The suburbs are fertile ground for fictional drama and have provided the setting for some of my favorite novels, but I have recently become caught up in some real-life home-front drama.

We have lived in this condominium complex for almost eight years–nearly five years as renters, and then as owners since the summer of 2013. When we bought the unit next door to the one we’d been renting, we not only became new homeowners, we became dues-paying members of the community’s condo-owners’ association. (If you own a unit, whether or not you live in it, association membership and dues-paying are part of the package–but it should be noted that you never have to do your own landscaping, lawn mowing, pool maintenance, or exterior painting, so it’s mostly worth it.)

The association has a five-person board of directors elected by the owner/members, and the board contracts with and directs the property-management company that handles maintenance and general operations…if everything works as it should, that is.

For the last several months, it mostly hasn’t worked. Escalating conflict among the current board members has created a dysfunctional environment where things just aren’t getting done.Ballots went out to all the owners a week ago asking them to vote on recalling the entire current board

At the same time, we are voting on a new board to take over if the recall passes. Six people are running for the five spots. Two are members of the current board (fortunately, they’re the two closest to being functional), one is a former member, and the other three are residents who’ve never served on the board before…one of whom is me.

I’m assuming that I’ll come in sixth in the vote-getting, but we’re supposed to get all the verdicts on May 17. If I do get elected to the board, I’m going to work on getting a Little Free Library in here.

I doubt any of my neighbors read this blog, but I hope the rest of you will keep your fingers crossed for me!

This weekend, I composed a series of short updates that I’ve scheduled to post over the course of the week. I don’t have time for too much more than that right now, but I’m not happy being a missing person in Bloggerland, so this is my current coping strategy.

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