As a community manager, I attend the monthly educational luncheons presented by Community Associations Institute – Orange County Regional Chapter (CAI-OCRC) and listen to the CLAC “Moment” presented by the Legislative Support Committee. However, I never fully understood what it meant or what impact the California Legislative Action Committee (CLAC) had on our communities and profession until I went to Sacramento to participate in the Legislative Day at the Capitol. I came back from Sacramento with a better understanding on how important it is for community managers to educate their Boards on the bills related to California community associations, and the importance of CLAC.
Along with Debra Kovach, CEO of Optimum Professional Property Management, Inc., I attended educational sessions and round tables that helped us better understand what CLAC does and how it not only benefits community managers, but also community associations and their membership. As part of our attendance, we discussed the “Hot” Bills related to community associations and now better understand just how many bills potentially affect us every legislative session.
This year alone, there were over 1,500 bills introduced into the California legislature. Of those, CLAC identified 52 that impact community associations. CLAC monitors them all as they work their way through the legislative process. Right now, CLAC is monitoring bills which would require associations to allow installation of artificial turf, allow owners to place clotheslines on their property, and, of course, several other drought-related bills.
Where appropriate CLAC meets with legislators to discuss the impact of those bills on our industry, seeks amendments where possible, and supports or opposes bills based on how they impact community associations. We were surprised how many legislators and their staff were unfamiliar with community associations and their impact on California. It truly showed us how important the Buck-A-Door Campaign is to our industry, and the need to get the message to the managers and board members.
Hearing directly from CLAC’s Legislative Advocate Skip Daum, made clear that supporting CLAC, through fundraising and donations, enables CLAC’s work at the Capitol. “Being in Sacramento and seeing firsthand the amount of time, effort, and dedication made by the industry representatives and attorneys made me realize the importance of supporting the Buck-A-Door Campaign. My goal is to have more participation by industry leaders in this important program each year,” says Debra Kovach.
For those of you who are not familiar with the Buck-A-Door Campaign, community associations are able to contribute one dollar per residence per year. These funds are critical to allowing CLAC to continue to work for California’s communities. Without the donations, Skip could not advocate for community associations, educate legislators about them or ensure communities are represented in a fair and positive manner. Without the Buck-A-Door Campaign, this would stop.
CLAC has a number of resources that easily allow managers to stay informed and help educate their board on the importance of the Buck-A-Door Campaign. Please make it a point to sign-up to receive the CLAC-TRAC email newsletter and share it with your board members. The following resources are also available to help create awareness of CAI-CLAC’s efforts under the “Donate” tab on CLAC’s website:
• What is CLAC? Flyer – includes information about CLAC, its missions and goals.
• 12 Reasons to Donate to CLAC – contains information on what CLAC is and what it does.
• CLAC Accomplishments for 2014 – describes recent activities and successes CLAC has had in impacting legislation for the benefit of California’s Community Associations.
• Buck-A-Door Pledge Form – contains information on how to support CLAC via the Buck a Door program.
• Board Resolution for CLAC Contribution – a resolution for boards to adopt to support CLAC through annual contributions
The Buck-A-Door Campaign is truly important to our industry. Please use the tools above to help to get this message to the managers and board members.
If you have any issues downloading these documents, simply send an email to office@caiclac.com and request any or all of the documents be emailed to you.
Morgen Hardigree
Morgen Hardigree is Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations at Optimum Professional Property Management, Inc., and is Vice Chair of CLAC’s Public Relations Committee.
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