What does Transparency as a member of the BCCA board mean to you? How will you honor that requirement?
From Karen Zakeski | Granite Mill
Candidate Answers:
- Kate Bice: Transparency means to me that the Board should share as much information as possible (those not involving contracts, resident’s personal information, or confidential financial information) when it makes decisions. This would allow homeowners an opportunity to be more aware of some of the issues the Board is facing and have a better understanding of how the Board came to make its decisions. Homeowners have access to minutes of all meetings, which are posted to the website, and are approved at the next working meeting. This is a great place for homeowners to see what happened at meetings that are not public. Additionally, when there are questions, I encourage homeowners to reach out to ask for clarification.
- Bob Lijana: I am open to suggestions from the community on how to maintain/increase “transparency.” Your Communications Committee, of which I am a part, continues to do its best to improve this continuously.
- Liz Rolison: Board transparency was a key promise I made in 2021 when I first ran for the BCCA Board and I’ve worked hard to live up to that promise. During the first year, I ensured that meeting minutes were complete (providing more information to residents on the basis and reasoning behind our decisions). We also did significant outreach to homeowners for input into the BCCA Strategic Plan.
As President, I have encouraged and provided responses to questions residents have raised in the Public Board Meetings and have tried to provide more context and information on topics during the business meeting portion of these meetings. We have also held Town Halls quarterly, to provide opportunities for homeowners to raise issues, ask questions of the board and have meaningful dialogue with the board. We’ve also increased the quality and volume of our communications from management and the board: Manager’s Monday, Friday Flash and topic specific emails. Finally, we have enhanced the community website, and in my view, have done a better job of updating the content and relevance of the information posted on the website.
There is more to be done. We continue to work on ways that we can encourage more involvement and input from our younger families who are often too busy to attend board meetings. We are looking ways to use social media and other communication mechanisms to provide targeted brief and informative communications. - Tom Speer: Transparency requires that the board document issues and present facts openly to the community. I would like to eliminate board work sessions and go back to open public board meetings where all issues are presented, discussed and decisions made in front of the residents. The only exceptions would be legal, contract negotiations and personnel issues. The community should respond favorably when they can see and hear every debate.
- William Weitz: Making myself available to communicate what I can when asked and in minutes.