ECA and VCA Open House Coming up!
Both the Estrella Community Association (ECA) and the Villages Community Association (VCA) are holding elections this year. There are two open seats on each Association Board that will be filled by Estrella residents at the Annual Meeting on September 28.
To help residents deepen their understanding of Board service, the Nominating Committees for both the ECA and VCA have scheduled the following Open House events in the Starpointe Gallery Rooms:
ECA Open House:
• Monday, May 24, at 6:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, June 16, at 6:00 p.m.
VCA Open House:
• Thursday, June 17, at 6:30 p.m.
At these events, the Estrella Management Team and the ECA and VCA Nominating Committees will provide overviews of Community Governance, Board Member Roles and Responsibilities, Training Resources Available to Board Members, and a tentative 2021-2022 Meeting Schedule.
The deadline to register for the May ECA Open House is Sunday, May 23. For the June ECA and VCA Open Houses, the registration deadline is Tuesday, June 15. Attendance at these events is based on the Association in which you reside. Click on these links to see whether you should attend the ECA Open House or the VCA Open House.
Serving as an Association Board Member is an excellent opportunity to share your ideas and expertise and make a positive, long-lasting impact on the community. If you would like to fill out an application, you may do so at these links:
ECA Board Member Application
VCA Board Member Application
We look forward to seeing you at our Open House Events!
To ensure adequate seating and handouts are available, please RSVP at these links:
I Will Attend the May 24 ECA Open House
I Will Attend the June 16 ECA Open House
I Will Attend the June 17 VCA Open House
PLANNING AHEAD
By: Rick Cunefare CAAM, CMCA Executive Director
I can’t believe we are gearing up for our Annual Meeting Elections. While it may seem like it’s a bit early to be planning for September elections in May, there is a lot of preparation and planning already in progress since both the Estrella Community Association (ECA) and the Villages Community Association (VCA) elections will be conducted at the Annual Meeting in September.
Both Boards have two positions that need to be filled by residents of each Association. Residents who are elected to fill these positions by Voting Members of the ECA will serve two-year terms and work with the two sitting resident Board Members and the Declarant representative from the community’s developer, Newland.
The VCA election will be held at the Annual Meeting in September, as well, and two resident Board Members will be elected by the Voting Members. However, these positions will serve until the Transition Election, which will be held within 90 days after the Control Period ends on December 31 of this year.
As you may have read in the April issue of Life in Estrella, at the end of this year, the VCA will transition from a Declarant Board (where a majority of Board positions are held by Estrella’s Developer, Newland) to a Resident Board (where a majority of Board positions are held by VCA residents). The VCA Bylaws stipulate two important steps in this process:
• That the “Class B” or Declarant Control Period ends on 12/31/2021; and
• That an election be held within 90 days after this date.
At that election, which will be held in the first quarter of 2022, VCA Voting Members will elect three resident Board Members to serve on the VCA Board. The Declarant will appoint two members to serve on the VCA Board until the Annual Meeting in September 2022. Terms of the Resident and Declarant Board Members will expire at the 2022 Annual Meeting held in September. At that meeting, the VCA Board will increase to a seven-member Board of Directors, with six resident Board Members elected by the Voting Members and one Declarant-appointed Board Member. The terms of the elected resident Board Members will be staggered as follows: three Board Members shall serve terms of two years and three Board Members shall serve terms of one year. Terms will be determined by the highest vote count, so the three resident Board Members who receive the most votes will serve two-year terms; the next three resident Board Members will serve one-year terms.
The Nominating Committees of both Associations will hold a series of meetings in May and June to solicit candidates for the September Annual Meeting. These meetings will be publicized in our weekly emails and on the LifeInEstrella website when they are scheduled. In the meantime, if you are interested in serving your respective Association as a Board Member, please contact Sharon Thunstedt at sthunstedt@ccmcnet.com.
As you can see, there is a lot to prepare for in the next few months and in the next stages of governance in Estrella. This is an exciting time in the community, so be sure to stay tuned to upcoming issues of Life in Estrella magazine, log in to the LifeInEstrella website, follow our @LifeInEstrella Facebook and Instagram Pages and sign up for our weekly newsletters to learn more about the upcoming elections and the transition of the Villages Community Association.
Rick Cunefare CAAM, CMCA Executive Director
WHY I SERVE AS A BOARD MEMBER IN ESTRELLA
By: Bob Nobis VCA Board Member
If the thought of making our great community even better has crossed your mind from time to time, but you weren’t sure where to start or how to get involved, this is the perfect time to consider serving as a Resident Board Member. As you have likely heard, the Villages Community Association (VCA) will transition from a DeveloperControlled Board to a ResidentControlled Board of Directors at the end of this year. In preparation for this transition, two VCA residents will be elected to serve on the VCA Board of Directors at the September Annual Meeting. These two Board Members will only serve until a transition election is held before the end of March 2022. This election will be for three resident Board Members. As a result of this election, the majority control of the VCA Board will transition from Developer-Control to Resident-Control. The terms for these three Board Members will expire at the 2022 Annual Meeting to be held in September 2022. At the 2022 Annual Meeting, the Board will be increased to a seven-director Board with six resident directors and one developer director. So, there will be plenty of opportunity for residents to serve this community as Board Members.
I’m hopeful that after reading about my experience serving as a Board Member, you will consider Board service, as well. I have lived in Estrella for 13 years and began serving on the VCA Board in September 2017. Many residents have asked me why I do what I do and what motivated me to serve as an Estrella Board Member. Aside from wanting to keep busy after I retired, a key motivation was a desire to give back in some way to this great community. Another motivation was that I enjoy doing and learning new things. I also enjoy a challenge, and clearly, being a Board Member can sometimes be very challenging.
STOP, COLLABORATE AND LISTEN
Aside from a willingness to serve, I believe patience and humility, as well as being positive, collaborative, inquisitive, innovative and enthusiastic are important skills to possess. You don’t necessarily get to pick the people you serve with on a Board (you may not even know them before you begin serving together), so it’s important to appreciate the different personalities, approaches and points-of-view of your fellow Board Members. Being open-minded to opinions that differ from your own, and then working collaboratively as a group to reach a creative and effective solution that benefits the entire community is especially rewarding. This is one of the aspects I enjoy most about being a Board Member.
OUT OF MANY, ONE
Remember, being on the Board isn’t about any one person, it’s about the Estrella homeowners we represent. Every decision we make as Board Members affects us as residents of the community, as well, so it’s important to think beyond yourself when voting on decisions that are made in the best interest in the community. I often think of the Latin phrase, E Pluribus Unum, “Out of Many, One,” when it comes to the decisions we make as a Board. While there are many perspectives and opinions when issues arise, there is only one voice when we speak as the Board of Directors. Are there times when we all don’t agree with the plan going forward? Absolutely! Once the Board decision is made, do we support it at Board Meetings and when we are out and about in the community? Again, absolutely! I truly believe that we succeed or fail as a group, so the ability to make concessions when you need to and support decisions you may not personally agree with is key when volunteering your time and expertise in this capacity.
LEARNING IS A LIFETIME PURSUIT
One of the most rewarding benefits of serving as an Estrella Board Member is that you are always learning. Our Board Members come from a variety of backgrounds and industries and, therefore, possess unique skills that not all of us share. I come from an engineering and marketing background, other Board Members have had careers in communications, information technology, finance, education and real estate among others.