The United Laguna Woods Mutual board passed a resolution Feb. 8 that would organize a closed meeting – independent of staff – to discuss a strategic plan on the mutual’s most pressing issues.
Strategic planning is a routine process carried out by an organization to outline a plan of action within means, officials said.
“All 11 directors’ voices should be heard,” Director Maggie Blackwell said. “We do not want to give this decision over to a committee or staff.”
The meeting – scheduled after the regular closed session on Tuesday, March 8 – may be one of a series, depending on how it goes, Director Diane Casey said.
United attorney Jeff Beaumont, who has represented large-scale communities for more than 20 years, said boards typically meet on an annual or alternating basis to create policy at a high level that contains certain benchmarks for management to follow.
Director Andre Torng argued that the meeting should be accessible to members to “share [plans] and hear their feedback.”
Although there is no requirement for the meetings to be held in closed session, Beaumont said that due to the discussion content, involving topics such as personnel matters, staffing, contract negotiations and legal matters, it is “definitely appropriate.”
Director Pearl Lee said: “It’s not the occasion where we show off how much we care for [residents] – that’s really not the point. The point is that we look after our future plans, for the benefit of the residents.”
Blackwell added: “We do the work for them. We should accept our responsibility and act as a board.”
Director Lenny Ross highlighted perhaps the mutual’s most outstanding issue on everyone’s mind – the increasing cost of insurance.
“There’s going to be people … who won’t be able to move into Laguna Woods,” he said.
Ross noted that if financing had not been an option six years ago, he would not have been able to join the co-op.
“If we really want to uphold the values of our properties, we really have to find an answer to this insurance problem,” he added.
The board approved the resolution, 8-2-0.
COVID-19 update
The spread of COVID-19 across Orange County continues to slow; the OC Health Care Agency is now recording about 29 new cases a day per 100,000 residents.
The total case count in the city of Laguna Woods reached 1,026 as of Tuesday.
The community has counted at least 66 fatalities since the pandemic’s outbreak.
Resale report
The average resale price for a co-op in United Mutual in January was $313,292, up from $257,062 in January 2021, according to a VMS staff report. Resales year-to-date numbered 38, up from 35 the same time last year. Sales volume in January was $12 million compared with $9 million in January 2021.