L.A. from Broward County, Florida writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
Are “first come, first served” assigned boat slips not allowed to be posted and to remain private? Can the waiting list also be posted? I emailed such request to a Board member in charge of the slip assignment and got an email response from them saying that was private data and could not be released. I am next on the waiting list and I was already bypassed previously because they claimed my info was not complete though my application predated others. I was not afforded one day to supply the missing info and lost the Boat slip. It seems like a good idea to post the slip assignment in case there is a Boat in distress and the owner can be informed and countless other reasons, if not just for transparency sake. Thanks.
Mister Condo replies:
L.A., I feel your pain and I understand your query. However, the Board is handling the boat slip use according to the rules of your association and/or their own discretion. It sounds like you missed out because of an error on your earlier application. I find that unpleasant and questionable on the part of the Board but unless you can prove discrimination or foul play on the part of the Board, you have acknowledged that your application was faulty and therefore able to be passed over. However, you are next on the list and things are looking good for you moving forward. As for the reasons to publish the list, including boating safety, I doubt that is the concern of the Board. Keeping personal information private is generally a good Board policy. Let me give you an example. A person with bad intention sees that Mr. Smith from Unit 101 is assigned Slip 1. Slip 1 is vacant, indicating to the person with bad intention that Unit 101 is unoccupied. A theft occurs in Unit 101 because the information was published. Mr. Smith sues the association for not keeping his information private. You can see where keeping this information private reduces Board liability, which is always a good idea. I hope a slip opens up for you soon. Happy Boating!