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Welcome Back! I hope everyone had an enjoyable summer and is ready to start preparing for the end of this year and making plans for 2014.

Summer Recap

To report on the Chapter’s summer activities, several educational seminars and social gatherings were held. The rumors are that the Annual Golf Tournament was a huge success (I missed it due to travel plans with my daughter). CA Day, our biggest event of the year, is just around the corner and is scheduled for Saturday, October 19 at the Washington Convention Center in downtown Seattle. Nearly 1,000 Business Partners, Managers, and Community Association Volunteer Leaders (board members and homeowners) will attend to exchange ideas, hear about new trends, and promote their businesses. Exhibit booths always sell out well in advance of the event and we maintain a waiting list however it is never too late to register for those looking to expand their knowledge of our ever-changing industry.

An equally important event that you do not want to miss is our Annual Meeting and Awards Gala, planned for Friday, November 8th, 2013 at Herban Feast Sodo Park. The Community Association Manager of the Year, Individual Business Partner of the Year, and Homeowner / Board Member of the Year will each be recognized and receive an award for going above and beyond and exceeding everyone’s expectations.

Chapter’s Code Of Ethics

The topic of ethics appears to come up on occasion in various settings. At the end of last year, the Business Partners Committee developed and the Board of Directors adopted, a code of ethics “…to provide guidance and standards for business partners in conducting business with community associations”. You will find a copy of this code of ethics incorporated in this issue of the Journal. The code is voluntary and “…is intended to help WSCAI’s Business Partners distinguish themselves from non-WSCAI competitors by virtue of their high ethical standards and assist association members by providing standards that they may expect from WSCAI Business Partners with whom they deal…” Since the code is not mandatory, adherence to the code is not tracked, although we believe many Business Partners have now adopted and incorporated the code into their operations.

One of the discussions regarding ethics involves “kickbacks” and/or “gifts” that a vendor may offer to influence a decision to renew a contract or to win business over a competing Business Partner. While rare, the discussions also appear to involve the alleged acceptance of those “gifts” by some management professionals. It is important to note that CAMICB (the organization which issues the CMCA certification, formerly known as NBC-CAM) and CAI National have strict guidelines that apply to our professional designations. CMCA, AMS, and PCAM designations have their own codes of ethics that regulate the gifts a manager may accept and place a monetary value on such gifts (the Professional Manager Code of Ethics can be viewed online at nbccam. Org and caionline.org). While the majority of our industry professionals act ethically and in the best interest of their client at all times, both organizations (CAMICB and CAI) have processes in place for investigating ethics complaints and taking disciplinary action, where appropriate. If you observe or are aware of unethical behavior that may violate the code of ethics, please report it to either National CAI or CAMICB so it can be investigated and proper action can be taken, if warranted.

Again, welcome back from the summer activities and I am looking forward to seeing you at one of our upcoming events!

Yours truly,

Sergey A. Petrov, PCAM