 Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us for another episode of Kondo Insider. My name is Jane Sugimura, and I am your host for this show. And we're still, our shows are, I'm doing a series of shows on resources for condominiums and their owners. And today, we're going to showcase a really special organization. It's called MERMA, M-R-M-A, and it stands for Mo'ili'ili Resident Managers Association. And I'm really pleased to have with me today MERMA's current president, Ben Merritt. Hi, Ben. Hello, Jane. Thank you for having me. Thank you for joining us. And I want you to, we're going to be spending the next 25 minutes or so talking about MERMA and what, but before we do that, why don't you tell our viewers about your background? What is your background? I've been in the resident manager business for probably 25, 30 years and have used to have a business called Interim Management Services that when people would go on vacation and such, I was the filler. And that afforded me to manage many, many buildings in town, some of the really nice ones, and some of the older ones. And I wound up my career in resident manager at Harbor Square downtown as their general manager. And I've been retired now for about two and a half years. OK, well, you've got a lot of experience then to share with our viewers. It turns out that I do. And it was quite the joy and luck that would have given me that kind of experience. OK, well, why don't you tell our viewers? What exactly is MERMA? MERMA is a community outreach program that comes together and solves the condominium problems for the resident managers. So we get together and solve problems. It's a great community chest of answers for people that have problems in different trade areas, elevators, stairwells, lights, plumbing, the whole gamut. And we maintain a preferred vendors list that are our associate sponsors. And they, in turn, have exclusive they, let's see, I'm trying to OK, there are on the list that they do good work. They're conscientious, and we use them first. So you're a resource. So if you've got a site manager or a resident manager who's looking for a plumbing contractor or a structural engineer, I mean, rather than look at the phone book or go online to just see what's available, you'd probably want to talk to somebody who's had some experience. That's exactly right, Jane. And that is part of the function of the preferred vendors list, as you said, that when a particular need arises and it's you're not going to the phone book and you are getting a recommendation from another resident manager that has had that experience and knows that the job will get done in a professional fashion. OK, and who can join? Who can join this organization? I'm sorry. Who can join this? Who can join? It's open to building managers statewide. If you're a resident manager, a site manager that has function and responsibilities to a building, you're eligible to join. And we're flashing your website information. Is that where they would be contacting? If they wanted to join your organization? Yes, they would be contacting. We rotate that contact person more times than not. It will be Blanche King, our vice president. And whoever is with her on that committee will be on the website. And so how often do you guys have meetings? Yes, we meet every month. And it's the second Thursday of the month. And we meet February through November. We don't meet in December or January because of holidays and such. And during the pandemic, have you been able to have your meetings? No, actually, unfortunately, we have not been able to have meetings because of the state's mandate of crowd gathering. And it's limited to sometimes five, and then it was 10. I think now it's back up to around 50. And we are certainly keeping tabs on that as far as our opportunity. And with all hopes and planning, we are going to start back meeting at Waikiki Out Club, hopefully in February. Ben, can you tell us how this organization started? How did how did Murma come about? Well, originally it was probably back, I think in the early 2000, 2001. And fellow Mike Venable was having a brown bags meeting for lunch to do just that. Solve problems, have some of the managers come around and meet so that they could ping each other, pick one another's brain. And they bring pizza and do just have a lunch hour at one of the buildings. And Mike came up because it was in Moelili Valley. That is kind of where it started at Mike's building. And it grew, and we were going to call it one time, Oahu Manager Association. But we figured that Murma was just original and we just decided to keep it. And I can remember Mike Venable. In fact, he invited me to one of his early meetings. And he was just a remarkable person. Yes, he was. He had so much energy. And he was so positive. Well, he had the energy that we hoped that it was contagious. And he would always be in the upper echelon of the political arena here in town. And back when Linda Lingo was mayor in Maui, he had one of her first times speaking for us was over here. And we do stay in touch with the political people that are going to be able to affect our condolences and such. Yes, and he was a very dynamic person. And when I first met him and I started going to some of the Murma meetings, I was surprised that he was able to get the buildings in the neighborhood to meet for lunch. And then I stayed in touch. And now you guys are meeting up at the Waikiki Yacht Club. And you get a gang of people out there. Yes, it started with probably less than 10 people. And he was the great organizer and the authoritative presence that it was, like I said, a little contagious. And we got happy about it. And just so happened, I was a member down at the