Art Hiban, Neighbor

<b>Current</b> Since 1985 Art Hiban and his wife Kathleen have lived in the Dockside Neighborhood of Montgomery Village adjacent to Whetstone Park and Lake.

<b>Family </b>Art and Kathleen have a combined family of eight children and 13 grandchildren.

<b>Life </b>Art is a life long Maryland resident. He grew up in Hyattsville, graduating from Saint Jerome’s, DeMatha and the Maryland University with a BS degree in Economics. He has lived in Bethesda (1960-62), Rockville (1962-67), Columbia (1970-85), and since 1985 in Montgomery Village.

<b>Military </b>He was on Active Duty from 1957 to 1960 and trained with local reserve units from 1960 to 1980 with a rank of Commander in the Navy Supply Corps.

<b>Professional </b>Art has been in the property management business since 1969.  His first job in the business was as the Manager of the Village of Cross Keys in Baltimore for the Rouse Company.  He was the Director of Community Management for the Shannon and Luchs Company from 1975 to 1981, President, Hiban Graffius Management Company (HGM) 1985-2001 and Principal of Hiban Group Management consulting firm from 2002 to present.  His professional designations include a Certified Property Manager, Emeritus (CPM) granted by the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) and a Professional Community Association Manager (PCAM) awarded by the Community Association Institute (CAI). He was President, of the local Washington D.C. chapter of Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) in 1982.

<b>Community </b>Art was a member of the Montgomery County Human Relations Commission (1968-70), and President, of the Bethesda Jaycees in 1966.

<b>My Blogging </b>

My first Blog venture was in the summer of 2006 <b><i>Thinking Outside the Box</i></b> was advertised as “A journal of ideas, concepts exploring the world of Community Associations; Housing, Property &amp; Facility management; Non Profit Governance, Public Policy and service delivery”. The initial posting “What’s in Your Meter? Searching for <b><i>the Truth about Pepco Electrical Power Rate Schedules”</i></b>, discussed escalating Pepco electric power charges from 2003 to 2006. Over the past 5 years Pepco’s reliability of its electrical power distribution infrastructure to properly function has continually diminished. The credibility, ability and competence of its corporate and operational management not to make a difference has becomes increasingly evident.

The <b><i>Montgomery Village Observer Blog</i></b> ,E-newsletter and website were launched in March 2007 to create awareness; promote improvement of  the Montgomery Village Foundation’s (MVF) finances; care and maintenance of the Village’s common property; staff performance, service delivery and governance. Over the past 4 years the blog has had 25 postings that generated 238 comments to promote these causes. Despite continuous and frequent comments and pronouncements by the Foundation to the contrary its financial reporting continues to be opaque, misleading and depicts a false positive improved state of the Village’s financial affairs and operations, as well as the condition of its property and facilities.

<b>My Patch Blog <br></b>

My postings in the Montgomery Village Patch will make observations on the public and private governments and institutions in Montgomery Village, Montgomery County and the state of Maryland, which have the most significant impact on our daily lives. It is my intention to provide information and a perspective not found elsewhere that would create a productive public dialog. 

Included for special attention will be on going blog posting about the Montgomery Village Foundation, the County Government, the County delegation to Annapolis, the Maryland Public Service Commission, Pepco and any organization that likes to dig up our streets, sidewalks and lawns such as WSSC, Washington Gas, Comcast and Verizon.