Condo Association Meeting

A few weeks ago we had our annual condo homeowner's association meeting.

I arrived neatly dressed, since I was the youngest one there by about 25 years and wanted to appear not too unlike the residents. Scott, the association president, called the meeting to order.

A brief word on Scott. He lives directly below me. Occasionally he will go out on his balcony and smoke, and if I have my window open, I can smell it. He started a computer company in the early 90's, made a TON of money, and then retired before the age of 40. Now he does a lot of charity work. He is on the board of directors of several organizations in Nashville, including Nashville CARES (raises money for AIDS), as well as a charity for the homeless and an organization that helps people suffering from substance abuse. That's all I know about so far.

When "new business" was brought up, my neighbor Kevin proposed allowing pets in the building. Apparently we are only one of two condos in Nashville that do not allow pets, and allowing pets will add approximately 20% to the value of a condo.

This proposal caused the "old timers" of the building to go ballistic. And not in a nice way. Scott, to his credit, maintained order.

Man: "Wait! This is crap! Think that....."
Scott: "As association president, I will determine the order of who speaks. Please wait until I call on you."

BS story from old woman: "My friend lives at a condo that allows pets. This woman had a dog, and when she got on the elevator with the dog, the dog's leash got caught in the door. The dog's head got pulled off, and there was blood everywhere! Is that what we want here?"

Man: "Kevin just wants to get this passed so he can sell his place and leave us in piles of dog poop!"

And so it went on.

I stated my desire to allow pets, and even tried to force the measure to a vote, but Kevin (wisely) decided to withdraw the proposal in the face of such ardent opposition. Maybe next year...

My proposal to change the lights to compact fluorescents was warmly received, helped no doubt by the significant amount of money that the association would save per year. So now at least some of the lights will be changed to fluorescents.