Traditionally, residents experiencing an issue ….

Traditionally, residents experiencing an issue were able to contact their Mutual director, who would then contact the appropriate department and facilitate timely service. Now, Mutual 15 residents are required to call a hotline where they are asked to leave a message and wait for a response. The hotline system, which may be easier for the directors, is very inconvenient for me.

Those who are hold positions of responsibility within our community should be mindful of the purpose for which residents elected them. Their role is to try to accommodate, rather than exercise authority.

Seal Beach Leisure World is a nationally recognized active senior community, and residents join for its promise of “a busy and satisfying life.” It is the responsibility of the leadership to keep in mind both the purpose of our community and the individual responsibility they have as leaders within it. Kyung Park Mutual 15 Editor’s Note: From Jackie Dunagan, president, Mutual 15: Mutual 15 instituted its hotline several years ago. We were the third Mutual to do so, and several other Mutuals have now established their own hotlines as well. They have been a great benefit to the shareholders as well as to the Mutual directors. As the hotline is basically an answering service, shareholders can call seven days a week, 24 hours a day with their concerns. They don’t need to remember from Friday evening to call on Monday with an issue. Because of the various options (there are nine extensions), they are more likely to touch base with the appropriate director to help them. Perhaps the most important feature to the shareholder is that all extensions are constantly monitored. For example, one director had to leave town due to a family member’s death. Without the hotline, that director’s calls to a personal phone would have been overlooked. There is no way to alert all 502 units of a temporary change of phone contact at the last minute. Because the hotline number is constant, another director can pick up the messages without even a blip to the response time.

Overall, the hotline has been a great success as is evidenced by the adoption of so many mutuals. The number remains constant regardless of the changes in directors on the boards and their moment to moment availability.