Everything I Learned From My HOA's Ficus Hedge Subcommittee

It was decided, in the third week of April, that the ficus hedge along Sabal Palm Drive had grown two inches beyond the allowable envelope. It was not decided who had decided this. The minutes, which I now serve as the recording secretary of, use only the passive voice. 'Concerns were raised.' 'A trimming was contemplated.' 'The matter was tabled, pending clarification of the envelope.'

I have been on the subcommittee for eleven months. In that time we have contemplated a trimming on four separate occasions. Twice we have raised concerns. Once, memorably, we clarified the envelope. The hedge remains two inches beyond it, and continues, in the passive voice, to grow.

I have learned, from this experience, that a subcommittee is not a place where things are decided but a place where things are, at length, considered. I have also learned that a ficus, when left alone, will simply become a wall. This is now the position of the hedge. The subcommittee has not yet issued a response.