As the founder and president of the Lantana Cares non-profit organization focused on keeping Lantana looking beautiful since 2016, Christy Wong was a perfect person to ask to serve on the Lantana Community Association’s Advisory Committee.
When Mark Norton, manager of the Lantana Community Association, asked her to fill a vacancy early last year, she eagerly accepted.
“I think he asked me because he saw how passionate I was about the community and how involved I was and engaged I was to make our community better,” said Wong, 35.
“When Mark first approached me about it, he said ‘hey what are your thoughts about this,’” she said. “To be honest, I wanted to get a better understanding of what the HOA does and how it supports our community. It doesn’t seem to matter if the HOA is involved or not, it always is the first to get blamed for everything. It seems everyone gangs up on the HOA but nobody knows what the HOA does and how they do it. The HOA is a very personal thing to many people.”
In addition to Lantana Cares, she also has volunteered with the Denton County Sheriff’s Office Volunteers in Police Service program. So to say she’s highly invested in Lantana would be an understatement.
“We’ve lived here our entire time in the area and have no intention of moving,” said Wong. “So it’s been a matter of how can we make things better.”
Born in California, Wong’s family moved to Mohave Valley, Arizona, when she was 10-years-old. After high school, she relocated to Las Vegas where she earned degrees in science education and general studies at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
Soon thereafter she met Steve, at the time a corporate airplane pilot.
“When my husband and I were dating, I had visited Texas and really fell in love with the area and knew this is where I wanted to make my home,” she said.
Wong and husband Steve have lived in the same Sandlin neighborhood home, since moving from Las Vegas in 2007.
The couple have a daughter, Emily, 16, and son Mitchell, 5.
Steve later left aviation as a career, to become a human resources technology consultant. Christy, also a licensed pilot, works as a health care account manager. They own a Piper Cherokee Warrior plane housed in Denton and are members of the Aero Valley Flying Club at Northwest Regional Airport.
What has Wong learned in her tenure on the committee?
“I have gotten a sense of what the HOA is responsible for and what the future of Lantana looks like,” she said. “The HOA is not ‘out to get anybody.’ But, what the HOA really and truly is about, is to preserve the integrity of Lantana. It’s to oversee the preservation of Lantana and what we are.
“So many people run off emotions and perceptions. Very few go out and get the information. So, what I have hoped to be is a liaison to the community that people can reach out to.”
Likely, by the end of 2019, the HOA will be completely resident-operated and elected. While Wong hasn’t decided if she will seek a position, she does know the importance of the positions.
“People who have not been involved in the HOA are going to be in for a huge wake-up call,” she said. “I’m hoping residents, who have been involved in HOAs previously, will eventually step-up and run for those spots, because it’s not like one person comes in and dictates this is how we’re going to do it. It really is a group asking the questions of what’s going to be best for Lantana.
“Whenever we have HOA Advisory Committee meetings, it’s never about ‘I.’ It’s always ‘we’ as a community. As an individual I work very, very hard to ensure the betterment of Lantana.
“I just want people to know how much I love this community and that everything I do is for the future benefit of our community. I’m looking for what else I can do to secure a better community. What can I do to bring us closer together.”
 GIF.gif)
