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June 23, 2016  

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Volunteers needed--soon, very soon.
 
Congratulations to our four new Board members--Neal Rubin, Dick Peyton, Alan Hinman, and Pam Bennett. You elected three, but since Kinley Bray had to resign early because of family commitments, we're pleased to welcome Pam--a high vote-getter in last year's elections--to our fold.

Ok, so we're not the biggest, most influential quasi-governmental body on the planet, or the state, maybe not even in the county, but we are the only one that regularly plows your snow, paves and patches your streets, keeps your pier(s), kayak racks, beaches, and landscaping regularly maintained, and generally makes sure your life in this slice-of-heaven that we are all privileged to call home is as transparently uneventful as possible through a whole lotta hard work. And we do it a within budget, without huge tax increases, and without engaging in potentially disastrous deficit spending yet still manage to throw a few really great parties every year.
 
The name of that gallant band of brothers and sisters would be your very own Property Owners Association of Arundel on the Bay (POA-AOTB) and in a truly democratic manner, they are elected to administer what the State of Maryland describes as a Special Community Benefit District. A whole lotta lawyer-speak here, but to summarize, we gotta do a whole bunch of infrastructure stuff for ourselves,
the way we want to, and get to use a portion of our property taxes to do so. Ours is just one of over 50 SCBDs in our county, and we regularly call upon our 500 or so eligible citizens to volunteer to administer these funds (aka our yearly budget) and keep it all happening for everyone.
 
Rather than wait until next year to sound the warning bell of concern, I'm gonna do it right now, on the heels of our 2016 elections cycle, as we welcome aboard our new board members.

Warn about what? Consider this:

Our bookkeeper, Sheila Keating, will most likely be leaving us and we'll need somebody to do that job as early as this November. 

Then next June, we will need a new Treasurer to do
that job since Roxanne Veal may finally call it quits after many years of community service in several capacities. Consider also that four of our seven board members will be up for election and one of those now serving, Mike Adams, is term-limited and cannot run in 2017.

Finally, you'll need to elect a new president, after two terms as such, four terms as a board member, and a year as secretary. The duties of all of these positions are described in our Constitution, so go ahead and
see for yourself. It's hard work but hardly rocket science.    
 
That's a whole lotta volunteers we're asking for. But what's the alternative to several of you stepping up to the plate and taking on this challenge? I don't have a clue, since it's never happened before, but it wouldn't be good to leave our remaining board members and officers without some help in continuing to provide "our fair city" with the essential services needed.  

Or, we could simply do what the feds do and kick this can down the road until it's
somebody else's problem. But we can't, cause it is and will remain our responsibility and this president eagerly awaits your solutions, in the form of your commitments to do for our community what so many have been doing for so long and so well: Volunteer. Please think about that and and most importantly, just do it!
 
David J. Delia
President, POA-AOTB
1375 Walnut Avenue
Annapolis, MD 21403-4741
H: 410-268-8622
C: 443-534-7229
Esse erit diduxit rota!