Small Victory

The lobby of Peakview Trails has been nearly restored to pre-covid configuration after 15 months. I’m taking credit.

A few days ago the manager and assistant manager were having lunch in the community room and invited Banner, and me, to sit down. While Banner kept some unwanted fast food out of the trash, I had a few words to say. Specifically, the lobby needed to be restored.

My points were:

 

1.    This building is a residence, not an institution. While managed by the county housing authority, it is owned by private investors and we residents pay near market rent.

 

2.    Entering the vast open space from the front entry is depressing.

 

3.    The COVID excuse has expired.

 

4.    They brought up some residents don’t police up after themselves and extra cleaning is required. My response was for them to pay some resident a stipend to spend an hour or two daily to keep everything clean. They first said that wasn’t possible but I pointed out it is being done at other properties under the housing authority umbrella.

 

5.    Then I drove the guilt train. “The difference between private industry and government agencies is how problems are viewed”. Since they were still listening, I said, “Private industry first asks how to solve a problem. Government agencies first ask why something cannot be done”. I should add all of this was in a respectful tone and my temper was firmly in check.

 

Early in my management career, I was taught a lesson that has served me well over the years. My boss, ex Boeing engineer and Harvard MBA said, “We have policies to cover 90% of the day to day operations. We do this so we don’t spend time on trivia. The difference between a profit making business and government is how the other 10% is viewed”.

While I don’t want to go back to peddling cars, I think I still have the ability.