The board has created communication policies as requested. I would like to make a couple of other suggestions I learned when sitting on volunteer boards.
Policies: I think we should actually vote these into our organizational rules, rather than have them be voluntary (IMO). They are located here: Documents: Organizational Documents
I want to remind everyone that the Road Board members are volunteers. The tasks they take on for the Road District are in addition to full-time jobs, family obligations, and other life duties. At least one board member has taken on multiple volunteer projects and activities for the road district on top of their regular board member duties.
My suggestions:
1) State requests simply and clearly - be succinct. This allows more efficient communication and your requests will be easier to understand if not contained in longer, more discursive messages.
2) Be patient - the board can get to most requests rather quickly. Those requests needing more hours to meet the request, need more days to get done. Member's board duties are often done after a full workday and on weekends.
3) Be kind - the current use of text, email, and social media is recognized by professionals as having caused great harm in how we all communicate with each other. It has soured decorum and politeness. A great tip is to not send an initial written message if we are super angry. Perhaps write it, then rewrite it again and remove personal attacks and mean-sounding language. Speak in written forms as you would want someone to speak to you.
4) Avoid personal attacks and overexaggerated mischaracterizations of each other - board or community member. It hurts everyone to have disparaging, mean, and untrue characterizations leveled at them.
I think we all want a great community and to get along with each other.
Thanks for listening. Elise Wolf
1) I am defending all volunteers. And I can defend my husband however and as much as I want, thank you.
2) I am the one reminding everyone about the roles of the board and their volunteer activities. Not Whitney, so, no board member is - I am not Whitney, though people do think that I am Whitney sometimes because his name is both male and female. But, at this point, we have not physically merged.
4) The website is additional volunteer work. Not related to the required tasks of the board. My point is simply that the website should not be expected as a responsibility of the board. Anyone else can take it over, anytime.
I won't engage with you anymore. You could have read my post and found something to like about it. Instead, you just found fault.
We were just addressing a reply to the board regarding their email received (the 8th) read today. We thought we would come and look, what if anything anyone else might have to say.
We agree with your points Elise and wish for a more civil neighborhood, which we had up until about three or four years ago.
#1) Elise, your defending your husband is out of line in our opinion. We have not heard Lee, Jim nor Nyle's spouse, or any other significant other in our 20 years of living here and attending meetings for many of those years. Whitney can certainly defend himself if someone has offended him. He took on this web site responsibility, something very daring to say the least.
#2) Yes, the board is made up of all volunteers and always has been. We have NEVER EVER heard a previous board member, not once, remind residents that they are volunteers. That is inappropriate in our opinions. We both have served on several boards in a volunteer situation. One of which has had heated topics, and never have we reminded someone we were volunteering, nor would we.
#3) This current board was able to arrange for a committee to assist them with dividing much of the work needed in looking at road improvement. That seemed to happen very well and they were thanked for it, especially Jim Becker who has gone above and beyond when he was on the committee, and Whitney with this website. In fact, it probably should be mandatory, if there is going to be one, that all members know how to use it.
#4) Yes, they are all volunteers, and all took the positions of their own free will. We do not need to be reminded by anyone of their busy lives, etc. They should not have taken the positions if they were going to be too busy for them. When you volunteer, you take on a huge obligation, no matter what it is for, there will be work involved especially for those that admit knowing they wanted road improvements going into those commitments.
#5) We do agree that some questions are lengthy and not directly to the point. We also think this holds true of some of the items the board has reported on. There may be one or two attorneys living out here, but most of us do not read attorney speak. Keeping things simple and professional is possible. (Even if you must attach a disclaimer.)
#6) The board has tended to point at one unnamed person (who does not attend meetings) for questioning everything. Hopefully, they are also listening to others that do attend the meetings that have asked for more transparency in all works going on. More people are going to quit attending meetings if they feel that their voices or opinions do not matter.
We would also like to see our neighborhood back to how it was. There are many new residents that never knew the good times we have had in Panoramic, that have moved in since this "drama" began. Unfortunately, it has been drama. We have not held a neighborhood clean-up day in a very long time. It is nice when you do see someone walking with a trash bag and picking up trash, most likely from the garbage trucks and cans. Also picking up dog mess, as these are rural roads, but they are walked often, and even dog mess on the dirt side, is someone else's property who might like to not have dog mess on it. We have always had horses, until recently. If our horse had a potty break on a ride, we would go back and pick it up. Not everyone likes the smell of horses in the air and kicking it into the side may not be appropriate.
We have attempted a couple of yard sales in the last few years. We were smoked out from the fires on one and the next we had pouring rain. We have not had a potluck in a while and that might be fun again. Maybe new residents are not interested in those things, but we do not think that is the case. This road issue and not the first time for us, has been very divisive. Be it new owners and old owners, so many opinions, and sometimes timed meetings. We are not looking for a reply here, just that we all work together and quit pointing out the faults of everyone else. No one is perfect.
Maybe if and when we can get back to live meetings, people might feel heard more. We do not
know what the answer is. We both have had groups we volunteer with that have held in-person meetings, but now with another new variant, things are again changing. We all are being asked to be flexible in our workplaces, students in their school lives, and also with volunteer obligations. We continually say we will get through this and hope it is over soon. It has been a long few years and COVID is not to blame for everything, we must take some responsibility.
Henry & Kerry Zenich
Green Ridge Loop
I definitely agree with this! Thank you for posting!