I agree that poorly maintained bldg areas can be hazards. Our 2 stairwells were used by everyone, including movers, during our 8-wk elevator upgrade in '05 and a power failure in '06. Some residents use the stairs daily for exercise. Steps have cracks/broken edges. You think I get my board to patch/paint the stairwells? Last time was 1997. They won't even spend money to just repair the faulty steps. I also suggested battery-operated stick-on lights for stairwells in case of future power failures. They said no to that too. I guess someone has to fall down the stairs and break a leg (and probably be sued) before my board wakes up.

I'm tempted to ask shhldrs at the annual meeting to vote on allocating, say, $20K for small bldg jobs. I'd avoid saying our boards repeatedly refuse to do it. If I can't avoid saying that, my board will resent me for going "straight to the people". I'd rather not do that anyway, but I'm at a loss for other solutions to this. Anyone have more ideas?