Kathy O’Connor of Deerfield Owners Association
by Sebby Regalado

Although the Deerfield residents knew the date was coming, it did not make it any easier for them to say goodbye to Officer Kathy O’Connor on her retirement. The beautiful Deerfield Community employs a security force of San Antonio Police Officers that has been led by Officer O’Connor. She is retiring from both serving as a police officer for 33 years and from the Deerfield Security team for 25 years. At the Annual Members Meeting in March 2019, the Deerfield Board recognized Officer O’Connor with much praise, gifts, and most especially a plaque honoring her with the dedication of the children’s park in her name. In May, Deerfield residents came together for the dedication ceremony hosted by the Deerfield Board of Directors at the newly named “Officer Kathy O’Connor Children’s Park”. The event was attended by many residents who wanted to show their gratitude for her many years of service and protection.  

We would be remiss if we did not mention the many achievements of Officer O’Connor. Officer O’Connor served in the Army and attended college in Chicago. Serving in the Army is what brought her to Texas and she then chose to stay in San Antonio after completing her military service. She joined the San Antonio Police Department in 1986, became a helicopter pilot and immediately held the distinction of being the only woman to operate a law enforcement helicopter in the entire state of Texas. Officer O’Connor earned honors for her police work after being shot in the line of duty, earned the Lifetime Achievement Award from Texas Women in Law Enforcement, and won an Inspiring Women’s Award from the Silver Stars (the former San Antonio WNBA team).  

It is most fitting that the children’s park is named in her honor. If you asked Officer O’Connor what she plans after retirement, you will never get a response that does not include, “spending as much time as possible with my new granddaughter."

Officer O’Connor established an excellent rapport with residents that also came with integrity and leadership. She will be greatly missed by Deerfield Owners Association and C.I.A. Services.  We wish her great happiness in this new chapter of her life. Thank you for your service! 

The Texas Legislature wrapped up its 86th session on May 27th. Here is a summary of the significant filings relative to property owners associations (POAs) that passed.  

HB 1025 (Bohac) Effective September 1, 2019

• Prohibits an owner from being a candidate for a board position if there is an enforcement action pending against the owner or if the owner is delinquent on an assessment, fee, or fine. This will limit an owner’s ability to run for the Board if they have delinquent fees or if they have deed restriction violations that are being pursued through the Association’s attorney. The law does not impact existing board members who may find themselves in the same situation.  
• A POA made up of multiple sections may add a requirement that a specified number of board positions must be elected from a designated section of the subdivision. The association could require that the person not only own but also reside in the section.  This is not mandatory but is an option.  It is only practical in certain situations, for example, where you have at least as many board members as sections.  It can also be problematic.  If  a position has no candidates from that section, it could not be filled even if there were other owners from other sections willing to serve.

HB 1396 (Harless)  Effective September 1, 2019

• Limits board eligibility to only one director per primary residence.  Prior to this law, multiple members from a household could serve on the board.  This law does not deal with ownership or marriage - it simply prohibits two persons living in the same home from simultaneously serving on the board.  Note that it also does not prevent two people from the household from running for the board - only one would be eligible to be elected.  

HB 234 (Krause)  Effective September 1, 2019

• Prohibits POAs from regulating the sale of lemonade or similar beverages by children on property located in the subdivision if the child has the permission of a property owner to be there. It also limits the POA’s liability for any injury or activity related to the sale.  This law would permit a child to conduct a lemonade stand on their property with no interference from the Association.

If a board member has questions about how these new laws will impact their community directly, we recommend the Association seeks legal advice from their attorney.

Valerie Flinn

Our company holds high regard for our core values. The "Living Our Core Values" series will continue to 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.

Valerie Flinn is a Community Manager at our San Antonio 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 her work with the Texas Sled Dog Rescue. 

The Texas Sled Dog Rescue is a relatively new, non-profit organization that works year-round to offer stray Siberian Huskies, Husky mixes, and Malamute dogs with homes before they are adopted, gather funds to support any medical needs, and educate potential owners on the personality traits of and how to care for Huskies/Malamutes. They rescue an average of 60+ dogs each year, all through donation and volunteer work!

Individual volunteers like Valerie provide assistance to this organization by temporarily fostering the dogs, processing and approving/denying adoption applications, performing follow-up visits to the puppies’ new homes, transporting them to and from foster homes/medical facilities, and promoting fundraising to offset the animals’ medical costs.

Valerie met and took in her own two pups through the Texas Sled Dog Rescue, and continues to work with the charity to ensure that many other dogs are placed in loving homes and are able to live happy lives. We thank her for upholding our core values in such a wonderful way!

Stay Plugged in with Webcasts

We 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:

• Board Member Orientation
• Practical Deed Restriction Management
• Understanding Collections and Financial Reports
• Meetings and Records - The Legal Requirements
• The Essentials of Architectural Control
• The Super-Budgeting Process
• Advanced Topics for Board Members

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.

