• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 30 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 30th Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $21,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $21 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    60,000+ subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

Election OF Board Members For Maui Ocean Club

Lawlar

TUG Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2007
Messages
681
Reaction score
1
Points
16
Location
Santa Barbara
I received my ballot to vote for the board of directors for MOC’s HOA. A few questions/concerns:

1. Who got to pick these candidates? Were others given the chance to run? I didn’t see any notice giving owners an opportunity to name candidates. Maybe I missed it?

2. The candidates give a very brief description of themselves. Several concerns:

A. They don’t describe (with one exception) whether they have any connection to Marriott which would create a conflict of interest.

B One has been employed with Marriott as a director of product development and a member of Marriott’s sales team (now this guy isn’t getting my vote).

C. The candidates give very broad vague descriptions of what they want to do as board members (kinda like our presidential candidates). It would be nice if they expressed a few opinions (like whether they believe the maintenance fees are too high and what specific problems they would like to see addressed).

How many members are there on the board? Does Marriott have the right to put some of its people on the board?

Are any of you going to be at the HOA board meeting on October 23, 2008? If so it would be nice to have an independent report on what happens at the meeting.

There is supposed to be an Exhibit A which discusses the voting issues. My package did not include an Exhibit A. Did any of you get one?
 

KathyPet

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2005
Messages
1,684
Reaction score
6
Points
38
Location
No Va
I never vote in these elections because they are such a joke. None of the candidates ever give any specific information on what they would like to do if they are elected. It's all these vague, nebulous niceities.
 

GaryDouglas

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
1,302
Reaction score
144
Points
423
Location
Pleasanton, CA USA
Resorts Owned
Marriott Maui Ocean
Club Suites and Villas
Any owner can self nominate. If you contact one of the board members, they can send you what you need to know. I know this because I asked once. I too have not received anything in the mail on this.

There are two that we vote for, the others (2 or 3?) are appointed by Marriott. I would be curious to know if that changes once the property is completed and reaches a certain percentage of units sold.

And yes, the candidates descriptions are lacking. You can contact the two incumbant members, but don't know how to contact the new ones that are running.

If you look at last year's budget (you can access it online), you will see the largest line item is for energy. A lot of the other items can be tweeked here and there and may have minimal affect on the whole compared with energy, and possibly at the cost of degrading services or maintenance. They have had different options over the last couple years to add solar panels to augment their energy needs. I am trying to get more info on how that has been going.
 

taffy19

newbie
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
5,723
Reaction score
593
Points
398
Any owner can self nominate. If you contact one of the board members, they can send you what you need to know. I know this because I asked once. I too have not received anything in the mail on this.

It would be great if some owners would want to get involved with this and Lawlar comes to mind but he is thinking of selling so I doub ift he wants to get involved. Owners have more incentives to find cost saving ideas but not to let the quality of the resort and service deteriorate so much that it would hurt our enjoyment of being there.
There are two that we vote for, the others (2 or 3?) are appointed by Marriott. I would be curious to know if that changes once the property is completed and reaches a certain percentage of units sold.

And yes, the candidates descriptions are lacking. You can contact the two incumbant members, but don't know how to contact the new ones that are running.

I wonder about that too but we didn't notice much difference at the Marriott DSV resort in Palm Desert when it was sold out. They do have a yearly meeting and it wasn't far away to go to. Hawaii is a long flight away but it would be nice if you could contact board members more easily and give them suggestions or ideas. I left a phone message once about voting but had to leave a message. They replied a few days later so I got my answer.

We own at two different little independent resorts and know the board members and are in touch with them by email or by phone during the year and suggestions are always welcome. Having more owners on the board would be great because they too want to enjoy the resort to their fullest advantage at the lowest cost.
If you look at last year's budget (you can access it online), you will see the largest line item is for energy. A lot of the other items can be tweeked here and there and may have minimal affect on the whole compared with energy, and possibly at the cost of degrading services or maintenance. They have had different options over the last couple years to add solar panels to augment their energy needs. I am trying to get more info on how that has been going.
The high energy prices are hurting all resorts and the resort here has done a lot to save as much as they can with the new tower. There are people who leave the A/C on and think nothing of it while they have their doors or windows wide open. I doubt if they do this at home so the Marriott stopped this from happening and I give them a big plus for that but I hope they keep the swimming pool water at a certain temperature and not skimp on that.
 

Lawlar

TUG Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2007
Messages
681
Reaction score
1
Points
16
Location
Santa Barbara
Let's Hope For A Good Board

Thank you for your input. The contact info for the board is really helpful.

It would be great to have board members who are committed to protecting the owners and ensuring that the complex is maintained in top condition. You want people who are frugal (switch to energy saving lights?) but not cheap (no turning off the pool heater or shutting down the gym). We also want Marriott to do what it does best (hire personable, competent staff to serve the guests) while not being too well compensated in the process (a good profit, without gorging the customers).

It’s a thankless and hard job. Hopefully, the right candidates will step up.

I would also like to see the board communicate more often with owners and seek their feedback. It would really be great if they posted on TUG from time to time as a way of letting us know what they are doing and to answer questions.

[Thank you Emmy for your kind thought. But no I’m not interested in being on the board. I did that once with a condo association. Once was enough.]
 

Michigan Czar

TUG Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2007
Messages
452
Reaction score
14
Points
378
Location
Grand Rapids, MI
Resorts Owned
Marriott's Maui Ocean Club Annual, 2 x Marriott's Maui Ocean Club Odd
Thanks for the contact information, this thread is interesting as I am an owner and have wondered about these things too.
 

MikeM132

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2005
Messages
1,068
Reaction score
87
Points
408
Location
Bethlehem, PA
Any owner can self nominate..

Maybe you can post next year when the nominations are due? I would like to nominate you! That would make a total of one person I have met that served on a HOA. Don't they give you a free flight to HI to the meeting for being on the board?
 

MikeM132

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2005
Messages
1,068
Reaction score
87
Points
408
Location
Bethlehem, PA
Lawlar:
No, don't recall getting "exhibit A", either. I have almost given up on these elections, especially when the resort is not sold-out and Marriott has positions on it. It seems they are just a rubber-stamp for Marriott. That is not really a bad thing (at this point) as Marriott has a vested interest in keeping MF as low as possible and conditions as high as possible. After they sell out---might be another story. I have talked to (on the phone) and emailed the Pres of Aruba Ocean Club. There is an example of a true public servant. That guy is ALL OVER Marriott on the owner's behalf. I don't own there, by the way, and this guy was SUPER responsive to me even though he knew that. We need a bunch of guys with that dedication. He is not anti-Marriott, by the way (very much pro-Marriott) but he negotiates everything with them and is as far from a rubber stamp as you can get.
 
Top