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The role of a board president in cooperatives, condominiums, and homeowners associations (HOA) is complex and multifaceted, requiring a mix of leadership, communication, and management skills. Depending on the community’s size, structure, and needs, a president’s key responsibility is to balance the needs of residents while guiding the community’s direction.
According to Alex Argento, Vice President of Operations for AKAM Southeast, “Primarily, the president’s role is to set the agenda and to understand the direction the association wants to take. Setting that agenda is not only about spending money, but also creating a sense of the home/place environment.”
Argento should know, as he not only manages shared-interest communities but serves as a sitting board president of a 721-unit community in Boca Raton, Florida. “The president should see himself as a steward of the community.”
From financial decisions to daily operations, the board president sets the community’s agenda. Effective communication is a critical skill for any president, as he or she is responsible for guiding board meetings, ensuring fair representation of opinions, and maintaining objectivity in all matters. In terms of support, the vice president and treasurer act as authoritative figures in their own right, helping to manage specific tasks, committees, budgets, and expenses. For large, professionally managed communities, there is a great deal of importance placed on the association’s dedicated manager.
“The vice president typically runs a committee or oversees a specific task, like landscaping,” adds Argento. “But it all funnels up to the president. In Florida,” he stresses, “there are critically important statutory requirements for board members not present elsewhere. Communities rely heavily on managers to make sure they are abiding by those requirements and doing it right.”
In self-managed properties, where there is no external property management firm, the board president’s role is more demanding. The president may need to take on tasks, such as liaising with vendors and handling emergencies. Larger, self-managed properties (25+ units) in places like Florida are required to have an onsite manager, but responsibilities still often fall to the president.
“In Florida,” explains Argento, “self-managed properties of more than 25 units are required by the state to have at a minimum an on-site manager. These communities only have their manager as their professional guide – there’s no team behind the manager as there would be where a professional management firm leads the way and offers all kinds of ancillary services and knowledge. Presidents of self-managed properties have a lot more to do.”
As a steward of the community, the board president oversees more than just the micro and macro management aspects — he or she relies on the advice and support of trusted advisors, serves the community with an unbiased approach, and fosters a sense of community.
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