The Ilikai AOAO Board of Directors consists of nine Directors. Of those, seven will be up for election at the upcoming Annual Meeting on March 2, 2010. I put forward my candidacy for the Board. In the coming days, I will be posting to elaborate on my vision for the Ilikai and the Board, and also why I think I make an excellent candidate for the Board. Below is the overview/summary. (As said, I will post to elaborate on all these areas, not necessarily in the order listed). If you have comments, questions, suggestions, feedback, complaints 
, please share those, incl. via e-mail (olga@ilikaiowners.com). I would be happy to meet as well and talk on the phone (please e-mail to coordinate the time, date etc). (Not as any excuse, but please kindly keep in mind that I work, incl. sometimes working long hours, travel to the Neighbor Islands etc. So sometimes things take longer for this reason.)
I also humbly ask for your vote proxy. Click here for instructions for this.
So here is the OVERVIEW for my vision as a Board Director candidate for the Ilikai and the Board:
1) Foundation: The Code of Conduct and related considerations
I will post on the Code of Conduct, as I believe this is truly the foundation for the Board of Directors, AOAO manager, legal counsel, contractors, and all of us if we want to move forward, incl.:
(a) Ethical conduct as Board Directors
(b) Reducing and eventually eliminating conflicts of interest that plague the way the Ilikai AOAO is managed, incl. in the Board of Directors. (It is an ongoing issue at the Ilikai, and what is particularly troubling is the lack of awareness, recognition, and will to address this ongoing problem – I will post more specifics.)
(c) Developing and establishing policies and procedures for contracts procured by the Ilikai AOAO, incl. proper bidding based on clearly delineated scope of work, contractor qualifications, wide solicitation, and establishing processes to prevent favoritism and any potential for contractor kickbacks. This needs serious streamlining at the Ilikai AOAO.
(d) Moving the Ilikai AOAO in the direction of being managed professionally and by professionals (a major issue at the Ilikai), incl. clearly defining and streamlining the role and functions of the Board of Directors, Board President, committees, AOAO manager, AOAO legal counsel, AOAO financial managing agent, and contractors
(e) I and many other owners are of opinion that the current Board runs the AOAO as an Old Boys Club (”OBC”). Let’s work towards changing this OBC culture!
2) Defining and articulating to ourselves – and to the world – what we want and what we do not want, in terms of key parameters, such as who is welcome here (e.g., a full service hotel is most welcome here) and who is not welcome here (e.g., timeshare is NOT welcome here)
3) Dealing with Shell and timeshare at the Ilikai:
(a) The Ilikai governing documents (Declaration and By-Laws) delineate permitted uses of units. Both the Ilikai Declaration and By-Laws state, “The owner of each apartment within the building shall use such apartment only as living accommodations for hotel or apartment purposes” (emphasis added). I.e., timeshare is NOT listed as one of the permitted uses of units.
(b) Why is timeshare bad for the Ilikai, Ilikai’s reputation, and our property values?
(c) Why is it important to work towards removing timeshare off the Ilikai premises?
(d) Steps to consider for a more effective approach
4) Preserving the Ilikai Hotel:
(a) The huge value of a successful Ilikai Hotel for individual condo owners, incl. for our property values and for rental income for those owners who rent
(b) Collaborate with iStar (the current owner of the Ilikai Hotel) in a fair, collaborative, and professional manner
(c) The Board should play an active and proactive role in preserving the full service hotel component at the Ilikai. (E.g., when Shell and timeshare got to the Ilikai in 2005, where were the owners-controlled Board (some of whom are on the current Board and are candidates for the upcoming elections) and the Ilikai AOAO legal counsel, Motooka? – I will post more information on this. Let’s learn from mistakes.)
5) Ilikai renovations:
(a) My vision is that whatever renovations we do in the upcoming year and beyond should be used as a terrific opportunity to bring the Ilikai out of its current notably dated state into a more upscale destination. This to include hallway carpet renovations, lobby, pool, and elevators.
(b) These renovations should enhance our quality of life here, our property values, and rental income for those owners who rent.
