Residents Announce Intent to Run for EHHOA Board of Directors

Several residents of our community have expressed interest in an EHHOA board seat for 2011-2012.  Here is information on 4 of the candidates.

Vince Battuello, 12 Hilander Dr.
I am committed to assist our neighborhood association.  I live at 12 Hilander Drive with my wife Kelly and our son Jude. I grew up in Loudonville and still have family residing here and so have strong ties to this community. I want to work to keep this neighborhood a wonderful place to live and raise a family. 

Steven Brown, 6 Yardley Ct.

I am writing to advise that I am interested in serving on the East Hills Homeowners Association Board.  I am usually away for approximately 3 months during the winter each year and obviously would not be available to be present for any meetings during that time. I have full computer and cell phone access for all times when I am out of town. With that in mind the following is a very brief statement as to some relevant background for those interested in my taking a position with the Board:

My wife Patty and I live at 6 Yardley Court in East Hills taking up residency in August, 2005. We have two daughters, Jessie and Jayme.

Jessie recently purchased a home on Brighton Court in East Hills and Jayme moved in with her while attending graduate school. Prior to living in East Hills we lived in Delmar for 17 years. I am a partner in the law firm Brown and Brown Attorneys in Latham, NY and have been practicing real estate law in the Capital Region for approximately 25 years. I currently serve as Vice President of a small Condominium Homeowners Association Board (and have the past 3 years) in Sanibel Island, Florida.

We live in a beautiful community and I think the current Board should be commended for the hard volunteer work they have provided to date. I remain immensely concerned as to the overall appearance of the properties in our community. The homes are very expensive and both for resale purposes and for the overall enjoyment of living in the East Hills subdivision a certain maintenance level needs to be adhered to. If I join the Board my main mission will be to enforce the bylaws, covenants and restrictions we have all agreed and are required to follow. I am not particularly interested in taking on a strictly enforcement position but would be happy to work with those assigned persons in carrying out their responsibilities. Everyone, obviously, has different values as to what makes for an acceptable appearance and we need to have a consensus as to appropriate grounds maintenance, etc. What does not require consensus and is not a question of values is the clear rules that are a part of everyone’s title to their  properties and that run with the land (so as to be enforceable with all subsequent owners) and those are the Covenants and Restrictions already mentioned. By way of example (and there are many) if the rules state no garbage/trash receptacles are to be left outside visible from the street except on trash pickup days (or the evening before) this is not a debatable issue, there is no nuance to be discussed, it is a rule that needs to be followed.

I hope the above gives you some background and a feel for my thoughts on our lovely neighborhood. I am not a games player or a person of many words. A position on the Board is not a social position, it is one with responsibilities and a task at hand. This is the way I approach business. 

Ann Conolly, 1 Callaway Cir.
I moved to East Hills in 2005 after 20 years in Kinderhook and on my own for the first time.  While I welcomed the idea of living in a community, having neighbors, and being close to many more  conveniences, I missed the rural setting and village living that I left behind.  I hoped to find a new place to belong even if my house wasn't 150 years old and even if it did look like everyone else's.  I am the Director of a summer camp for girls in New Hampshire where I spend the whole summer and in the off season do the recruiting, hiring, fund raising and planning for the summer session from my office in Albany.  After 25 years of teaching English in the Albany area, I have more time to travel and do things that are not structured by the school calendar.  This allows me to visit my children, three of whom are now living in California while the youngest will start Boston University this fall, play some golf, tennis, and bridge (something that would be fun to organize in East Hills!) and soon to be walking my new puppy Radley in the neighborhood.  My beloved yellow lab Willie passed away last April.
 
I really enjoy my neighbors in East Hills and the concept that "less is more" appeals to me after many maintenance nightmares in my previous homes.  I do feel, however, that we are all a bit isolated in our work and family lives and could take advantage of more common interests among neighbors than we do now. I feel that being on the board I could see how realistic or desirable that might be.  The only way to understand an organization is to see it from the inside.

Michael Sheldon, 10 Yardley Ct.
My wife Diane and I have been living in East Hills since October 2004.  I am a graduate of CBA of Albany in 1976.  Received a basketball scholarship at Marist College and graduated in 1980.  I have been employed at the Civil Service Employees Association, Inc., since 1980, where I currently serve as a Labor Relations Specialist in the Capital Region Office located in Latham.  I have two sons, Kevin who graduated from Siena College and is now attending Union College working on his Masters Degree in Business Administration; and Brian who currently is a senior at Siena College.   My stepdaughter Anne and her family, husband Tony and children Anthony and Annalise, reside in Loudonville, and Anne is a Chemistry Teacher at Albany High School.