Although you are no longer with me in life, I still feel your love (Unknown).
More folks showed up on Monday for the meeting than we expected. The committee meetings were getting popular and attracted folks who never attended any meetings before. Lynda was getting popular with the owners in the building partly because Lynda had not increased monthly maintenance payments last year, and she gave the impression to the owners that she may not increase the monthly maintenance fee again. Most of the folks were happy that the consultant was gone, and Lynda has empowered the owners not only to take advantage of the situation but also to feel responsible for participating and contributing to the common objectives for maintaining the building.
Lynda started the meeting by welcoming everybody and went through the normal agenda to brief them on the monthly activities that were performed last month. Then she said, I have a special item on the agenda to talk about the fireplaces. She continued – I have asked Mir to come to the meeting to explain the details.
Everybody turned their attention to the corner where I was sitting. I stood up and said if you remember my portfolio, it’s my responsibility to deal with long-term maintenance and replacement. Hence the conversion of fireplaces from gas to electricity becomes my responsibility. Nevertheless, Lynda has done all the work, and she should take the credit for that.
Everybody was gazing at Lynda with deep appreciation, respect, and fascination. I continued – Lynda did her research and found a couple of companies who were in the business of converting fireplaces from gas to electricity. She invited them to visit us and give us a quote. She analyzed those two quotes and checked their references and picked one company that came close to meeting our requirements.
Lynda said please explain to them how we are going to manage it financially. I said, based on our current financial status, we have enough funds in our reserves account to meet the expenses associated with the conversion of the fireplaces. It’s not going to cost you anything. However, what you need to understand is that as soon as all fireplaces are converted, the use of electricity for using the fireplaces will be charged to individual units, which also means that you will be paying for it.
Lynda said, don’t forget that you all agreed to pay directly for the use of fireplaces. Everybody said, yes. Lynda continued, this way there will not be any restrictions on when or how to use your fireplaces.
The main advantage of course is that this will enable the committee to use that money to meet future monthly maintenance increases for a while. Furthermore, Lynda is optimizing the use of contractors, which would also save some money. The bottom line is that Lynda will also put some money in the reserve account for rainy days.
Lynda stood up and asked if anybody had any questions. Somebody stood up and asked how many years the surplus would cover the potential monthly increases? Lynda said unfortunately I cannot predict the future but if I am going to be working with you, I will make sure that I will use every potential source of revenue before we start charging you more.
She asked the guy who was still standing, does it make any sense to you. He said, of course, it does, and I am satisfied with your answer. She asked if there were any more questions. Somebody stood up and said – I don’t have any questions, but I would like to make some comments. Lynda said, shoot. She said, I just wanted you to know that the problem with our toilet was resolved in a day and my husband and I want you to know that you’re doing a great job in looking after the building. Lynda said thanks for your kind comments, but I am learning everyday how to do a better job as I never ever had done anything like this before. She continued – please bear with me and help me with your feedback which’s very important to me.
Somebody else stood up, and she said, Lynda, I wanted you to know that Bill is doing an excellent job of keeping an eye on the Recyclable Bin. Lynda said thanks to Bill, and turned around to the folks and said, did you know that we get some money from the local municipality for cooperating with the collection of recyclables. The lady who was still standing said – we didn’t know that they pay a token of the money to encourage. Lynda said please keep it in mind that Bill needs your cooperation in maintaining recyclables.
I stood up and asked Lynda if there was anything else I need to talk about before I left the meeting. She said no, you already explained everything I wanted you to help me with and you’re free to go. I left the meeting.
I had to prepare for the meeting that I had in Victoria that afternoon which was related to the Data Processing Association. It was a monthly meeting, and we used to get together to discuss the things that were happening in the field of data processing. It used to give me something to do.
When I got back from the meeting that evening, Lynda had supper ready, and she appeared to be excited about the way the committee meeting went. While having our supper, she briefed me on what went on after I left the meeting. She also said that tomorrow she would call the company and get a schedule for proceeding with the project to convert our fireplaces from gas to electricity. I said I am proud of her for the way she is managing the activities. She said thanks for encouraging me to take over the presidency, and you have been instrumental in making things happen. I said we are a team and this is the first time ever I had an opportunity to work with you at that level.
After supper she asked me if I would like to go for a walk and I said indeed.
When we were walking towards the ocean, we bumped into Mike, the real estate guy. He said he wanted to have lunch with us sometime, and he said he heard quite good things about Lynda taking over the presidency of the condominium committee in the building and making all kinds of changes. He said the owners of the building appeared to be happy, and this is very good for real estate guys like me to know. He continued, most of the time when we show a property to a potential buyer, they ask about the committee. Furthermore, as I understood that you not only didn’t increase the monthly maintenance fee this year, but you are also planning not to increase it next year. He continued – he also heard that Lynda is going ahead with the conversion of fireplaces from gas to electricity, which was a unique way of minimizing the overall cost. Lynda said she was surprised that Mike is keeping an eye on us. She said Mir is helping me with everything I am doing in the name of the committee. Mike said, did you know that whatever you both are doing is putting your building on the top of the list as a desirable building to live in. Lynda said I am impressed, Mike. Mike said he will give us a call soon to arrange lunch and he left.
