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COMMUNItY NEwS | FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | APRIL 2014 7 6 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | APRIL 2014 | COMMUNItY NEwS New General Manager Settling into Position Jeri Mupo has her eyes on us. She took over as general manager of the Four Seasons management office in late February and, "I'm watching – observing. I hope to have some suggestions to improve our services and systems, but right now it's wiser to watch, to get educated." She said her predecessor, Lisa Lynn, "did a really good job, so it's time to go slow; but sometimes fresh eyes can add new things." When Lynn left for a job at another property management company, Mupo came over from the Euclid Management regional office in Upland and has great enthusiasm for her new position She said she was delighted be offered the chance to work at Four Seasons Beaumont. "It's K. Hovnanian's 'flagship' project nationwide. It's nice to work at a flagship." Mupo has a wealth of experience with property management. She began in 1990 as fill-in receptionist from a temporary agency. When the company went out of business in 1992 she went to work at Euclid. She became a portfolio manager, handling the affairs of several smaller HOAs with no on-site staff. Later she was promoted to division manager, overseeing a group of managers. Four Seasons Murrieta became one of her portfolio customers when its staffing vendor lost its insurance and K. Hovnanian sought help from Euclid. "We did such a good job that we were hired for Palm Springs, Hemet, Bakersfield and Beaumont," she said. Later she became director of developer relations – dealing with the companies that build the developments Euclid manages. One of her responsibilities was to ensure the smooth transition from builder control to HOA control as the projects were built out – a process Beaumont will go through in time. "We don't know when that will happen," said Mupo. "It's market-driven. If they can sell faster they will build faster." Four Seasons now has 1,125 homes; at build-out there will be just less than 2,000. Two new recreation centers are yet to be built. Plans for Village Center 2 – on Four Seasons Circle at Mesa Verde Park – have been approved by the Beaumont Planning Commission and preliminary work is underway. Village Center 3 – on Four Seasons Circle at Breckenridge Ave. - is planned for 2018. Mupo said there are differences between unrestricted developments and those for people over 55. "I am amazed at the constant activity at the Lodge," she said. With most residents retired there is no lull during regular working hours. "So we have more interaction with the residents. We provide more services." Mupo lives in Yucaipa ("What a great commute – just 11 miles," she said) with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Danielle, 19, who is finishing her studies at Concord College to be a surgical technician. Three older children have already left home, "so when she leaves, we're getting ready to be empty nesters." Mupo is a native Californian, born in Mountain View and raised in Morgan Hill south of the Bay area. She grew up in an unusual home. She said her father was "an Okie" from Oklahoma and her mother a big city girl from San Francisco. "So we had to compromise a bit." They lived in a suburban setting, but on two acres of land where they raised all manner of animals: "steers, pigs, sheep, rabbits, chickens, ducks,' she said. "I had my own horses to ride. It was wonderful." Her dad worked in high tech, at Lockheed in Sunnyvale, but he came from the countryside and wanted his kids to know about it. "He thought it was a good experience. It was how he grew up and thought we should too." Mupo has taken classes and exams to be certified by the California Association of Community Managers and the national Community Association Institute. She is working toward a Professional Association Managers Certificate. All that would allow her to put the initials CACM, CMCA, and PCAM after her name. "I paid a lot of money for those initials," she laughed. "But it's an investment in my career. It was worth it." Despite her high qualifications and years of experience, "There is always something new," she said. "I'm always learning. If not I would be bored." foUr SEaSonS SPotLiGHt Jeri Mupo, our new General Manager By Leighton McLaughlin

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