Introducing Myself...
Financial Expertise:
My education and career (see below) have run strongly in the finance and accounting areas, mainly within the context of operating companies. Because of this, I believe I am well-qualified to help oversee the financial affairs of the HOA.
Legal Expertise:
Our HOA operates within the context of an extensive web of legal requirements, so it is important for any director candidate to be well-versed in this. To make sure I am competent in this regard, I recently read the newly-published 2022 Condominium Bluebook, a 580-page tome that bills itself as "A Complete Legal Guide to Living in a Homeowners Association in California". Moreover, my career has also involved in depth legal dealings on the highest levels. If elected, I will make sure your HOA management is in reasonable compliance with all the relevant elements of the statutes.
Management Expertise:
Although the affairs of our HOA are tiny compared to the companies I have helped manage for the past several decades, there are some important common elements. Good planning, good communication, good execution, honest accountability, proactive transparency - these are all attributes of success in business I have learned over the years that will translate well into running our HOA at the level of professionalism that our multi-million dollar investments deserve.
Clay (& Camo)
Persimmon Hill HOA Director Candidate
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KIMBERLY ANN BARNES
While a realtor in San Francisco, Kim founded and was president of the "Friends of Lafayette Park". Her leadership brought forth a transformational renewal of the city's beloved Lafayette Park. For her efforts, in 2009 Kim was awarded a Certificate of Honor by the then-mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom.
In a nutshell...
I was born in 1949 in Bakersfield, where my father was in the oil business. I even recall stories he used to tell about drilling for oil in the Sespe wilderness (horrors!). In 1952 we moved to St. Helena in the Napa Valley, where he transitioned into agriculture, farming many crops (prunes, grapes, apples, walnuts, alfalfa, etc.).
I and my five siblings spent most of our "free" time working on his farm. I learned to drive the tractor at age 12. Our chores ranged from moving sprinkler pipe, to cutting and delivering green chop to a dairy, to stacking and delivering bales of hay, to picking every sort of crop imaginable. It was hot, dusty, dirty, boring, tiring, relentless work for which we got paid virtually nothing. But we laughed every day, and our family unit was as solid as stone.
In 1966 I escaped to Japan for the summer as an AFS student abroad, living with a Japanese family in the city of Sendai. For a kid who had never been outside of California, this was quite an adventure.
One year later I broke out of the prison farm for good when I went off to college. Of course, many years later I realized how lucky I was to have grown up with that structure, and I thank my parents daily for having given me such a good foundation for life.
I met my wife, Kim, 19 years ago in San Francisco where she worked as a real estate agent. Life circumstances kept us apart until fate happily rejoined us. Anticipating retirement, we scoured California for the perfect place and found Persimmon Hill in Ojai. We consider ourselves fortunate to be part of this unique community, and are very happy to be able to do our parts to help sustain its special nature.
My Expertise & Experience
1971 - B.S. Statistics. Stanford (graduated "With Distinction")1975 - MBA, Stanford (graduated "top 5% of class")1974 - Associate, Casualty Actuarial Society1989 - Certified Public Accountant
2016 - present: CFO, AAA NCNU, Inc., CA2014-2018: Director, Sunbanc Corp, NJ2006 - 2014: CFO, Toys "R" Us, Inc., NJ2000 - 2005: CFO, Mervyn's (sub. of Target Corp.), CAPrior jobs at Lucky Stores, Crocker Bank, and Fireman's Fund.