The Columbia Association is a non-profit social welfare corporation...
That’s about the point where I think we lose most people, and we can’t afford to lose them anymore. In the past year, I have come in contact with about two-dozen new residents. Most have a less-than-ideal view of the Columbia Association. “Don’t tell them, but I planted a new azalea bush last spring.” That, or a variant of the remark was what I heard most. Regulation, avoidance – are those terms that CA wants to be associated with?
I have no idea how many people know how this town is governed, but now is the time to move that number in the positive direction and make that trend lasting. I am confident that most residents could rattle off a short list of things the Columbia Association does, but I am not so sure they could state why Columbia Association does those things.
There are also the standard laundry list of questions that would challenge a lot of residents: Do you know who is your Columbia Council Representative? Have you voted in a Village election in the last five years? When was the last time you attended a CA Board meeting? Do you know where the Columbia Association Board of Directors has their meetings?
In addition to the folks who just don’t know about Columbia governance, there exists another segment of the population that knows a little about Columbia governance. For these folks, the terms “quasi-governmental” and “tax-like lien” have meaning. They typically have lived in the community for decades, and generally believe CA was governed better in the past than it is today.
Between these two groups of residents, public knowledge of Columbia governance exists largely as an imagined construct. Although emails and list-serve posts describe narrow aspects of Columbia governance, the entire continuum of how Columbia is governed – and just as important – how it has evolved, is at best a community wide reproduction of the telephone game.
Today’s Columbia residents need to know why Columbia is not an incorporated city. They need to know what conditions existed when Columbia was founded. They need to understand the five transformations that have happened in the last 45 years. They need to know how the Maryland Homeowners Association Act and the American Bar Association Model Nonprofit Corporation Act have influenced Columbia governance.
Moreover, this endeavor must be repeated, again and again, at the most local of levels. Although a web page with this information would be a great start, this topic must be presented in person and preferably to small groups. Initial steps could leverage the traditional Columbia governance structure by presenting to the Columbia Village Boards annually. I also recommend incorporating the presentation into each Village Candidate Night before the yearly Columbia Village Elections. However, this level of outreach is insufficient. The Columbia Association also needs to reach farther down and provide this presentation to hyperlocal condo association and townhouse association board meetings. CA also needs to reach out beyond its traditional channels to those that may not have heard this discussion. It needs to present this history to local religious congregations, at their place of worship. It needs to tailor the presentation to school-age children and find a way to present to local Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops. There must be a way to amend the presentation such that scouts can earn some sort of civics badge for attending.
Lastly, as a final method of outreach, the Columbia Association needs to calculate the value of an informed resident. If a resident currently perceives the Columbia Association as the corporation that collects the annual charge and engages in architectural control, what is the value associated with informing this resident about what CA does and how CA does it? Would a more informed resident be more likely to register for classes? Would they be more inclined to vote in Village elections? How does an informed resident population affect the bottom line?
Once this value is calculated, the Columbia Association could provide outreach to localized CA users and provide a one-time discount for attendance. Users get a one-time discount, but they are also more informed as part of the process. This could be conducting presentations at schools that have before and after school care (with some arrangement for babysitting during the presentation). It could also be used for fitness discounts if users agree to attend a session. A presentation could be held in conjunction with summer camp registration. There are many more possibilities, and they should be explored.
In the end, what would all this discussion do? First, informed citizens will be more engaged. I don’t have empirical evidence on this, but let’s be honest, most humans are engaged when they have knowledge. If the only knowledge they have today is that CA is involved in the architectural review process, their level of engagement will likely be low. Second, as stated above, if a value of an informed resident can be calculated, than that value will also be recognized by the residents. Residents the perceive value imparted to them will likely act to retain that value. This could take many forms: Greater Village election participation, greater participation in CA membership and non-membership (i.e. lakefront movies, Bike About) activities, greater feedback to the issues of the day that involve the Columbia Association. If CA acts to plant these seeds of knowledge, they will reap the fruits, but they have to start – and soon.
