January 2018
D I G E S T
The Official Publication of the Kiawah Island Community Association
2018 Annual Meeting - Introducing the Candidates
At the upcoming 2018 KICA Annual Meeting, scheduled
for Friday, March 2 at 2 p.m. at Beachwalker Center, three
candidates are running for two open member director positions
on the KICA board. Watch your mail for your Annual Meeting
voting materials and ballot, including a message from the board
and nominating committee chairs, information on candidates,
details on a proposed covenant amendment, and more.
This year’s candidates for the board are introduced below. After
thorough consideration, the KICA Nominating Committee has
recommended three candidates - Mike Feldmann, Sue Schaffer
and Michael Talbert - in the upcoming directors election. Though
only two director positions will be open, the committee feels that
all candidates can bring skill and purpose to the board and, as the
board does not have a specific gap in skill set for the coming year,
it is reasonable to put forward all three candidates to members.
Below you can find more information on all three candidates,
including their Statements of Focus, candidate biographies/
experience, and additional comments.
More opportunities to learn about the candidates will be available
soon, including recorded interviews and a Meet the Candidates
event on Feb. 8, 2018.
Mike Feldmann - Nominating Committee Recommended Candidate
Statement of Focus
My attention as a KICA Director would be on three critical
tasks that I view as essential to anchoring Kiawah as a special
place, a unique island community.
• Preserving Kiawah’s natural resources and beauty.
• Maintaining and enhancing the rich and varied lifestyle
options we have historically enjoyed as property owners.
• Allocating KICA resources and capital efficiently to
increase Kiawah’s attractiveness and protect our individual
financial investments.
I suspect this might have been easier 10 or even five years ago.
Today multiple challenges present: replacing aging infrastructure,
generating increased revenue in a smaller real estate market,
planning for a changing and reduced role for the developer,
maintaining superior yet cost effective amenities, and mitigating
where possible the impact of more frequent and powerful storms.
Personal
I have been married to my wife Betsy for over 38 years. We have
three children ages 33, 31 and 27. Each is presently single but
we would enjoy grandkids should they appear at some point.
We rented at Kiawah in 1996-97 and built our first home on
Glen Abbey in 1998. I enjoy designing and building houses,
and have done so about every five years, moving to Flyway
Drive, Marsh Island Drive and currently Goldenrod Court,
where our five years are about up.
Over the past few years as business activity wound down, we
began spending about half the year on Kiawah. Our principal
residence is Boston, but we are planning to change to South
Carolina residents in 2018.
My hobbies include golf, investments, travel and reading
(history, biographies, fiction).
Career Highlights
After earning a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Business
Administration degree from Michigan State University, I spent
over 20 years moving back and forth between corporate operating
jobs (Procter & Gamble, Hachette/Grolier, and Digitas) and
management consulting (McKinsey, Marketing Corp of America).
As a mid-life crisis, instead of a sports car I got the
entrepreneurial bug and founded two successful companies,
one in data analytics (sold privately) and the other in sales/
marketing software (took public). Later I led a couple of small
business turn-around situations. It all wrapped up in 2017
when coincidently I turned 65.
Other Experience/Volunteerism
• Men’s Collaborative to Cure Women’s Cancer (Dana
Farber Cancer Institute), Habitat for Humanity Boston
• Crossroads for Kids
• Samaritans
• Trustee Dartmouth St. Condo Association
• Capital Planning Committee, Brae Burn CC
Additional Comments
My broad business background has afforded me the opportunity
to develop skills central to being a productive board member,
helping meet Kiawah’s challenges.
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