sources of additional income. The
committee reviewed/approved an operational budget for 2018-2019 while recommending
the capital budget expenditures (based on overall recommendations from the
reserve study). Thank you to the
volunteers for their hard work and collective expertise ---Jeremy, Woodie, Mak,
BB and Jimmy. It was a privilege to
oversee the work of this committee this year.
I am seeking a term on
the Board to help ensure we continue the forward movement for policies to
maintain the financial health of the building.
The Elizabeth is an older building requiring ongoing maintenance. There are must do’s like the garage
renovations. There are projects that
have been delayed such as the hallway renovations that we currently have the
financial resources to undertake in a reasonable and phased approach. There is a plan to address our debt in a
sensible way too. I bring competencies
in vendor negotiations, developing and monitoring budgets and human resources
management. Most important I am
interested in hearing the views of all the owners and being a voice on the
Board for everyone in the great community.
Today our financial position is significantly improved over recent years
and maintaining the momentum is important for all owners at the Elizabeth. Elections matter and it would be my privilege
to continue serving on the Board, if elected.
Thank you.
Closing
Statement:
During my opening
statement I provided everyone with my rationale for wanting to remain on the
Board and the competencies I bring. If
you want to learn more about my background my statement of candidacy is
available and I can answer questions at any time prior to our annual meeting in
May.
with $40k annual savings;
$258k in renegotiated contracts; adoption of a Strategic Financial Plan and our
most current audit showing $26,316 in the black vs a loss on operations in 2016
of $397,635.
We need to continue on a
path forward that the current Board has set in motion with includes necessary
capital improvements while balancing the need to lower our debt and being
mindful of current condo maintenance fees.
The Elizabeth is a community that all owners want to be proud of. We want a diverse Board who each brings
unique skills/experience to this volunteer role. I want to thank the owners tonight for your
attention and I will stop there as it is late.
CHRISTOPHER WEMPLE
I’m Chris Wemple; my wife, Suzan Stafford and I moved to the
Elizabeth in late 2016.
My
background is that I grew up on the eastern shore of MD, then went to the US
Naval Academy. After graduation, I flew
helicopters for the Navy, followed by an assignment in Naval Intelligence. After leaving the Navy, I continued working for
the government on and off while I began my education in psychology.
I earned a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Catholic
University and then worked as the assistant director of a university counseling
center, maintained a private practice,
and, until I retired about a year and a half ago, provided counseling , crisis
intervention and consulting services to the Montgomery County Police
Department.
Suzan and I had been living in a house in NW DC, and came to
the Elizabeth because we both recently
retired and were ready to downsize. We
wanted stay in the area we had come to love and to be close to our adult
children and our grandchildren.
When we got here, we wanted to learn more about the Elizabeth
community, so we began to show up for board meetings, and quickly realized that
there was a lot going on (to say the least). Clearly, the Elizabeth was going
through a difficult, contentious process of major change.
The more we heard, the more worried we became; the Association’s
operating budget continued to be in the red, HUD certification had been lost, there
had been major flooding incidents, and the association nearly lost it’s
insurance coverage. There was a 5
million dollar outstanding loan balance. And so on.
It turns out that there was some good news along with all of
the bad news; we were also seeing the beginning of a
financial turnaround. Toward the end of last year, the current board adopted a
strategic financial plan, which it has been following, and for the first time
in several years the operating budget finished in the black.
Now the Board is in a position to consider a budget that
should keep us on track with a modest condo fee increase. Our HUD certification has been restored, and
we are now able to get insurance on the primary market again.
If elected, I intend to support following this course, for
as long as it is in the best interest of the Association.
There are still challenges facing the Elizabeth: most
importantly, we have to stay on this course to fiscal health; there are likely
be unforeseen problems. This is an old
building; but – this is our home, we
have to take care of it, and make sure that the resources to do that are
available,
Speaking of resources -
besides money, a vital resource for the Association is the expertise and hours of involvement given by those
members who have been willing to serve on the Board of Directors and other
committees. If you choose me to
serve, I am ready to give my time, whatever
expertise I may have, along with my willingness to learn AND my willingness to do
my “Due Diligence.”
Thank you.
