We are a mid-sized coop in NYC (80 units)
We have a contract with Securitas Inc and we pay aprox $14 per hour per guard. We have 4 guards at 8h shift plus 1 extra guard on Sun
Annual cost aprox $135

Annual aprox $135,000

I am a Superintendent of a Cooperative and we use Academy Intercom for maintenance, new installation and for engravings. They are very professional and their response time is Great.
Telephone number Academy Intercom(718/212) 539-1000

We had a similar problem. Start to document everything with an Email. Dont sent Emails accusing anyone of anything. but ask questions. Such As: Is it legal for two board members to vote without consulting the rest of the Board. or I dont think its legal to bypass the bylaws,, could another BM clarify this.
KEEP every Email... You will be surprised by the results. Good luck

Rose,

The first thing you need to do is check your by-laws and become family with the rules of it.
If you can get 2/3% of the owners together, you should be able to remove these 2 off the board.
This must be done quietly at first and then call a special meeting of all the owners or have proxies set up by them.
If you can get them removed, be prepared to refill their positions immediately.
Try to have as little communication with these 2 as possible...
That is the only way to get your situation resolved...
Good Luck..

We had a scary expereince such as this a couple of months ago. A contractor sent by managing agent to repair leaks around roof equipment was using a blow torch. This is illegal in NY and he started a fire on the roof. The fire department was called (contractor hid the blow torch and said the vent from laundry caught fire from lint) but them I found out afterward what happened. This is a terrifying thing--we could have also had a gas expolosion if the flames had travelled down the vent to the washer/dryer. We will be addressing this with the managing agent.

Perhaps the best way would be as follows:

1. Check references of your vendors and only deal with reputable vendors. You may also want to interview the principals and know exactly their safety procedures and record.

2. Ensure that the vendors provide you with worker compensation insurance and liability insurance.

3. Have your own employees oversee once in a while the work of these contractors and make sure to report anything that is not safe so that they may demand it.

4. If you see or witness a problem immediately halt the job until you speak with the principal of the company and demand expected safety standards.

Obviously, some employees may take the work beyond the scope as they become daredevils themselves, but principals whose worker insurance may suffer as a result of careless by an employee may even think to retrain or fire the employee for simple stupidity.

AdC

I am a Superintendent/Resident Manager of a Co-Op. Usually, the resident will request the supers direction, in which the super will bring it up wit the manager or board of directors and they will give direction on how to proceed. At my building we have a maintenance/grounds committee. All issues are brought to me and if i feel that the board needs to be involved i will include them in the processes. But usually with landscaping/gardening I take all the inquiries into consideration and I usually try to make everyone happy.

There's an article on the subject in the March 2007 Habitat, if that's of any help.

This is very interesting...

Legal recovery of charges at the court level has to be adjudicated by the judge. Therefore, the charges may be wiped b;y the judge and absorbed by the co-op!

AdC

The best place to start may be to read through these posts, try the Cooperator at http://cooperator.com/ also for allot of useful info.. between hab mag and them you can keep real busy for a while. there’s of course always this board to post any specific questions you have... good luck to you

~AR

My advice is to relax and attend the orientation meeting with open mind and open ears. Actively participate in the meeting by asking questions when something may not be clear to you. It may have been poorly stated or the person assumed that the language used to express a problem or a concept was familiar to you.

To prepare for the meeting, you may wish to review the board minutes for the last 12 months to know what were the major issues and current ones. From these, you may have a short list one of those that are still outstanding.

You may also request a copy of the financial reports for December 2007 to get an idea of the expenses, budget against expense report; also, you may ask for the past 4 months monthly reports. Examine the arrears, take a look at the expenses without passing judgment as being too high or too low, and the current financial position of the co-op.

If you are not too versed in accounting, don't worry; financial reports are very much like your checking account or a credit account. Just read them to familiarize yourself but don't loose sleep over it!

Aymara

NewBM,
This may sound simplistic but read the mang contract, house rules and by-laws carefully. Last year, six months into a new board, we discovered that three of our new members did not have copies of the Mang contract or house rules -- and had not read the By-laws.

The Mang company had taken advantage, and were running the building as if they owned it. Fees, SH complaints and calls were not returned, unauthorized checks written,,,etc.... They no longer work for us.

Also, pass rules and make decisions that looking into the future, you as a Shareholder, not board member, can live with.

Be careful of going along with Board-team-decisions -- that you know are wrong. Although bm's admitted the old Mang was incompetent, we kept this Mang co, for an extra six months because Board members did not want to offend other bm who supported and were friends with the Agent. Two bm's refused to be part of the team, joined a group of Shareholders (dont underestimate the SH) sent out a petition which was signed by 80% of the CoOp, and fired the Company.

And finally: Leave you Ego at the door.
AliceT

Yes, you're right!

I overlooked these very important documents. Without them, you cannot really make decisions.

Ignorant BM of the contents of the documents make poor decisions.

Thank you!

AdC

I advise new board members to read the executive minutes as far back as you can. It gives you a quick history of what has gone on before both good and bad.

As others have mentioned, the Proprietary Lease, By-Laws, and House Rules are fundamental (but dry) reading. Going through recent meeting minutes is also a good idea. For more interesting reading, the Habitat archive is a gold mine. Habitat is the *only* magazine I read cover-to-cover every month.

Also, don't be shy about asking a more experienced board member to sit down with you and talk about how things work. Then Google some articles on "What is a Co-Op?" and that sort of thing.