Condo owners are the ones responsible for funding the maintenance and repair of their building. There will certainly be plenty of finger pointing going on in the years ahead as attorneys file suits against the condo board and the city and anyone else they can think of who bears some responsibility for the recent collapse of the tower in Miami.
There are likely many causes, but failure to maintain the structure over the years is No. 1 in my opinion. You can ride the horse of “deferred maintenance” for a long time, but eventually the piper will be paid.
This event will be another chapter in the long history of addressing issues
after there is a big disaster that captures people’s attention and then they demand action. Hopefully people will be paying attention and not loose interest and motivation to fund the cost of maintenance when the bill comes due.
Eric Holdeman is a nationally known emergency manager. He has worked in emergency management at the federal, state and local government levels. Today he serves as the Director, Center for Regional Disaster Resilience (CRDR), which is part of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER). The focus for his work there is engaging the public and private sectors to work collaboratively on issues of common interest, regionally and cross jurisdictionally.