(c) Renovation related decisions should be made with full engagement of professionals, such as designers and architects, and not by volunteer amateurs (I will post more on the current process of decision making by the Board – it is horrifying).
(d) Also, importantly, there should be a process for owners to provide input and feedback.
6) Proactively dealing with the delinquencies (now over $1.4M) – this is just way too much money to simply write off as the current Board appears to want to do for most of that sum, – incl.:
(a) The role Lyle Hosoda, Hawaii First and Richard Emery, and Chris Goodwin potentially played in the circa $1.2M Anekona delinquencies fiasco
(b) From whom can we potentially collect those circa $1.2M delinquencies?
(c) An urgent need to step up efforts to collect delinquencies of individual condo owners
7) Addressing other real or potential assaults and threats to the Ilikai and our property values, such as:
(a) The Hilton Luau noise
(b) Future development of the Ala Wai Harbor area in front of the Ilikai
8 ) An urgent need for competitive bidding for the Ilikai AOAO master policy insurance
9) Re the Yacht Harbor Tower (YHT):
My dream is that our Ilikai will unite back with the Yacht Harbor Tower. This will solve many problems for the Yacht Harbor Tower and its current owner (eRealty) and us. I believe it will be good for all parties involved. Just imagine how great it would be if iStar manages to work out some deal with eRealty to merge back the Yacht Harbor Tower and Ilikai hotels. I hope we can encourage iStar and eRealty to start a dialogue, who knows maybe they can work out some mutually beneficial deal. Maybe the Edition Hotel set to open at the YHT can even be expanded to include the Ilikai. I know it is far fetched. But this is my dream. Another dream that I have is to have Shell sell their 123 units currently in the timeshare program to iStar. (Keep in mind that luckily, Shell’s timeshare is NOT ”deeded,” i.e., it is Shell and NOT the timeshare owners who actually owns those 123 units. Let’s hope Shell comes to their senses, sells their 123 to iStar, and gets out of here.) This way our Ilikai Hotel will be bigger. If our hotel can then merge with the Edition Hotel set to open at the YHT (via a mutually beneficial deal between iStar and eRealty) then this will be like the ultimate dream come true. I know it is far fetched. But even simply writing about it lifts my spirits and puts a smile on my face. Let’s try to encourage iStar and eRealty to work together.
10) Fostering ongoing communication between the Board and owners, incl.:
(a) The Board and AOAO manager should commit to responding to Ilikai owners, incl. their letters, concerns, questions, feedback, and suggestions
(b) If elected (or not elected), I plan to continue maintaining this blog site (www.ilikaiowners.com).
11) What makes me (i.e., Olga Geling) a good candidate for the Board?
(a) The pros (will elaborate later)
(b) The cons (will elaborate later)
(c) There are for sure negatives about me, some of which I am actively working to overcome. This includes that I sometimes say things not in the most diplomatic way. I am well aware of this and am sincerely working on it (but keep in mind: it is election time! The gloves are off!). I believe the pros outweigh the cons.
12) Why the Old Boys (and some ladies) Club (OBC) candidates are a terrible choice for the Ilikai Board? (The OBC candidates are: Lea Sasak, Bill Moore, Bill Lawrence, Bob Currie, Dass Ramadass, Lavonne West.), incl.:
(a) The dismal track record of the OBC candidates as the current Directors on the Board (from March 2009 through now)
(b) The dismal track record of the OBC candidates in the past, incl. who allowed Shell and timeshare to infest the Ilikai?
(c) Additional “enlightening” trivia, incl. who brought Lyle Hosoda to the Ilikai? (The Hosoda saga and the way the current Board consisting of the OBC Directors tackled the delinquencies over $1.4M speak volumes about certain OBC candidates.)
13) The “elephant in the room” – the Tokioka Family:
This is a serious concern for many reasons. Related to that are the concerns associated with having Dass Ramadass as a Board Director.
I will post in the coming days more on all of the above listed areas. I know it is a very ambitious list as a vision statement. In no way am I suggesting that I can accomplish all of the above. It requires joint effort. But the list gives the idea where I stand as a candidate for the Board. If elected, I will do my very-very best to work on these priorities.