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Archived Newsletters

Every month, we issue an electronic newsletter, eNews Monthly, to keep clients informed about Association items, spotlight clients, answer frequently asked questions, and let you know what is happening with the company. Old issues of eNews Monthly are available on our Library page.

March 2019
eNews Monthly
Volunteer Spotlight
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Richard McLarty of Cinco Ranch Residential Association II
by Laura Tate

In 2011, Richard McLarty and his wife, Elizabeth Jones, moved into the Cinco Ranch II community in Katy.  Prior to that, they lived in communities in Missouri City and the Medical Center area where Richard served as a board member and officer for the homeowner associations in both communities. When he moved to Cinco Ranch, he wished to continue to serve his new community in the same way. 

Richard was first elected to the Cinco Ranch Residential Association II Board of Directors at the 2015 election, when the Board transitioned from some developer appointed positions to all homeowner elected positions. He was re-elected in 2016 & 2018 and currently serves as Vice President. He is also the Board Liaison to the Design Review Committee and the Safety Committee. He was an instrumental part of the community’s website redesign project and continues to work on long term goals for the site.

Richard has worked for the Houston Police Department for 37 years. His background in law enforcement and now managing technology within the department brings a unique perspective to the Board on maintaining a safe and secure community.  His professional experience may also be why he always maintains his composure even in the most stressful situations and can always be relied upon to present a reasonable point of view to the table and look at all sides of an issue. 

One of the goals of the Cinco Ranch II Board of Directors is to provide an open and transparent representation of community business to residents. Richard really helps with this goal by quickly disseminating information or answering questions posed on social media platforms related to Cinco Ranch II.

Richard and Elizabeth enjoy riding their motorcycles (Victory Vision and Suzuki M109 for you bike fans and yes, she does ride her own bike), cheering on their Texans in the cooler months of the year and enjoying the pool with their chocolate lab, Buster, during the “not so cool” parts of the year.  Buster however swims all year long.

We sincerely appreciate the opportunity to work with Richard. He is a true asset to the Cinco Ranch II community.

Fun Times
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2019 Hockey Night Recap
by Valerie Flinn

On Saturday, January 26th, we held our 11th Annual Hockey Night with the San Antonio Rampage. We had over 400 guests join us this year and fun was had by all!  We gave away some great prizes, including t-shirts, paper hockey masks, and bang sticks (a favorite of the kids)! Of course, we had a new cow bell to celebrate the event.  Since 2019 represents our company’s 35th anniversary, we chose coral for the color of this year’s cow bell which is the traditional color for that anniversary year.  

The game between the Stockton Heat and the San Antonio Rampage kept everyone on their toes.  The teams battled for the lead, 2- 1, then 3 -2 and then tied at 3 all at the final buzzer.  So into the 5 minute, 3 on 3, sudden death overtime we went!  The teams battled at both ends of the ice, and it looked as if we were headed to a shoot out!  But it was not to be, with 0.7 seconds left on the clock, the Stockton Heat scored one last time, to end the game at 4 - 3.  This was the end of the 12-home game winning streak for the Rampage as the Heat handed the Rampage their first loss at home since November 2018.   

After the game, our excitement continued, as the 128 guests who signed up for the after-game skate got ready for more prizes and fun on the ice!  Another surprise waited for them on the ice with the opportunity to win one of Ralph’s favorite hockey jerseys!  It was a great time to be had by all and a very fitting end to the evening. 

Many thanks to all who helped make this fun night happen and to all who attended!

Click on the links below to check out the photos from this year’s and several other events.

2019     2018     2017    2016     2015     2014     2013    2012     2011     2010    2009

Living Our Core Values
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Deirdre Giampietro

Our company holds high regard for our core values. The "Living Our Core Values" series will share with you real life examples of how we live our core values, either as an entire company or by an employee.  We refer to our core values as "SPECIAL" as each letter of that word represents a particular core value. S = Stewardship, P = Passion, E = Empathy, C = Community, I = Integrity, A = Awesomeness, and L = Loyalty.

Deirdre Giampietro is an Administrative Assistant at our Humble Office and is another example of a SPECIAL employee that executes our company’s core values.  She demonstrates Passion, Community, Empathy, and of course, Awesomeness through the many volunteer efforts she has undertaken over the years.

Deirdre has been an active community volunteer since she was a teenager.  Over the years she has volunteered helping the elderly, at her church, and for local school Parent Teacher Organizations.  Volunteering is a very important part of her life. Deirdre expresses that she has always gotten more out of her efforts than what it cost in time and effort.  When sharing her volunteer efforts Deirdre said, “It feels good to give back and take part in helping to make my community better”. 

Currently Deirdre volunteers as a religious education teacher at the St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church in Humble, Texas. Her classroom this year consists of 18 third graders.  The class schedule runs from the end of September through May each year. So, for 22 Sundays of the year, Deidre spends her time educating local youth. With each class 90 minutes long, she is dedicating 1,980 hours of class time to this awesome adventure!  She spends even more time preparing for each class and ensuring the curriculum is followed as outlined by the director and in their textbooks. 

Deirdre is making a difference in her community and setting a great example for her children.  She believes in showing her kids that giving of yourself for others is important to improve the world around them.

Seminar Series
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Stay Plugged in with Webcasts

We now offer each of our seminars in the form of a recorded webcast on demand for you to watch at any time! If you have missed a seminar, our seminars are available on our YouTube channel. The following seminars are now available:

Just go to our website, www.ciaservices.com, and click on the Resources tab. From there, select our Library and you will see the links to each webcast and other training materials or you can simply click on the links above.