That’s about the point where I think we lose most people, and we can’t afford to lose them anymore. In the past year, I have come in contact with about two-dozen new residents. Most have a less-than-ideal view of the Columbia Association. “Don’t tell them, but I planted a new azalea bush last spring.” That, or a variant of the remark was what I heard most. Regulation, avoidance – are those terms that CA wants to be associated with?
I have no idea how many people know how this town is governed, but now is the time to move that number in the positive direction and make that trend lasting. I am confident that most residents could rattle off a short list of things the Columbia Association does, but I am not so sure they could state why Columbia Association does those things.
There are also the standard laundry list of questions that would challenge a lot of residents: Do you know who is your Columbia Council Representative? Have you voted in a Village election in the last five years? When was the last time you attended a CA Board meeting? Do you know where the Columbia Association Board of Directors has their meetings?
In addition to the folks who just don’t know about Columbia governance, there exists another segment of the population that knows a little about Columbia governance. For these folks, the terms “quasi-governmental” and “tax-like lien” have meaning. They typically have lived in the community for decades, and generally believe CA was governed better in the past than it is today.
Between these two groups of residents, public knowledge of Columbia governance exists largely as an imagined construct. Although emails and list-serve posts describe narrow aspects of Columbia governance, the entire continuum of how Columbia is governed – and just as important – how it has evolved, is at best a community wide reproduction of the telephone game.
Today’s Columbia residents need to know why Columbia is not an incorporated city. They need to know what conditions existed when Columbia was founded. They need to understand the five transformations that have happened in the last 45 years. They need to know how the Maryland Homeowners Association Act and the American Bar Association Model Nonprofit Corporation Act have influenced Columbia governance.
Moreover, this endeavor must be repeated, again and again, at the most local of levels. Although a web page with this information would be a great start, this topic must be presented in person and preferably to small groups. Initial steps could leverage the traditional Columbia governance structure by presenting to the Columbia Village Boards annually. I also recommend incorporating the presentation into each Village Candidate Night before the yearly Columbia Village Elections. However, this level of outreach is insufficient. The Columbia Association also needs to reach farther down and provide this presentation to hyperlocal condo association and townhouse association board meetings. CA also needs to reach out beyond its traditional channels to those that may not have heard this discussion. It needs to present this history to local religious congregations, at their place of worship. It needs to tailor the presentation to school-age children and find a way to present to local Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops. There must be a way to amend the presentation such that scouts can earn some sort of civics badge for attending.
Lastly, as a final method of outreach, the Columbia Association needs to calculate the value of an informed resident. If a resident currently perceives the Columbia Association as the corporation that collects the annual charge and engages in architectural control, what is the value associated with informing this resident about what CA does and how CA does it? Would a more informed resident be more likely to register for classes? Would they be more inclined to vote in Village elections? How does an informed resident population affect the bottom line?
Once this value is calculated, the Columbia Association could provide outreach to localized CA users and provide a one-time discount for attendance. Users get a one-time discount, but they are also more informed as part of the process. This could be conducting presentations at schools that have before and after school care (with some arrangement for babysitting during the presentation). It could also be used for fitness discounts if users agree to attend a session. A presentation could be held in conjunction with summer camp registration. There are many more possibilities, and they should be explored.
In the end, what would all this discussion do? First, informed citizens will be more engaged. I don’t have empirical evidence on this, but let’s be honest, most humans are engaged when they have knowledge. If the only knowledge they have today is that CA is involved in the architectural review process, their level of engagement will likely be low. Second, as stated above, if a value of an informed resident can be calculated, than that value will also be recognized by the residents. Residents the perceive value imparted to them will likely act to retain that value. This could take many forms: Greater Village election participation, greater participation in CA membership and non-membership (i.e. lakefront movies, Bike About) activities, greater feedback to the issues of the day that involve the Columbia Association. If CA acts to plant these seeds of knowledge, they will reap the fruits, but they have to start – and soon.