Condo Media - May 2011 - 42

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

by Nena Groskind

David J. Levy, CMCA, PCAM
Volunteering Is a Philosophy and a Way of Life
hen David J. Levy, CMCA, PCAM, looked around the room at CAI-NE’s annual banquet in February and spotted one of his daughters and several of his employees, he knew something was up. He was correct: Levy received the chapter’s “Outstanding Service Award,” presented to individuals in the community association industry “who volunteer their time and share their expertise without hesitation to advance the interests of their clients, their colleagues and their peers.” That pretty much describes what Levy has been doing consistently since he became involved with CAI and the New England Chapter more than 25 years ago — about the same time he started Sterling Services, his condominium management company. Working for a high-tech company at the time and newly married, Levy had bought a condominium — his first exposure to the industry. When he revealed a knowledge of lawn maintenance at an association meeting, other owners asked him to chair the landscaping committee, assuring him it would require “only a couple of hours a month.” For a while, he had a split professional personality, working as a high-tech sales agent by day and a community association manager at night. But, after landing two more association clients, he devoted his full time to management. Thanks to summer jobs growing up, Levy had a building and landscaping background, “but I knew nothing at all about condominiums,” he admits. And he discovered that managing them “was a lot more complicated than I thought. I realized quickly that I needed to be involved with a trade organization.” So he joined CAI. He began, like most new volunteers, “setting up chairs for meetings.” But eventually, Levy says, opportunities develop. “Some speaker cancels at the last minute, so you get a call a day in advance to sit on a panel — just to fill the seat.” More requests follow, and the people running the organization realize “you will always say yes. It’s the ‘little red hen’ story,” Levy says. “You work hard at all the small, glamorless jobs, and finally reap the benefits.” For Levy, the benefits were opportunities to become more actively involved in CAI-NE at higher levels, working on the golf tournament, serving on or chairing multiple committees (the Program Committee and the Managers’ Committee, among them), launching the annual food and clothing charity drive (which he continues to head) and serving as chapter president.

W

Committee Chair, Erin Kremser presents the Outstanding Service Award to David Levy.

Time to Get Paid
Eighteen months later, he was spending 20 hours a week dealing with a range of association problems, most of which had nothing to do with landscaping. Levy’s wife, a CPA, who was handling the community’s financial reporting, also as a volunteer, told him: “Either we get paid for this or we get a divorce.” Most of the time, Levy laughs, they are sure they made the right decision.

“A Very Special Year”
His stint as president in 1992 came during a particularly difficult time for the chapter, which was struggling to build its membership, recovering from an internal crisis and facing its most

significant legislative challenge — passage of the “super lien” measure. Largely because of the super lien battle, it was “a very special year,” Levy recalls. “It was a matter of being in the right place at the right time. The storm occurs, and you’re there.” Industry executives view the super lien as the lifeline that kept many community associations afloat during financial storms past and present. At the time, Levy says, no one thought the tiny trade group, with only about 200 members, could prevail against the hugely influential, banking industry lobby, which was fighting the CAI-NE-backed legislation. “But we were too young and too naïve to know we shouldn’t be winning,” he says, “and we did.” Levy ranks the passage of the super lien among the high points of his CAINE involvement, as is serving on the committee that selected Claudette Carini as the chapter’s first executive director and initiating the annual charity drive, which, Levy says, has been and remains “very special to me.” The charity drive, which donates food and clothing collected from participating community associations, also illustrates Levy’s belief that “business can and should be a force for good” by leveraging its resources and influence. The drive not only contributes tangibly to people in need, he notes, it

42

CONDO MEDIA • MAY 2011
Condo Media - May 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Condo Media - May 2011
