HOA Reform Effort: Lessons Learned

Give people a concrete picture of what will change

Explain what you would do differently and put it in writing. We developed specific proposals for clearer rules, fairer enforcement, transparency, and responsible spending. That gave people something concrete to evaluate and gave the candidates a shared set of goals.

Go door to door and talk to people

Communicate on social media, but don't expect to win through Facebook alone. You have to get out and speak with your neighbors. Posting information is part of the work. Having individual conversations is another part you can't skip.

A promise of support is not a vote

Watch comments and reactions to identify potential supporters. If you haven't spoken with someone in person, reach out directly by message. Ask for a proxy.

Even if they say they're attending in person, ask for a proxy anyway. Many people who told us they'd be there couldn't make it at the last minute. If we hadn't kept following up, we'd have missed getting their proxies. Don't assume that someone saying "you have my support" means they'll follow through without another conversation.

Give people different levels of detail on your website

Keep the homepage brief. Use attention-catching phrases and put the most important information where people can quickly absorb it. Link to pages that gradually go deeper, from summaries to full policy proposals and supporting documents.

Monitor your site's traffic. Our homepage and candidate bio page consistently got the most views. I eventually added a short mission statement at the top of the candidate page so people who skipped our detailed goals page would still see what we wanted to accomplish.

We published the full, detailed text of our proposed policies. That matters to people who want to examine them, but most visitors won't read all of it. Give them a useful summary too. Put your core message on the pages people visit.

Don't just talk about transparency. Show it.

Create a communications timeline. Document every request and interaction you have with the board and keep it updated.

When questions come up, refer people to it. Let them see what you asked, what response you received, and how events unfolded. Maintaining that record over time lets people see your consistency for themselves.

Be prepared to answer the same questions over and over

You'll answer something a hundred times and still get asked again. Expect it. Someone may be seeing the issue for the first time, even though you've been living it for months.

Some people will also keep repeating the same misinterpretation, regardless of how many ways you explain the answer. Recognize when another explanation isn't helping. Use the exchange to clarify your point for everyone else reading along.

Don't take the "just asking questions" bait

Some people use loaded questions to plant accusations, then hide behind "I'm just asking." You end up defending yourself against a claim they won't take responsibility for making. I took that bait far too often.

At times, it felt like people wanted to see my family endure hardship for daring to stand up to the board. It's easy to get drawn into defending yourself when the issue is that personal.

Recognize the tactic. Address the insinuation, put the facts in front of everyone reading along, and use the engagement to reinforce your point. Don't let an endless series of loaded questions dictate the conversation.

Don't burn out your fellow candidates

Create a group chat, but explicitly tell people their personal lives come first. They aren't expected to respond to every message immediately.

Encourage them to mute notifications and disconnect. Call if something is urgent. Let people contribute within their limits. Being willing to serve shouldn't mean being available every waking hour.

Use AI, but invest in it and learn how to use it properly

Don't cheap out and expect a $10 plan to carry the whole effort. Invest in suitable tools and take the time to learn them.

Build a document collection containing your governing documents, applicable authorities, litigation materials, Robert's Rules of Order, correspondence, screenshots of posts, and everything else related to your case. Have AI organize and index it so it can work from your records.

Don't trust everything it says. Have it use subagents to check its work, challenge its conclusions, and correct errors against the source documents. Multiple agents agreeing doesn't make an answer correct. You still need to check what the records support.