Associations in Practice Series

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:

• June - Aliana Commercial Association - Southwest Houston Office - Deniece Reyes
• May - Cinco Ranch Southwest Community Council - Humble Office - Kimberly Cowart
• April - Lake McQueeney Las Brisas Homeowners Association - San Antonio Office - Summer Smith
• 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

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.

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

• Copper Creek Civic Improvement Association — 22 years
• Kenswick Trace Homeowners Association — 11 years
• RiverWalk Property Owners Association —  5 years
• Cross Creek Ranch Commercial Association — 5 years
• Cambridge (San Antonio) Homeowners Association — 3 years

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.

Congratulations to the many Class of 2019 graduates! 

Every year, at least a few of our employees are celebrating this great milestone with their loved ones. We consider ourselves an extended family and are excited to be celebrating along with them!

We are very proud of the accomplishments of all of this year’s employee and extended family graduates and wish them all the best in fulfilling their future goals. 

"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.”

— B.B. King

Employee Melody Lihou

Melody Lihou has worked part-time at our Humble office since the summer of 2018. She is the daughter of Laura Tate, Executive Vice President and General Manager at our Humble Office.  

Melody graduated from Atascocita High School (Go Eagles!) located in Humble, Texas in the top 10% of her class and as a member of the National Honor Society. She received the AP Scholar award for earning college credits on at least three advanced placement exams as well as the UIL Scholar Award (University Interscholastic League) for exemplary academic and extracurricular achievements. 

A talented musician, Melody plays several instruments, including the cello, double bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, ukulele, and the piano. While attending AHS, Melody was a very active member of the school’s orchestra program and played the cello for the entirety of high school and played the double bass for the last two years.  Melody was an Officer for the program and instrumental in planning and organizing events and programs.  Melody also frequently mentored younger musicians at the middle school level.

In the fall, Melody will be attending the University of Texas in Austin. She will be studying Music Education and will be pursuing a career teaching music at the high school level.

Employee Kaelon Ervin

Kaelon Ervin joined our Humble office this month, shortly after his graduation.   

Kaelon graduated from Atascocita High School (Go Eagles!) located in Humble, Texas.  Kaelon took several advanced academic courses throughout his high school career and graduated in the top 20% of his class.  Already demonstrating the core values of Empathy and Community, Kaelon earned a red cord for donating blood and plasma multiple times during his time at AHS.

An active member of the school marching band, Kaelon was at every football game and always showed awesome school spirit!  He played the Alto saxophone and received several awards as a soloist as well as a marcher.  During his Senior year, Kaelon was a member of the homecoming court.  

In the fall, Kaelon will be attending the University of Houston to study mechanical engineering.

Our Extended Family

Dana and Megan Lohrke, daughters of Sally Lohrke. Sally is a member of the Accounting Team at our Bandera office.

Dana (pictured left) graduated from Texas Wesleyan University (Go Rams!) in Fort Worth with an Exercise Science Bachelor of Science Degree. She plans on returning to school in the near future to obtain her Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy.

Megan (pictured right) graduated from the Aveda Institute in November 2018 and obtained her Cosmetology License in December 2018. She is currently working at the Spoiled Rotten Salon in Bandera, Texas.

Lauren Peterson, daughter of Jo Ann Peterson.  Jo Ann is a member of our Check Disbursement Team from our Bandera office.

Despite a rather unconventional college path, Lauren graduated (on time and Cum Laude) from Flagler College (Go Saints!) in St. Augustine, Florida with a BA degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management.

She started out at High Point University in North Carolina, where she served on the executive council of the Campus Activities Team and as a Young Life College leader. From there she spent a semester in Germany while taking online courses through Stephen F. Austin University. She served as a Youth Compass volunteer through Youth for Christ. She finally landed at Flagler College, where she served as a Wyld Life leader (Young Life in middle school).

It wasn’t what she anticipated, but what a full and blessed journey it turned out to be! Lauren’s future plans include staying in St. Augustine, where she has landed a position as an executive assistant.

Humble office Community Manager Linda Morris is celebrating two graduates this year, and is one very proud grandma!  

Edward Clinard III, 5 years old, is a kindergarten graduate this year!  Edward, or “Bubba” as he is commonly referred to at home, is a student at Shepherd Primary School where he graduated from Ms. Joyner’s class.  Edward says he wants to be a policeman when he grows up, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for him!

Tyler Daniel Jordan graduated from Shepherd High School this year!  Tyler is employed with CTS, an industrial services company in Houston, where he works with his dad and his older brother.  He plans to continue working full time while he decides whether to save up money for college or work his way up the workforce ladder.   Tyler loves spending time with his friends and family on the lake or just talking.  He has become quite the “shade tree” mechanic, working on his old truck in his spare time.  The sky is the limit for this young man!

