He’s Baaaack
Call me crazy, but after months of agonizing, I have decided to run for the CROA board again. A bunch of people encouraged me to throw my proverbial “hat into the ring.” So, if it’s a miserable experience, you know who I’m going to blame. I’m not naming names, but you know who you are.
Rather than repeat myself, I’m just going to republish my candidate “narrative” and a recent Back Porch announcement.
Narrative:
My wife, Debie, and I are Celebration “founders.” Three of our four kids were in the first Celebration School class at what is now Town Hall. We have been an active part of our community since 1996.
After buying our home following the lottery, we moved my national financial radio show from Disney to a studio on Front Street. Later, we opened a store downtown. I now host a top 50 investing podcast, and produce voice work for various media.
In 2007, I was asked to run for a seat on the CROA board during a CROA management crisis. A year later, we faced an even bigger community calamity. The Great Recession of 2008 ignited a mass of foreclosures and a drop in CROA dues. Thanks to a cohesive and community-first board, we weathered that storm with collaborative planning and strategy. I also served eight years on the CCDD board from 2012-2020.
After spending 11 years on the two community boards, I swore I was done with local politics. However, because our community faces multiple crises, from decaying buildings to a “challenged” board, I have been asked by a number of residents to run again. My goal is to work with the new board and residents to find consensus and start fixing things. Learn more at McDonaldCelebration.com. I appreciate your support. Thanks, Don.
Facebook Announcement:
Well, I did it again. I decided to run.
After serving five years on CROA (which included our most fiscally challenging year, 2008) and eight years on CCDD, I said to both myself and my wife (who also served five years on CROA) that I was done with community boards. You know what they say about “The best laid plans…”
The behavior of our current CROA board over the past year has pushed both of us to reconsider. We spent months arguing about which of us would take on the challenge of getting our community board back on track. I lost.
So, what do I hope to accomplish should I be re-elected?
Let’s start with board basics: civility, conversation, and compromise. A group of people will rarely agree. That is no excuse for bad behavior. We must strive to listen, respect each other's opinions, and avoid intransigence.
As CROA is an association of homeowners, we deserve to know everything the board and management are doing. We shouldn’t have to attend every meeting or dig through reams of agendas and meeting minutes. CROA should proactively explain issues and decisions and encourage civil discourse with, even if we inevitably disagree. Transparency must be our goal. Everything the board does (with rare exceptions of personnel issues and litigation) must be done in public forums.
Finally, CROA must get its priorities straight. The focus must be on maintenance and repair. Critical infrastructure is, literally, falling apart. Every new project should be tabled until a detailed plan to repair our aging assets is in place.
As I have no agenda, other than helping improve this community I love, I am not excited about running for, or serving on, the CROA board. However, I think my unique knowledge and experience are needed right now. If you’d like to learn more about me or help me get elected, please click here.