Narayanan Doraswamy, a fellow Toastmaster and a friend joins us On The Commons

Sometimes it takes a fresh eye to focus on a story we have been working on for ages. Certainly, all the problems within HOAs have been occupying our time for years. Just what are we dealing with and where do we go from here? We all agree there are problems and issues but just how do we find an easy way to symplify the problem se we can follow the issues and get a grip on the issues. As luck would have it, my husband and I both belong to TBA Toastmasters where a friend of our and fellow Toastmaster Narayanan Doraswamy gave a terrific speech abut the 5 Whys.

My husband reminded me about it and when I asked Narayanan if he would join us On the Commons and share shis story with us. My good friend Narayanan agreed, drove many miles to join me in the studio and did wonderful job telling us the story. I had heard the story but hung on to every word. Tune in , I am sure you will agree with us that this is a terrific way of finding the answers to the HOA problems. It is high. time we dealt with it once and for all. Narayanan knows about HOAS like so many of us, he lives in one after all, but unlike so many people he hasbn’t tried to fix them as far as I know. What’s breathtakingly refreshing in his story is its simplicity. Maybe the answer lies outside the usual HOA chatter.  

Ever since I heard about the condo collapse in Florida that took the lives of 98 of its residents, I have been asking what caused it. There are so many guesses that we repeatedly hear from those who are supposed to be in the know. The first one repeated since day one is the lack of reserves. A great way to make a point! But let’s be realistic, while it is imperative that the reserves be properly funded, the fact that Surfside was not funded did NOT cause the building to collapse. So what did cause the building to collapse? As far as I can make out, we still don’t know. If we don’t understand why the building collapsed, how do we ensure that this never happens again? We have to know what steps in the construction process failed. Something did not perform as expected. Floridians and Florida housing consumers DESERVE to know why the building failed and what steps authorities are taking to ensure this NEVER happens again. Because absent that, we are no further ahead. It is such a devastating and tragic occurrence. I have covered it several times and will probably continue to cover it until we know for sure what happened and there are reasonable measures to ensure the safety of all Floridians. In addition, there need to be some serious plans in place. The lack of reserves did NOT cause the building to collapse. Saltwater did NOT cause it to collapse. I come from a part of the world where buildings are still standing after over a century or more. So if we can build houses over the big pond, why not here? I think our guest may have put his finger on part of the problem. 

Jan Bergemann joins us On The Commons. Jan is the founder and president of the Florida-based Cyber Citizens for Justice. He has been heavily involved in all things related to HOAs in Florida and has been active in legislative affairs in Florida. There was some politicking going on with an attempt to enact legislation to prefer a repeat performance of this tragedy, but apparently, the special interests have managed to prevent anything meaningful from being passed. Tune in because Jan explains what happened. Stay tuned; there will be more On The Commons about this. This is too important to leave to those who are more interested in lining their own pockets than protecting their clients and the politicians who just don’t get it.