Yacht Club. And we started doing that. And our attendance tripled. And now we have, I think, on the average, excuse me, on the average between 60 and 75 people are managers and associate vendors that meet on a regular basis at the Yacht Club, like I said, on the second Thursday of every month. And among the, when you do these in-person monthly meetings, not only do you have your membership, but you have people who work, vendors and contractors and operators who serve the condominium community. You have them sponsoring the lunches and actually being present at the luncheon themselves to do networking among the resident managers that you've got, right? That is correct. And that is one way we vet the vendors that we use. And if we have someone new in town or that has not been affiliated with our association and we use that particular contractor or vendor on a job in one of our sister buildings, and it turns out, well, we'll ask them to come and would they like to sponsor a meeting and throw their wares out to our membership so that more people can take advantage of quality contracting and vending. And at these monthly meetings that you have, you also have speakers who speak on different issues, right? So what kind of speakers do you have come and address your group? I'm sorry, repeat that, please. On your monthly meetings, you have people who comment and present to the group. Yes. That was part of our associate sponsors, contractors, and even some of our like insurance people or political people, we have that arena as well. And our members are always thirsty for that kind of knowledge as well. Yes, and especially now, because right now I think a lot of your members are probably dealing with the fire safety ordinance. Yes. And that's going through life safety evaluations and whatnot. And with all the new COVID rules and unfortunately, the Marco Polo fire that was devastating to many people there is going to affect change in the way some of the things you've done in condo living. Right. And so I mean, so it's helpful to have at least your professional speakers, I mean presenters, come and share their knowledge with your group and then to have your group kind of network amongst themselves and with the vendors and contractors who are there at your meetings. Yes, it's a very unique blend. And with the resident managers and the associate sponsors and contractors, vendors and such, when they get together and the meeting's done, it's a huge exchange of, OK, I can do this and then these guys will recommend how to do it another way. And it just gets done and it gets done professionally. Well, let me go over some of the accomplishments that Merma's been involved in because they were involved in working with the city in stabilizing the bulky item pickup in Honolulu. Why don't you talk about how you guys helped with that? Well, it was the, I guess, the geography. People that just would come out and throw out old couches and beds, windows, air conditioners. And they would wind up in sporadically different places. And we chatted with the city to get designation on an area so that when a city vehicle that was designated come by a designated spot and that it didn't look trashy and it would all be there. And now you can go on their website and there's telephone numbers that you don't have to leave it out there, but maybe hours instead of days as before. You're making a permit, carry your items out. And the truck that's going to pick it up is almost there. And also, too, at all of your meetings, you have somebody from HPD, from the Honolulu Police Department, to give the stats. That's a dedicated service that HPD provides for us. The stats of car break-ins, staffs, home break-ins, condo break-ins, and they package it up. And you can get a written version. We always ask them to give us the info to put on our website. And they faithfully come to our meetings and always have at least one or two officers that like to speak. And it has become part of their requirement of public speaking in such that they are tasked with oration to a public presence so that they can get those stats out to everyone concerned. And also, the fact that you have the police officers, the police department at your luncheons, you've been able to get them to extend their patrolling to different areas that really mean something to the condominium community. Because sometimes there are some side streets that are used by children and elderly people. And they could, you know. And it was definitely a plus for us as an organization to have that long arm that would request more presence of HPD in troubled areas. And we're, like you said, that where kids play and it has calmed those areas immensely. And we're very appreciative to HPD in all their efforts monthly and daily, I should say. And they're always welcome. And so that's one way that the police department is able to work with the condominium community to bring benefits to the condominium community that they didn't have. And so that's a great way, a resource that Merma has offered to the community that they serve. Yes. And we will always be in their debt for having their presence where we need it, when we need it. And they always respond. And one other thing, too, I noticed with your monthly meetings, you have city council people. You have city council people showing up. And that might be because a lot of issues that affect condominiums are probably regulated by the city, like rubbish removal and property taxes and basically the fire and police service. Right. We have a lot of requirements and regulations that come from the city. And when we have a need or an update of something that has just been introduced or put out by the city, we can call on them and they will come