According to the Career Journal (the Wall Street Journal's Executive Career Site on the Internet), the worst job in America is that of a lumberjack. The reasons listed are "work instability, poor pay and pure danger." I'd add another job that fits those metrics pretty well: It's being a member of a homeowners association (HOA) board of directors. Board members get no pay, instability rules as members rotate in and out, and you can't beat it for danger -- cars get keyed, threats are frequent, and lawsuits abound.

I have served on the boards of three homeowners associations, and I've talked with people who have served on other boards. The problems are much the same in each: snarling residents who don't get their way, rules ignored, deadbeats who don't pay their dues, personal attacks, loud music and/or entertainment and, of course, lonely binge-barking dogs.

Now, according to the story "Report: Condo, townhome sales, prices rise," published in the NCT on Aug. 9, local "home buyers are beginning to favor condominiums and town houses more than single-family detached homes."

Higher density housing almost always brings with it HOAs, and almost all associations have boards of directors who govern in accordance with their adopted rules. Those rules are necessary when people live close to one another to ensure a reasonably peaceful environment for all to enjoy. I say "reasonably peaceful" because there are times when carnage seems inescapable.

Unfortunately, many people buy in to HOAs without reading the rules they agreed to. Then they get mad when they get a violation notice and/or a fine. Who gets the heat? The board. But boards must enforce the rules; to ignore them would be a violation of their fiduciary responsibilities, and that could easily lead to lawsuits.

So board members are frequently subjected to abuse, as residents who have violated the association rules target them with inappropriate retaliation rather than accept the responsibility for their own actions.

There are thousands of HOAs in North San Diego County, each providing governance and rules for residents. Indeed, to a great extent the HOA boards provide limited management and policing of many of our cities' residents. Without that support those cities would have to increase staffing. Police departments would see an increase in complaints about people who apparently can't understand why other people don't want to hear their loud music and loud parties, or that lonely dog barking all day. Public works departments would see increased road and infrastructure maintenance requests. Those, and other problems, are now frequently handled by the HOA boards.

The rules of society, whether in an HOA, city or state, must be followed, because without them we become a mob, demanding the right to do whatever we want whenever we want, regardless of the impact on others. That's anarchy, and that's behavior governing bodies fight all the time.

Association boards deserve the respect of the residents they serve and of the cities they support.

John Lynn is a resident of Carlsbad.