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June 29, 2005
The Flag
Flags have always been a problem to condo and homeowner associations... at least that's what we read in the news. I'm not going to get into those issues. Instead, with the 4th coming up, I'd just like to remind people about flag etiquette.
STANDARDS of RESPECT
The Flag Code, which formalizes and unifies the traditional ways in which we give respect to the flag, also contains specific instructions on how the flag is not to be used. They are:
The flag should never be dipped to any person or thing. It is flown upside down only as a distress signal.
The flag should not be used as a drapery, or for covering a speakers desk, draping a platform, or for any decoration in general. Bunting of blue, white and red stripes is available for these purposes. The blue stripe of the bunting should be on the top.
The flag should never be used for any advertising purpose. It should not be embroidered, printed or otherwise impressed on such articles as cushions, handkerchiefs, napkins, boxes, or anything intended to be discarded after temporary use. Advertising signs should not be attached to the staff or halyard
The flag should not be used as part of a costume or athletic uniform, except that a flag patch may be used on the uniform of military personnel, fireman, policeman and members of patriotic organizations.
The flag should never have placed on it, or attached to it, any mark, insignia, letter, word, number, figure, or drawing of any kind.
The flag should never be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying, or delivering anything.
When the flag is lowered, no part of it should touch the ground or any other object; it should be received by waiting hands and arms. To store the flag it should be folded neatly and ceremoniously.
The flag should be cleaned and mended when necessary.
When the flag is displayed from a staff projecting from a window, balcony, or a building, the union should be at the peak of the staff unless the flag is at half staff.
The flag should be raised briskly and lowered slowly and ceremoniously. Ordinarily it should be displayed only between sunrise and sunset. It should be illuminated if displayed at night.
The flag of the United States of America is saluted as it is hoisted and lowered. The salute is held until the flag is unsnapped from the halyard or through the last note of music, whichever is the longest.
When the U.S. flag is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, it should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably via flag disposal ceremonies held at your local VFW or American Legion Posts.
(From Public Law 94-344 94th Congress and Amendments thereto.)
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You might want to remind all those patriotic owners that there is more to owning a flag than just waving it now and then.
Posted by joewest at 10:47 AM
June 22, 2005
How (and Why) the Daily News is Put Together
Six days a week I spend a part of my morning sifting through hundreds of news stories in order to select those to put on the CAN Daily News feed. The news items are pre-screened by Google and Yahoo to look for the words condominium, homeowner association and multiple variations of them. I scan them, looking for stories of interest to people who govern or work with these associations.
I started the news feed because things were happening around the country and there was no single public source that tracked and shared them with others. It has been my experience that actions that occur in one state often migrate to others and it might be a good idea to let people know what could be coming their way.
The news tells both good and bad stories about community associations. On this, I let the chips fall where they may. I don't edit the stories to put a positive spin on them and I don't comment on them in the News. That's what this blog is for.
I've got it down to about a 1/2 hour per day, and surprisingly, I look forward to this each morning. I find it enlightening, maddening, and rewarding to see how associations are dealing with local issues and the media. Some days are better than others, but overall, I think it will ultimately be of help to the community.
If you run across a news item that would be of interest to others, send me the link and I'll be happy to include it in the News. I hope you find the effort worthwhile.
Posted by joewest at 10:56 AM
June 10, 2005
Dealing With Neighbors
I grew up in an urban neighborhood. The narrow houses were placed on narrow lots. Our windows looked into our neighbor's windows. With no air conditioning back then, windows stayed open much of the year, so everybody heard everything. On my block you found the usual assortment of characters: The good kids and the bad kids, the good parents and the bad parents, the drunks, the fighters, the church-goers, the young and the old, those working and those unemployed, the nosy ones and the ones you never saw or heard. In other words, what you would expect to find in any typical neighborhood. Within those confines, all neighbor-to-neighbor problems were handled directly, with outsiders called in only if it involved violence or a serious crime. It was just dealt with or lived with.
Neighborhoods are rapidly disappearing and being replaced by community associations. Municipalities long ago figured out that they could place a greater tax base on a smaller piece of property and ignore most of the services they would normally have to provide that tax base, so I don't expect to see many neighborhoods like my old one being built in the near future.
