HOA Reform: Follow-Up Questions

How did you reach homeowners who weren't particularly interested in getting involved?

We made ourselves accessible. We answered questions on Facebook, hosted poolside "ask me anything" sessions with whichever candidates could attend, and went door to door.

At the door, we'd ask whether they'd heard about the effort, explain my family's story, and answer their questions. We also had flyers with a brief explanation and a QR code linking to the website, so people could read more when they had time.

We gave people several ways to learn about the effort and talk with us, without expecting everyone to follow every Facebook discussion or read every policy proposal.

How long did it take, and how many people were doing the work?

It was almost exactly a year from installing our solar panels in October 2025 to the election on October 15, 2026. But the organized reform effort developed gradually during that time.

We were already working on detailed rule revisions by early June. The broader effort gained momentum through June and July, and by August we were preparing candidate announcements, newsletters, and the election campaign. I'd describe it as roughly four months of focused reform work leading up to the election, with the personal dispute preceding that.

The people doing the work included the seven candidates, several spouses, and friends. The candidates were as engaged as their schedules allowed. Another 10 to 12 people helped off and on and became heavily involved toward the end. People contributed at different levels depending on their availability.

Did the old board create obstacles around the election, proxies, or communicating with homeowners?

Yes. One of the biggest obstacles was access to proxy forms.

The board mailed orange proxy forms and told management that proxies not on their stationery would be rejected. The old board members had the forms, but they weren't made available for download or provided to the other candidates.

That meant we could go door to door, explain the effort, and find someone willing to support us, but couldn't collect their proxy unless they had the original orange form. Management eventually provided a version we could print ourselves, roughly two weeks before the election. By then, we'd lost significant time while incumbent board members had access to the forms and could collect proxies from homeowners who hadn't heard our story.

There were also misleading public statements. The board denied pursuing foreclosure against our home. I posted a screenshot of the legal filing, and their denial was subsequently deleted. They also posted inaccurate or misleading information about the election process and turned off comments rather than answering homeowners' questions.

Those experiences made maintaining our own website and communications timeline especially important. We needed somewhere people could review the information and supporting records.

What would you do differently?

I'd be more disciplined about when and how I responded, especially during stressful moments. Overall, I think I handled the discussions well and received a lot of compliments on my responses. But there were moments when I was exasperated and it came through. I'd take less bait and step away before replying when I needed to.

I'd also do a better job keeping the conversation focused on what the effort had become. It started with my family's story, but as more homeowners shared their own problems with the HOA, it grew into something much bigger. I expanded the website to cover the broader reform effort, our proposed policies, and the other candidates.

Even so, I too often got pulled back into discussions focused entirely on my solar panels. That kept bringing the conversation back to my individual dispute when we were trying to communicate a community-wide effort.

Starting again, I'd spend less time defending my installation and more time bringing the discussion back to the concerns other homeowners had raised, the reforms we were proposing, and the other candidates' participation and contributions.