I'm glad to hear that you're able to see things so positively, Alice.

When I was a political science student, one of the basics of elective democracy we were taught was that the more comfortable people are about how things are going, the smaller the election turnout. Not until the people get upset does turnout go up. So your building is exactly typical in that regard.

As for your other problems, our board tells new owners a story not so different from yours. We've been a co-op for a couple decades, but in the 90s, when the economy took a real dive, there were more than a dozen defaults in our building. Maintenance was not being paid, and the physical structure was not being maintained. Because people were on the edge financially, maintenance was not raised (or was only marginally), leaving the corporation barely able to pay for its monthly bills.

Then things got better. We enacted a flip tax, which has given us a comfortable reserves fund that had never existed. Every year for the last few years we have had a small maint increase (1% to 2%). And we've been able to complete some significant capital improvements through careful planning and an assessment.

The building is in much better shape physically, as well as financially, which makes it more valuable both for the long-term residents (who benefit from a sound structure) and for the sellers (who can promote the improvements as a selling point).

So keep faith. And hey, why not run for the board yourself? It seems as athough you already know more about how the building is run than even some board members. What's more, you care! And that, honestly, is what makes all the difference.