What has also disappeared is the ability to deal with neighbors. For some reason, when you move into an association, you find yourself thinking that they should take care of typical neighbor problems. Problems like noise, pets, kids, parking, etc. Even though I know better, I find myself thinking along those lines. I live in a very loosely governed HOA. My house sits on a curve near the entrance, so the kids coming home on Friday or Saturday night find it convenient to dump their empty beer cans, hamburger bags and whatever, out of their cars and onto my lawn. After 14 years, I've gotten a little tired of cleaning up other people's crap, so I thought about going to the association. Why that thought crossed my mind, I really don't know, but it did. I knew they couldn't, or wouldn't do anything, just as I knew the police wouldn't do anything (I tried that route a few years ago).
I realized that I had forgotten how to deal with these issues. I knew that I couldn't do what my parents used to do - march down to the home of the kids who did it and ask their parents to take care of it, which usually would end the problem. Today, you're more likely to have the door slammed in your face, just ask any teacher about parent's reactions to their kid's problems. So what to do?
The frustration level of people to the insensitivity of others has grown in proportion to their inability to deal with it. So, if you're a board member or manager, and an owner comes to you about a problem with their neighbors, it's probable that they really don't know how to deal with it or don't expect to get any results on their own, and are simply looking for some authority to help. They need the neutrality of a third party to intervene. Because the association controls so much of what goes on around them, it isn't unreasonable to expect them to think you should be handling these problems also. Often you can't or shouldn't, which only heightens the frustrations.
There are no easy answers, society has changed significantly since my neighborhood days, and the way we resolved things back then wouldn't work now. If someone's found a good way of dealing with the idiot neighbor, I wish they would share it.
Posted by joewest at 4:09 PM
June 7, 2005
A Newspaper Finally Gets It Right
A few weeks ago I wrote about a local Marine veteran picking a fight with his condo association over the right to fly a Marine Corps flag. A few days ago I ran across the following editorial from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Editorial: Flag day / Marine vet deserves sympathy, not a law
Thursday, June 02, 2005
As George M. Cohan's patriotic old song reminds us, it's a grand old flag, it's a high-flying flag. But that was easy for George M. Cohan to say -- he never had to deal with a condo association. Even in the home of the free and the brave, condo owners must follow the rules.These rules are in place across the land we love and they can be irritating -- ask Marine Corps veteran Clifford G. Hughes. He wants to fly the American flag outside his condominium in Moon, but the Forest Glenn condo association says on most days of the year he can't.
As PG writer Bill Toland reported Monday, Mr. Hughes, 81, has requested state Rep. Mark Mustio, a Republican from Moon, to pass a law to allow him to fly the flag more often. Mr. Mustio has obliged with House Bill 759, which would prohibit a condo association from preventing a condo owner from flying an American flag, Commonwealth flag or military flag outdoors on his property, as long as the flag was smaller than 5 feet by 3 feet.
Being obviously sincere in his patriotism, Mr. Hughes deserves respect and understanding, but he doesn't deserve a law addressing his particular problem. Although condo associations are notorious for sometimes enforcing petty restrictions in a tyrannical way, the restrictions set by Forest Glenn seem reasonable. In short, they are about tasteful uniformity, not unpatriotic whim.
Indeed, its bylaws allow condo owners to fly the flag on six holidays, including Memorial Day. The condo association also flies the American flag in the courtyard area.
What is more, Mr. Hughes agreed to the rules when he signed the dotted line for condo ownership, as everybody does, and if he had an objection then he should have decided to live somewhere else.
It's not just condo associations who try to keep some order: If he had wanted to fly his own personal flag on his own tent in the Marines, a not-so-friendly sergeant might have pointed out the need for conformity.
Mr. Mustio's bill is a slippery slope, inviting someone to insist, despite the law's intent, that he or she has the right to fly other types of flag as well, perhaps the flag of another nation. Rather than inviting legal challenges, Mr. Mustio would better serve the public by not interfering with contract law. It's a grand old flag, to be sure, but in the land of the free people make their own choices about where to live and under what restrictions.
This is the first time in a long time that I've seen a newspaper, much less any news media, actually consider the association's side of an issue. I really can't add much to what they wrote, only that it was nice to see, and that's why I'm mentioning it in the blog as well as in the News.
Posted by joewest at 10:58 AM