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Associations in Practice Series

If you missed it, our first video in the Associations in Practice Series covered Super-Budget ConceptsThis is a great introduction (or refresher) to The Super-Budgeting Process webinar offered in our Seminar Series. We hope you will find these videos useful, particularly as we are now in the midst of budget season.
 
Recently, we released the second video of our Associations in Practice Series: Short Term Rentals. In this video, we offer insight about short-term rental properties. We have an expert panel on board discussing everything from what a short-term rental is, to potential problems and possible solutions.
 
All of our Association in Practice Series videos will be available on our YouTube channel. We will send updates when new material is added. You can also subscribe to our channel for the news on the latest additions.
Community Spotlight
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We are proud of every one of our communities, so it is always hard to find just one to highlight. We start by having each of our Community Managers write a nomination for one of their communities. We then read them and take a vote. Here are our most recent selections:

  • March - Pine Forest Village Community Association - Humble Office - Angela Douglas
  • February - Bowling Green Garden Homes Association - Humble Office - Valerie Lehr
  • January Artesian Lakes Community Association - Humble Office - Jennifer Northington
  • December - Kendall Pointe Homeowners Association - San Antonio Office - Brittany Ashe
  • November - Treasure Island Homes Association - San Antonio Office - Brandi Brack
  • October - S.A. Remington Heights Homeowners Association, Inc. - San Antonio Office - Sebby Regalado
  • September - Aliana Community Council - Southwest Houston Office - Deniece Reyes

To see the full story on these communities and to see all of the past winners, visit the Community of the Month page on our site.

New Communities
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We are very pleased to announce the newest communities joining us this month!

The Summer Lake Ranch Property Owners Association joined our Humble Office this month.  Summer Lake Ranch is located in northeast Houston and has 157 beautiful homes. 

Welcome Summer Lake Ranch; we are excited to work with you!

Community Anniversaries
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Every month we appreciate the communities that are celebrating their anniversaries with us. Here are the clients that started with us in March.

  • Colony Grant Homeowners Association— 19 years
  • Fairfax Village Homeowners Association— 16 years
  • Summerwood Commercial Property Association— 13 years
  • Cross Creek Ranch Community Association— 11 years
  • Brays Forest Patio Homes Maintenance Fund — 10 years
  • Lake McQueeney Las Brisas Homeowners Association — 1 year
  • Encino Mesa Homeowners Association — 1 year 

Our goal has always been to create a positive, long term relationship with all of our client communities. We are very proud to be managing all of these communities.

Employee Corner
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Office Manager Promotion

We are very pleased to announce the promotion of Summer Smith to Office Manager for our San Antonio office.  Summer joined C.I.A. Services in 2017 as an Administrative Assistant.  She was quickly promoted to Community Manager and manages several communities from our San Antonio office.  Summer will continue in that role and maintain dual functions for both the office and our clients.  

As Office Manager, Summer is also responsible for keeping our administrative and clerical staff focused on providing great customer service to our clients.    

The staff is very excited to have Summer leading the way!

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Employee Anniversaries

We love to celebrate special milestones with our employees. In the Employee Corner of each eNews issue, we will list all employees that have reached their first anniversary with our company.  Additionally, once employees reach five years, we recognize them each year on their anniversary month.

Dan Barr, Clerical Assistant and stockholder at our Southwest Houston Office, celebrates his 15th anniversary with C.I.A. Services this month.  Dan is an avid train collector.  He loves reading and is a big history buff. We love how much he enjoys motivating fellow co-workers!

Priscilla Aleman, Receptionist and stockholder at our Southwest Houston Office, is celebrating her 11th anniversary.  Priscilla is a native Houstonian who loves spending time with her family, friends and two dogs - Cujo & Chops! Priscilla volunteers as a Sunday school teacher at her church where she has been a member for 32 years.

Sally Lohrke, Bandera Office Financial Team Leader and our newest stockholder is celebrating her 5 year anniversary.  Sally has a wonderful family which includes her husband, Joh, a retired San Antonio police officer and three grown children.  Congratulations to Sally on acheiving stockholder status!

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One Year Anniversaries

We are celebrating several 1-year anniversaries this month!

Sharon Hayes, Southwest Houston Office Administrative Assistant - Sharon is a native Texan that provides awesome administrative support to several communities.  She studied Computer Science at Texas Southern University.  Sharon is a proud mother of two and elated grandmother of four.  She loves reading, crocheting, and cooking. 

Shyamal Guha, Humble Office Community Specialist - Shyamal (also known as Sam) is one of the wonderful voices you hear on the phone when you call in.  Sam likes to watch science fiction shows and reading about history. He loves anything to do with ships, rockets, airplanes, and cars.

Mark Biggs, San Antonio Office Maintenance Coordinator - Mark oversees maintenance and facilities for many of our communities located in the San Antonio area. Mark has been an integral part of the improvements made to the audio-visual technology in the conference room and meeting areas. He enjoys spending time playing video games, building Legos with his daughter Brianna, and pulling practical jokes around the office.

Abbey Autry, San Antonio Office Administrative Assistant - Abbey originally joined the San Antonio Office as a Community Specialist and transitioned to an Administrative Assistant. She is a very detailed oriented person who is always willing to go above and beyond for her communities and coworkers. She loves to learn and consistently challenges herself with items outside of her job description. In her personal time, Abbey enjoys spending time with family & friends and is anxiously awaiting the arrival of her baby boy Beckham due in May!

Read Past Issues of eNews Monthly

Every month, we issue an electronic newsletter, eNews Monthly, to keep clients informed about Association items, spotlight clients, answer frequently asked questions, and let you know what is happening with the company. Old issues of eNews Monthly are available on our Library page.