Some Thoughts on the November Meeting

Since receiving my notice of the upcoming November meeting I have been thinking of what I could say on this blog that would be meaningful while still being respectful to the members. This is easily the most important event to take place since I became an owner in 1998. We will have the opportunity to determine our future for many years to come or we will fall back into the same mistakes which have brought us to the brink of financial ruin and to our current legal difficulties.

We need to fix the problems which have created these crises. We must become completely legal in the eyes of Sinaloa Condominium law and we must address our financial problems. The two are not unrelated. We have financial problems from poor budgeting and because the George's are not paying. They are not paying because our association has been operating out of compliance with Mexican law. Fix this problem completely and their grounds for withholding payments will be removed, thus helping our financial situation.

This brings up a second, and more delicate point. If you took your car in to be serviced and it came back to you in worse shape, would you go back to that mechanic again? If you received a bad haircut, would you return to that barber or stylist again? If you owned a professional sports team and that team kept losing, would you have the same coaching staff back the next season? If a business in which you owned shares kept losing money, would you want the same management team running that business? If you bought food from a market and that food made you sick, would you buy from that place again? The answer to all these is probably not. Why then should we even consider placing the same people who led us into this mess back into office after we become "legal"? I do not question their love of LaMarina or their good intentions and dedication. I do, however, question their ability to handle the problems we now face. They were warned repeatedly over the last three years that our legal standing was in question and that our finances were in disarray. We are where we are now because of their leadership. We are making a new beginning and we need new leaders to take us there. Leaders who are familiar with Mexican law and speak some Spanish. Leaders who are willing to fairly and openly consider all points of view. Leaders who have business management experience. Leaders who are willing to devote many hours to the task including during our busy season, the summer months. We need new leadership.

Steve Richter, 503