We walked towards the ocean and found our favorite bench to sit on and watch the ocean.
Lynda asked me about what happened to the opportunity to teach at the University of Victoria. I explained to her about my meeting and said it didn’t look like I would be able to teach there. She said there must be some other opportunities that you can explore. She continued – Are you getting bored here in Sidney, Mir. I said, not really, but I do like to find some ways of getting involved with some other activities to keep myself busy.
Lynda said one of my Sorority sisters was saying that the town of Sidney always have a number of committees on which the local folks are welcome to participate. I said, it’s interesting to know. Perhaps I should go there to talk to somebody. Lynda said it wouldn’t hurt.
The next day, I thought I should investigate the City of Sidney online before I go to see anybody at their office and found out that:
- Sidney had been incorporated as a town since 1967 after originally becoming a village municipality in 1952;
- Around 2004, municipal priorities included maintaining a vibrant downtown, supporting tourism, managing modest residential growth, and preserving the town’s waterfront character; and
- Development was generally low-rise, with an emphasis on balancing new housing and commercial activity while retaining Sidney’s small-town feel.
I thought I should also learn something about the current Mayor of Sidney and found out that:
- The Mayor of the Town of Sidney, British Columbia, was Don Amos. He was first elected in 1996, re-elected in 1999 and 2002, and was acclaimed for another term in the 2005 municipal election; and
- Overall, Don Amos was regarded as a public servant with a strong background in policing, public safety, regional governance, and volunteer leadership. His experience beyond Sidney gave him influence on regional issues such as finance, transportation, and higher education, while locally he was known for promoting community development and strengthening Sidney’s regional partnerships.
In terms of Don Amos’s background, Amos served as:
- The Camosun College Board of Governors;
- A member of the Advanced Education Council of British Columbia;
- President of the Sidney Rotary Club;
- Charter President of the Sidney-by-the-Sea Rotary Club; and
- Treasurer of the Peninsula Community Association.
I was totally impressed with the mayor’s background and if I was going to bump into him while I was at their offices, I must mention to him how impressed I was with his qualifications to be the Mayor of Sidney.
The offices of the Town of Sidney were only a couple of blocks from where we used to live. I decided to pop in there around 10:00 AM the next day and find somebody to talk to. The girl at the front desk had a friendly and cheerful smile on her face before she asked me why I was there. I said, I like to talk to somebody to find out if I can be of any help on any existing committees. She said that would be Frank who is the office manager and he manages all the committees for the town. She took me to a small meeting room next to the front desk and asked me to wait there for Frank.
I was looking out from the windows in the meeting room to determine where our condo was located. Somebody entered the meeting room and said, my name is Frank and I am the office manager for the town of Sidney. He came close to shake hands and asked me to sit down. I said my name is Mir and I live with my wife just a couple of blocks from here on Fifth Street.
Frank said how long have you been living there, Mir. I said, for almost two years. He said, hope you and your wife like living in Sidney. I said, yes, we love it. He said typically folks come to live in Sidney when they are retired, and you don’t appear to fit in that category. I said, you’re absolutely right. I decided to retire when I was only 56 years old. Frank said, what a wonderful age to retire.
Frank continued – how can I be of any help, Mir. I said, we were living in Las Vegas since my retirement, and I managed to keep myself busy by teaching part-time at the University of Nevada , Community Colleges, and teaching computers to seniors at the place where we used to live, but I am lost here. Initially, I helped my wife manage the Condominium Committee where we live, but now I need to find something else to do. Frank said, WOW, you retired and lived in Las Vegas before you got to our little town in British Columbia. He continued, would you mind if I asked you what made you settle down in Sidney. I said, on our way to visit Victoria, we stopped for coffee in Sidney, and my wife fell in love with Sidney. Neither of us ever lived close to the ocean before, and we decided to buy a condo within a couple of days before we went back to Las Vegas. Frank said, what a wonderful way of getting hooked on our little town and I hope we don’t disappoint you. I said we are peachy here.
Frank just got up and asked me if I would like to have a cup of coffee. I said I love a black cup of coffee any time. He said, just wait for a couple of minutes and he went out. It didn’t take him too long to come back with two cups of coffee in his hands.
He gave me a cup of black coffee and started sipping his coffee. I took out a page of my brief resume from my writing pad and said, Frank, here is a brief resume of mine for you to browse. He took the resume and said, thanks, Mir.
While sipping his coffee, Frank browsed my brief resume, and I was looking around the meeting room, allowing him enough time to go through it.
As soon as he finished browsing my resume, Frank said, Mir, how did you manage to accomplish so many wonderful things at such a young age. I said, I got lucky, I guess. Frank said, it had nothing to do with your luck. It’s nothing but the result of your hard work and perseverance, Mir.
Frank continued – if you don’t mind, can I take you to introduce you to the Mayor, Mir. I said, I would like very much to meet with Mr. Amos. He said, you know his name. I said, yes, I do. Then we left the meeting room.
