by Bob Shamo

From this committee’s earliest meetings, beginning last July, a priority was to “cover” the Board election coming up on June 15.

The first thing we did was shift TowerTalk’s publication schedule so that the issue you’re reading now would be door-dropped just a few days prior to the several Meet the Candidate events ..

• Wednesday, June 3, 7:00 pm
• Saturday, June 6, 11:00 am
• Tuesday, June 9, 7:00 pm

As the election drew closer and we began planning the stories, we decided on several for which we think there had been no precedent. One is the editorial titled, Who Ya Gonna Call? Written at our invitation by Park Tower owner Steve Koga, it focuses on the mutual responsibilities of the Board, of Management .. and of Owners, who express themselves each year at election time.

Two other brand new ideas are found in the supplement inserted into your copy of TowerTalk: How Your Board Voted and Candidates Respond.

Exactly what stories, and in exactly what formats, will change from year to year. But we hope readers will find our initial efforts in that direction worthwhile. Email news@ptcondo.com or use the commenting feature on the website, www.PTCondo.com

Speaking of the website, have you checked out its new features? Under the People tab is a complete listing of Park Tower employees, with beguiling mug shots and few self-identifying (and revealing) remarks.

Under the Building tab is an up-to-date waitlist for self-park and tandem parking spaces. (Valet parking is available now.)

And for when you don’t happen to have the back page of TowerTalk at hand, you’ll find under Contact an itemized list of phone numbers, email addresses, hours of service, etc.

But by any measure the most significant recent additions have been the documents beginning to appear under the Library tab. Not only are Board Minutes, Rules & Regulations, and the Declaration and Bylaws available now to review, but they are also searchable. That is, you can use the “Find” function on your browser to locate every instance of a word or phrase appearing in the document you’re looking at.

This search capability, simple as it is to explain, is hugely helpful. Imagine, for instance, how useful it will be to the new Ad Hoc Commission to Review the Declaration & Bylaws. Good planning to have come up with this enhancement in time for that project!

Speaking of projects, our committee has one for which we need some help. When long-time resident, Marian Shaw, died earlier this year, she left a collection of TowerTalk newsletters dating back to the 1980’s. We’re looking for someone to put them in order and for each issue prepare a short paragraph describing its contents. The issues and their descriptions will be posted on the website under TowerTalk Archives, thus extending our historical record back several decades. Mrs. Shaw would be pleased!

Finally, check out , www.facebook.com/PTCondo .. for those who consume Facebook as they do morning coffee.

Whatever comes next will be the work of a refreshed NSM Committee. I’ll hope to be reappointed, though not as chair. Hats off to William Kay for newsletter and website design and formatting; Board liaison David Nicosia for website concepts and development; Christopher Hinckley, for stories and especially for Facebook; Sheldon Atovsky for so many fine stories this past year; and Jeff Hauser, our newest member, for his first stories, appearing in this issue. Not to forget building manager Tim Patricio for extraordinarily wise counsel .. always.

Area businesses buy advertising in TowerTalk. Stop by the management office to leave or read comments regarding their products and services.