and give their information to us on a speaking platform, also with the insurance industry for people like Sue Savio and that organization of insurance people, they are always willing to keep us up to date on what should belong in our reserve analysis and other governing documents. And you bring up a good subject, I mean reserve studies. So it's the site manager or the resident manager who works with the reserve specialist to set up the reserve study, isn't it? That is exactly right, Jane. And the reserve analysis is like an outline of what you must have on hand in the case of an emergency. And the board spends many hours, the boards of many condominium complexes spend tremendous amount of hours developing what the priorities are that go into the reserve analysis so that they can be covered at any point in time for any catastrophe. And you guys have been doing that for a long, long time, haven't you? Yes, this is true. And now there's a lot of focus on the reserve studies and the reserves because of what happened in Florida with that condominium collapse. And now people who didn't even know about reserves are asking questions about reserves. Well, it would behoove anyone, I don't know, too many buildings that don't have some sort of a reserve analysis going on so that they can look and see what their component life plan is in any situation. And so that is like an outline for the resident manager. He goes through his daily routines and monthly preventative maintenance. And then when you come to the end of the year, what are you going to project to spend a large sum of money on so that you can keep all the components of the building working properly? And no one must have equipment break and you don't have enough funding to replace or repair. Yes, the reserve study is such an important tool for a condominium. And you guys, you resident managers, I mean, you guys are the key. I mean, I know during our budgeting process, our budget committee, we were going through our budget. I had my site manager on the phone and I'd be asking him, you know, what about this? Can we put this one off? And he'd say, no, no, no, you can't do that. That you got to keep in the, you know, you got to go forward with that. That's exactly what that is. I mean, it's a seesaw of what needs to be done, what you have the money for. And no good resident manager likes to see deferred maintenance because you either fix it now or you're going to fix it later. But if it's deferred down the line too far, you're going to spend double the money you had allotted for that particular project. So the reserve analysis is a very, very important tool. Yes, and now during budget season, I mean, and especially after the Florida building collapse, you know, people, you know, are more, I think appreciative of the fact that, you know, people like, you know, you guys, the resident managers have been working with this tool for what, 20, 30 years and, you know, have been working diligently to make sure that, you know, that tool is used to make sure the building is well maintained, is safe and, you know, is going to, you know, that the cost to maintain the building going forward is going to be reasonable and not excessive. And so I give you, you know, big mahalos for that because you guys have done a terrific job. Well, it's quite the responsibility and sometimes the resident managers are the unsung heroes that they are constantly on the job 24-7 because the building doesn't sleep. It just, there's less people at night whatever you have securities and such. But they do, most of them do a fantastic job at keeping the condo life a safe place for people to live. And that's what your organization is all about, right? Offering a venue or, you know, a place for, you know, for resident managers and site managers to get together with their peers with other resident managers, site managers and exchange information. Exactly, and Mike Venable said it best when he first was calling in the phrase, we are an outreach community program and community being capitalized there because resident, everyone has to live someplace and resident managers and with an organization like we have that emphasizes comfortable living, clean, quality living. It's just, it makes condo life very palatable, livable. And you guys are the glue, basically it holds everything together. I mean, I can speak to that because, you know, as president of my association, I don't know what I'd do without my site manager. When it gives, it gives a standard that if we hold our managers to a standard that is, like I was saying earlier, contagious. It makes the rest of the managers in town try to aspire to keep their buildings up in a very professional platform. Okay, we're getting to the end of our time and I really, really appreciate you being a guest on our condo insider show. And, you know, I wish you and your organization much success. I mean, you seem to get bigger and stronger. I mean, as the years go by and I know Mike would be so pleased to know that you've done such huge, you know significant outreach in the community. Well, I certainly appreciate you having us on and we will forever strive to keep improving our quality of condo living. Thank you, Jane. Thank you, Ben. And thank you, the viewers for tuning in to another episode of condo insider. And next week it's Thanksgiving. So we're not gonna have a show and I wanna wish on behalf of the condo insider, my other co-hosts, a very happy Thanksgiving and please tune in on the following week for a really important show. And this is condo insider is the show for people who live and work in condos. And thank you very much for sharing your time with me and Ben Merritt of Merma today. Thank you very much. Mahalo. Mahalo.