Community Manager Robin Romo is a Champion for Bay Area Residents

A well-educated HOA community manager is a champion for the communities they serve. They make a huge difference in a homeowner’s quality of life and the value of their property.

Certified by the California Association of Community Managers (CACM), the state’s leading community association management education organization, Robin Romo, partner and director of Property Management for CitiScape Property Management Group, LLC, is a champion for residents living in 15 HOA-managed communities in the Bay Area. She is one of nearly 2,000 Certified Community Association Managers (CCAM®) in California who has completed CACM’s rigorous educational program focusing on California law, ethical standards and best practices for community association management.

CACM recently launched a statewide Community Champions awareness campaign to highlight the importance of California-specific education, obtaining the CCAM designation and, ultimately, the benefits that professional community management provides to HOA boards and homeowners.

CACM caught up with Romo to discuss the valuable role community managers have in managing the nearly 50,000 common interest developments (CIDs) or homeowners associations (HOAs) in California.

Q: What makes you a Champion for your community?
A: I am a Champion for my community because I will give blood, sweat and tears to ensure my communities are maintained to the highest possible standards while staying fiscally responsible. I host numerous community building events—wine socials, summer luaus, kids events, and holiday parties—to ensure that I maintain a community, not just a building.

Q: What is the most rewarding thing about your job?
A: The most rewarding part of the job is knowing that I’m enriching the lives of the families that live in my communities.

Q: What is the most challenging thing about your job?
A: The most challenging—and most exciting—thing about my job is that there is simply no predicting what the day will bring. I can plan out my entire day, and everything can go awry in one second because of an emergency in one of the buildings. I’m constantly reorganizing and reprioritizing tasks because of this uncertainty. The ability to keep a cool head under tremendous pressure and multitasking skills are an absolute must.

Q: How long have you been in the community management industry? How long have you been a CCAM?
A: I have been in the community management industry for 11 years. I have been a CCAM for eight years.

More than 14.3 million people, about 38 percent of the state’s population, live in an HOA-managed community, many of which are run by professionally-trained community association managers. These professionals act as champions and have tremendous responsibilities for the residents they serve. They guide volunteer HOA boards through complicated issues like finances, state legislation and dispute resolution, and they oversee all aspects of property maintenance. They have a huge impact on the lives of thousands of Californians and it’s time they are recognized for the important role they play.

To find out more about community association management and the responsibilities of HOA board members, or to nominate a community manager and enter to win $500, consumers can visit www.MyCommunityChampion.com. For more information on CACM, please visit www.cacm.org.