Paul D. Grucza, CMCA, AMS, PCAM, vice president and chief financial officer of Consolidated Community Management, Inc., in Tamarac, FL, has been named president of Community Associations Institute (CAI). Grucza heads a new slate of officers and members of the Board of Trustees taking office this month.

CAI is the only national membership organization dedicated to fostering vibrant, responsive, competent community associations. The 16,000-member organization and its 50-plus chapters represent managers, community association volunteer leaders, management companies and professionals who provide products and services to planned communities.

CAI's other 2004 officers are:

• President-elect Sandra K. Denton, CMCA, LSM, PCAM, executive director, First Colony Community Association, Sugar Land, TX.
• Vice President Wilbert Washington II, Esq., Chadwick, Washington, Moriarty, Elmore & Bunn, PC, Fairfax, VA.
• Secretary Ronald L. Perl, Esq., Hill Wallack, Attorneys at Law, Princeton, NJ.
• Treasurer Howard A. Goldklang, CPA, Goldklang, Cavanaugh & Associates, PC, CPAs, Fairfax, VA.
• Immediate Past President J. David Ramsey, Esq., Ramsey Berman, PC, Morristown, NJ.

The following were elected to serve terms beginning in March 2004:

• Pearline Atkinson-Stewart, homeowner, Columbia, MD.
• Ross W. Feinberg, Esq., Feinberg, Grant, Mayfield, Kaneda & Litt, LLP, Newport Beach, CA.
• William F. Hession, CMCA, AMS, PCAM, general manager, Community Association Banc, Sachse, TX.
• Marc D. Markel, Esq., Roberts Markel Guerry, Houston, TX.
• Drew R. Mulhare, CMCA, AMS, LSM, PCAM, president, Realtec Community Services, Williamsburg, VA.
• Karen Shirvanian, CIRMS, vice president, Kevin Davis Insurance Services, Los Angeles, CA.
• Edward D. Thomas, CMCA, AMS, PCAM, chief executive officer, Property Management People, Frederick, MD.

"We couldn't have a more impressive slate of respected leaders in the community association field," said CAI Chief Executive Officer Thomas M. Skiba. "This is a time of great challenge and opportunity for CAI, our members and the community association field. I'm eager to work with these dedicated volunteers, and look forward to what we can accomplish in the year ahead."

CAI Officers:

• President Paul D. Grucza, CMCA, AMS, PCAM, sold a successful association management firm in 2001 to become an equity partner in his current firm. With more than two decades of experience in association management, he has been active in CAI since 1987, serving as vice president of CAI's Western New York chapter and as a member of the CAI Board of Trustees since 2000. Grucza participates as an instructor and strategist in CAI's Professional Management Development Program (PMDP) and earned CAI's Educator of the Year award in 1999-2000. He currently travels throughout Florida educating homeowners and others on the operational dynamics of community associations and cooperatives, the financial management of condominium associations and conflict resolution.
• President-elect Sandra K. Denton, CMCA, LSM, PCAM, is executive director of First Colony Community Association (FCCA), a master-planned community southwest of Houston encompassing more than 10,000 acres and more than 12,000 units. Under Denton, FCCA earned CAI's National Community Association of the Year Award (NCAYA) in 1998 and was inducted into the NCAYA Hall of Fame in 2000. Denton has been a member of the CAI Board of Trustees since 2001, has served on several committees and task forces and has led numerous CAI educational sessions.
• Vice President Wilbert Washington II, Esq., dedicates his practice to community association law. A member of the CAI Board of Trustees since 2001, Washington is an active member of CAI's Washington Metropolitan chapter. He has taught courses on drafting and amending community association documents and on fair housing laws as they apply to community associations. His expertise includes legal issues related to the conversion of apartments to condominium associations.
• Secretary Ronald L. Perl, Esq., leads Hill Wallack's Community Association Law Practice Group. Perl is immediate past president of CAI's Foundation for Community Association Research. An attorney with more than 20 years of experience in community association law, Perl serves on the Board of Governors of the College of Community Association Lawyers. He is past president of CAI's New Jersey chapter and has served as a member of CAI's PMDP faculty. He serves as an adjunct professor at Seton Hall School of Law.
• Treasurer Howard A. Goldklang, CPA, a member of the CAI Board of Trustees since 1999, is an active member and past president of CAI's Washington Metropolitan chapter. He has served on a variety of task forces and committees, contributed to the development of a variety of reports, reviewed course materials and publications, and served as a speaker at CAI conferences. Author of CAI's popular title, The Role of the Association Treasurer, Goldklang earned CAI's Award of Excellence in Membership in 1997-98 and serves as a member of CAI's PMDP faculty. Goldklang is 2004 president-elect of CAI's Foundation for Community Association Research.
• Immediate Past President J. David Ramsey, Esq., heads the real-estate section of his law firm, and has more than 20 years of experience in community association law. An active member of the New Jersey and American Bar Associations, Ramsey serves on numerous committees related to community association and land development law. He has been a member of CAI's Board of Trustees since 1999, serving as treasurer in 2001 and as president in 2003. He has chaired CAI's Political Action Committee and Law Seminar Planning Committee, and he regularly lectures and writes on matters concerning the community association field.