VOTE FOR BRIAN KENSIL FOR CROA
I am running to be a member of the Celebration Residential Owners Association (“CROA”) Board.
My wife, Sandi, and I lived in Connecticut before becoming full time Celebration residents in 2008. Prior to 2008, we were frequent visitors with friends who were founding members of Celebration. That’s how we came to know and enjoy Celebration. Before retiring from the reinsurance business in 2016 (reinsurers insure the insurance companies against catastrophic events such as earthquakes and hurricanes), I worked for the White Mountains Group and the Zurich Group as both the U.S. and/or Global Chief Financial Officer for their reinsurance operations. In these roles, I served on boards and board committees such as finance, enterprise risk management and internal audit.
Sandi and I have always been active with charitable endeavors. Upon moving to Celebration, we both continued to be active with the Salvation Army of Orange and Osceola counties. Additionally, we were very active with the Community Presbyterian Church of Celebration in starting The Community Hope Center. The Hope Center has been a large success in helping families in need on the Route 192 corridor. I have also served on other charitable and church boards in the past. Currently, I serve on the Advisory Boards for both the Celebration Foundation and Boys & Girls Club.
I believe this background has allowed me to develop a good understanding of the administrative, communication and financial challenges of organizations of varying sizes and objectives.
Post retirement, I started attending CROA Board meetings and workshops, becoming more involved as the CCMC contract renewal process evolved. The final CCMC contract saved hundreds of thousands of dollars versus the prior contract. I have read the Celebration Community Charter. I learned that CROA interaction can bring real value to the community. Specific strengths I believe I can bring to CROA include:
a. A good understanding of the community, having lived here for 10 years.
b. An ability to understand and contribute to the financial management, budget and control structure of
the community.
c. I have two children and three grandchildren (ages 11, 9 and 2). I fully appreciate the need for supporting facilities and programs in our community.
d. I am also a big supporter of programs such as “Thriving in Place” and the value it brings in helping our residents to more fully enjoy living in Celebration.
e. Protecting owner investment by understanding the downtown infrastructure and commercial needs and how they impact our community.
f. Celebration as a growing community must be a safe place for us and our children. Whether it is traffic patterns during events, parking or other such items, these will be focus items for me.
These are my goals to enhance the community we have all come to know and love over the last 20 years. My background provides me with a diverse perspective to serve the residents of Celebration. I want to see Celebration achieve incredible things, maintain the vison set forth by its’ visionaries, and keep the dreams of every resident alive and well in a place we all call home.
I can be reached at bekensil@aol.com with questions or comments you might have. Thanks for your consideration.
Brian Kensil CROA February 13th Introduction
Good evening, due to a previous travel commitment, I am unable to attend tonight’s candidate forum. I would like to thank you for listening to this second CROA candidate’s forum.
I believe this is a very important election. As you may be aware, we have had repetition of candidates on the CROA and the Celebration Community Development District (“CCDD”) boards. While I thank those individuals for their willingness to serve our community, I worry that Board members can become complacent and that we can have a lack of a fresh perspective.
What I believe is important is that we have a CROA Board with independent thinkers so that diverse opinions can be shared and debated with the best solutions for Celebration implemented in the long run. That is why I chose to run.
In regards to the CCMC contract renewal, I have been asked if I would have voted for a request for proposal (“RFP”). My answer is “Yes”, I would have. I spoke at Board meetings in the public comment section in support of the RFP. An RFP does not mean that CCMC would not have been awarded a new contract, it means we would have had a more open process of understanding current arms-length terms for pricing and service terms. I believe we ultimately ended up in a position where we got a fair contract due to the ability to use the Evergreen contract with Solivita as an arms-length comparison. However, it should be noted that three CROA board members voted against going back for revised terms (which eventually saved Celebration residents money) and one of those board members is running for re-election now.
The CCMC contract renewal is now behind us. However, many important issues are still ahead of us like the Civic Corridor development including the potential new community center building. These projects are being evaluated and negotiated with commitments that involve millions of dollars. Some may be Osceola County dollars, but it is critically important that we understand and carefully document agreements and the impact on Celebration. Also, let’s not forget that some of those Osceola County dollars are our dollars as well. We need to involve our community and get feedback in advance of committing ourselves to significant financial obligations. I believe the new CROA Board being seated in March should be heavily involved in negotiating these documents.
Additionally, voters should assess if they feel it is appropriate for any resident to be able to serve on the CCDD Board & the CROA Board simultaneously. Such Board member would have the power to vote on two boards at the same time perhaps dealing with the same issues and yielding undue influence. Perhaps, it would be best for any such candidate to resign from one Board before serving on the other to avoid the appearance of conflict.
Again, this is an important election. Please vote for the candidates that you believe will best serve our community. I am asking that you please vote for me. Thank you.
Brian E. Kensil
Four For CROA/Vote 2018 