Julian Reyes, son of Deniece Reyes, General Manager out of our Southwest office.  

Julian, 6 years old, graduated Kindergarten from McFee Elementary (Go Timberwolves!) in Katy, Texas and is excited about moving onto first grade! Julian has a passion for the arts and aspires to be an actor one day.

Olivia Farley, daughter of Lindsay Scholfield, Lifestyle Manager out of our Humble office. 

Olivia is 5 years old and a pre-kindergarten graduate this year!  Olivia was a student at Kindercare where she graduated from Ms. Hazel’s class.  Olivia says she wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up.  Good luck Olivia, we are excited to see your journey begin!

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 one-year anniversary with our company. Additionally, we recognize stockholders on their anniversary month.  C.I.A. Services employees become stockholders after they have been employed for five years.

Stockholder Anniversaries

We have quite a few stockholders celebrating anniversaries this month.

Wow!  Congratulations to Gloria Bell on her 30th anniversary with C.I.A. Services. Gloria is a Clerical Assistant from our Humble office. After 30 years, she has been here for just about everything and has supported her work family through good times and bad times. She is a very spiritual person and can always be counted on to lead a prayer. Gloria has several children and grandchildren with whom she spends as much time as possible. When she can’t do that, she is an avid reader of the written book and listener of the audiobook! 

Congratulations to Patrick Sheffield on his 11th anniversary with the company. Patrick is a Maintenance Coordinator and works out of our Southwest Houston office. He helps keep the community facilities in tip-top shape!  Patrick is incredibly handy and likes to spend his weekends on woodworking projects. He recently made each office jumbo versions of several popular games, including Jenga and cornhole that we get to use for celebrations. Just an example of his generosity and willingness to always give a hand when needed.  

Annette McConnell is also celebrating her 11th anniversary with C.I.A. Services. Annette is the Office Manager at our Bandera office.  She was part of the startup staff that opened the Bandera office in 2008.  She has two wonderful grandkids (1 and 8) that live right down the road from her with whom she spends as much time as possible.  In addition to working for us, Annette is a caretaker of her elderly mother, aged 90 and currently in the middle of a big home remodeling project that she is anxious to finish.

Valerie Lehr celebrates 7 years with the company this month! Valerie is a Community Manager at our Humble office. She stays busy managing a portfolio of communities.  When she’s not working, she might be found in the kitchen as she’s an awesome cook.  She has a big family, both 2-legged and 4-legged.  She and her husband enjoy their 3 kids, 4 grandkids, 6 dogs, and 2 cats! They also like to cruise whenever they can and Valerie loves a good book!

Tonya Pate is celebrating her 5-year anniversary with the company as well as becoming our newest stockholder!  Tonya is a Customer Specialist from our Humble office.  She is a very positive and upbeat person and is always smiling.  She’s usually the life of every company party and always has fun on the dance floor! Tonya is a mom and a wife and dedicates her free time to her family.

One Year Anniversaries

We are also celebrating many one-year anniversaries this month!

Shrishti Guha is a Community Specialist at our Humble office.  She’s one of the friendly voices you hear on the phone when you call in.  Shrishti is a hard worker and can speak three languages: English, Hindi, and Bengali!  Shrishti is also going to school studying business.

Stephanie Mami is a Community Coordinator in the Aliana community.  She plans and oversees many fun community events and activities.  Stephanie enjoys running, kickboxing, and spending time with her dogs.

Christina Mann is an HIR Coordinator from our Humble office.  Her team works to efficiently review and process home improvement applications. Christina spends her free time with her two young sons and enjoys listening to classic rock, thanks to the influence of her music-loving mom!

Norris Daniels, of our Humble office, is a Maintenance Coordinator for one of our Master Planned communities.  Norris fits right in with his team and has proven to be a joy to work with!  Norris is accustomed to juggling tasks both at work and at home. He and his wife, Lynn, have their hands full with 7 children ranging in ages from 4 years old to 19 years old!

Carson Treybig, of our Humble office, is also a Maintenance Coordinator for one of our Master Planned communities.  He takes great pride in his work and strives to be the best he can be.  Carson is retired from the military, serving 10 years with the United States Air Force. He loves traveling, the beach, and his dog. He spends his free time traveling back to his hometown to spend time with family and taking care of his mother.    

Melody Lihou is a part-time Office Assistant at our Humble office. She helps where needed, spending much of her time with tasks associated to pool access and the website.  She graduated from high school this year and will continue her employment with us in the office over the summer and from school while she attends the University of Texas in the fall.  Melody is a talented musician and can play just about anything with strings.

Congratulations on reaching one year!

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.