Overview and General Guidelines
These guidelines lay out the expectations for participants who use the Ventana del Mar Official Google Group (https://groups.google.com/a/ventanadelmar.org/forum/#!forum/vdm). The group provides residents (owners and renters at Ventana del Mar) a friendly environment to see announcements from the association, discuss ideas, give advice, and converse about any other aspects of our community with other residents. Groups like this are at their best when participants treat their fellow residents with respect and courtesy. Therefore, we expect you to conduct yourself in a civilized manner when participating in the group.
The more detailed guidelines listed below explain what behavior is expected of you and what behavior you can expect from other participants. The guidelines are not exhaustive, and may not address all manner of offensive behavior. As such, the moderators shall have full discretion to address any behavior that they feel is inappropriate. Also, when you are no longer a resident we may remove your access to the group entirely. Posting on the group is a “privilege,” and not a “right.” The Ventana del Mar HOA reserves the right to suspend your posting privileges to the group at any time for your failure to abide by these guidelines. The Ventana del Mar HOA reserves the right to evaluate each incident on a case by case basis and to update these guidelines periodically, your continued use of the group after such an update to these guidelines will constitute acceptance.
Specific Expectations
Civility generally: This is a moderated discussion group. We expect this group to be a place where people can feel comfortable asking questions and where debates and discussions are conducted in civil tones.
Discuss issues, not people: Discussions are about issues, not people. If you disagree with an idea, go ahead and marshal all your forces against it. But do not confuse ideas with the person posting them. At all times we must conduct ourselves in a respectful manner to other posters.
Do not attack people/groups/organizations: Attacks on individuals/groups/organizations, insults, name calling, trolling, baiting, claims of misconduct/criminality provided without substantiation, or other attempts to sow dissension are not acceptable. If you feel that someone has attacked you or otherwise violated the policies of this forum, do not respond in kind. Instead, please report the post to the moderators.
No direct access by management: The association’s management is not provided access to the group. However, posts that raise concerns (e.g. life safety, building safety, specific repairs needed, etc.) may optionally be escalated by any participant to the association’s management to better highlight the concern. In contrast, general complaints about the management company should not be forwarded. Nonetheless, the issues raised in such posts may be surfaced by board members to help the management company provide better service.
Non-actionable (Trolling) Topics: If readers can’t do anything with the content of a topic other than argue about it, it does not belong here.
Group focus is information sharing and resident-to-resident sharing: The group is designed to be an official communication channel, e.g. for the association to provide general updates to the residents and to facilitate resident-to-resident discussions. If you have a specific concern (e.g. repair needed, legal concerns, architectural request, etc.) the group is not an appropriate channel to notice the association or to get specific repairs handled. For such items, please contact our management company directly.
Username selection: We will expect you to set your posting handle, or username, to include the first name you generally go by in day-to-day life and either (i) your full last name or (ii) the first initial of your last name. We believe that this will foster a healthier discussion environment. Example, “Mary Jane Smith” usually goes by “Jane” then her handle would be either “Jane S” or “Jane Smith”. If there are multiple people with similar names, the moderators will work with you to select an appropriate variation to avoid confusion.
Moderation Procedures
Generally: If a post, or thread, comes to a moderator’s attention as breaking these rules, the moderator may step in to the thread and take actions such as: (i) locking the thread, (ii) applying a posting ban to the offending user(s), and/or (iii) posting a caution to the thread to caution reminding participants to abide by the rules.
Locked topics: Occasionally, even if there are no overt violations of posting policy, a topic (or thread) will reach a point where the information content of the discussion has been essentially exhausted and further replies are much more likely to cause distress to the community than add anything of value. Topics are locked to give everyone a chance to cool down. Thus if a topic is locked, please do not start up another thread to continue the discussion, at least right away. Such follow-on threads may be locked or deleted without warning.
Posting bans: Residents who violate the rules may be given a posting ban, generally for the first offense, a warning will be given. For subsequent offenses, longer posting bans will be given: 3 day, 30 day, lifetime. Thus, typically someone will have had 3 clear warnings that they are not complying with the community guidelines before having their posting capability permanently banned.
Appeals: In the event that you disagree with a moderation action or ban, you can initially escalate to the moderators via direct messages. If that is not satisfactory, you can provide a notice to the association via the management company that you would like the board to reconsider the action. The standard rules for the association for a hearing on the issue will then be put into effect. Note while your dispute/appeal is pending, any bans will remain in place.