EARLY FOUNDERS REFLECT ON THE EARLY DAYS OF THE ASSOCIATION.
Necessity is the mother of invention. And in the genesis of the California Association of Community Managers, the need for a group that would act as a watchdog in Sacramento for the interests of homeowners associations was evident. Members of the first nine (see facing page) noted that a bill that sought to eliminate late fees on delinquent assessments was the catalyst to CACM’s formation. “If nobody paid their dues, how would associations survive? A group of us went to Sacramento and we got that bill defeated,” recalled Bob Figeira, who retired from community management in 2010 after working 35 years as onsite manager at Irvine’s Woodbridge Village Association. Management companies, individual
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Vision Spring 2021 | cacm.org
managers and affiliates eventually came together to form CACM, formally, in 1991. Lobbying in Sacramento was key in those early days, as it is today, and Figeira remembers spending two days talking with legislators about matters important to the common interest development industry once a year. “The late charge for HOAs was a start,” Figeira remembers. “That’s when we realized we had to be political and started a political action committee.” Competing managers and management companies put their competitive mindset aside to attend workshops and learn from each other. Figeira recalls sharing how Woodbridge was run – at the time the largest HOA on the West Coast.
“We joined together to form CACM because many of us in community management had a heightened sense of the need for greater professionalism in our industry, and we wanted a place where we could put competitive pressure aside and pursue higher standards. Thirty years on, this is every bit as important, and perhaps even more important, because entropy inevitably wants to drag down everything, including professionalism. We need organizations like CACM to push back and keep lifting them up,” said Bill Sasser, Chairman and CEO of The Management Trust, a founding member of CACM. Do you have a story about the early days? Or a fun anecdote to share? We will be looking back at CACM’s history and achievements this year and would love to include you. Email communications@cacm.org.
