Association Manager

American Management Services (AMS) provides full service management and accounting services for Kentfield Commons.  AMS handles all of the HOA's day-to-day operations.  This includes all owner request for services, communications with contractors, billing and accounting, and all correspondence and newsletters.  

Homeowners should contact AMS for assistance with any HOA related concerns, both urgent and non-urgent.  ​Regular business hours are Monday - Thursday 8AM-5PM and Friday 8 to 12pm. There is a manager on call for emergencies at all times.  ​
  • For After Hour Emergencies:  Follow prompts to speak with the manager on call.  Leave a clear, detailed message with your name, HOA's name, issue, and call back number.  Please reserve these after-hours calls for true emergencies: situations that require vendors to be called out immediately to protect life or property. 
  • Items that can wait for the next business day should be reported during regular business hours.  This helps us keep our association's costs in check. ​
Kathleen Waite, Certified Community Association Manager.  Owner of American Management Services. 
  • Phone:  408-225-7380     Fax: 408-225-7382
  • E-mail:   kathleen@amspcam.com or tiana@amspcam.com
  • ​Address: American Management Services, Inc.
                     1190 S. Bascom Ave., Suite 242
                     San Jose, CA 95128
HOA Newsletter: The HOA sends newsletters periodically.   
HOA E-mail List:  The HOA e-mail list is used to inform residents about urgent safety concerns such as gate access issues, water, sewer, or gas issues and other time-sensitive information.  The association manager is the only person that posts to the HOA e-mail list.  If there is information that should be shared with everyone, let him or her know.  
To join the list, email the manager with: Your Name, Address, and Email Address(es) you'd like included.

Volunteers

The Open Meeting Act requires that the Board of Directors conduct all of its discussions and deliberations in meetings that are open to the entire membership.  Except for certain emergency situations, boards are prohibited from conducting meetings via email, and taking action on any item of business outside of board meetings.  These laws give members more transparency into the HOAs decision making process, at the expense of speed and efficiency.   See Member Resources.

If you'd like to learn about the HOAs operations and talk to the board and committee volunteers, please attend the board meeting.  
​
Please direct any concerns that arise between meetings to the Association Manager​.  HOAs, including Kentfield Commons, often struggle to find enough volunteers to fill board and committee positions.  Allowing volunteers to focus their energy on the scheduled meetings helps HOA's reduce volunteer burnout and retain enough volunteers to support its long-term functioning.  ​

HOA ​Board Meetings 

Board of Directors meetings are held every other month.  All members are encouraged to attend.

Meetings are conducted in accordance with both the HOA's governing documents and California state law.  See Member Resources. 
  • Members can contact the Association Manager to get an item on the Agenda.   
  • Members can send the Association Manager any information they would like the board to review.  Board packets are distributed to all of the board members several days before each meeting.  
  • The meeting time, place, and agenda are posted on the community bulletin board at the pool at least four (4) days before the meeting.  If you have any questions or concerns about an agenda item, please attend the meeting.  ​​
Next Board Meeting:  Contact Association Manager for Info
Open Forum is the time set-aside for members to address the Board of Directors on any issue that falls within the board's authority, whether on the agenda or not.  If you wish to address the Board or membership, please do so during the Open Forum portion of the meeting.  Please state your name and address, and limit your comments to three minutes to ensure that others have an opportunity to speak.   ​Please note: 
  • Comments, concerns, and request will be acknowledge and noted in the meeting minutes, but in most cases, the Board can only discuss and take action on issues that are posted on the agenda.  New matters of concern can be added to the next agenda. 
  • Topics should not: involve matters outside the board's authority, be defamatory, indecent, abusive, or involve personal attacks or threats legal or otherwise, or involve the disclosure of confidential information.
  • The Board is required to work with the association's managing agent, attorney, and other professionals to ensure that decisions are made in the best interests of the association and its membership as a whole.
Members are welcome to observe the board conducting business during the remainder of the meeting.  ​​​See Member Resources.

Volunteer           ​

If you see a problem that needs to be fixed, or something that would be nice to add to the community, please volunteer to make it happen.  Like many HOAs, we receive complaints, concerns, and suggestions about a number of issues, but we do not have any volunteers on hand to work on these issues. 

If you are concerned about an issue, please work with Management to:
  1.  Join a committee or create a new committee.
  2. Research the issue. See Member Resources to find the applicable laws.  
  3. Propose solutions to the Board and membership at board meetings. 
  4. Work with the Association Manager to ensure the proper follow through.   Since we do not have any managers or employees onsite. It is important to have owners who can meet with vendors to make sure work is done properly.   
​Members must be eligible to serve, and the board must appoint committees, but there is no limit to the number of committees that can be formed, and no limit to the number of members that can serve on each committee.  Volunteers of all ages are welcome.  
The impersonal hand of government can never replace the helping hand of a neighbor. ~Hubert H. Humphrey