When Frank Lysiak moved from Orchard Park to the Rivermist townhouses a decade ago, he didn't think he'd be walking to work.

But he is.

Lysiak, earlier this year, became executive director of the Community Association Institute's Western New York chapter. He is taking over leadership of the 300-member association, which covers a wide swath of Upstate real estate stretching from Buffalo to Syracuse.

The funny thing is that Lysiak - a retired sales and marketing executive with Rich Products Corp. - wasn't looking for a new or second career. It found him.

"Did I want to start a second career?" he said. "No, not really."

Like so many things, Lysiak's new career was a matter of happenstance.

After moving from an Orchard Park subdivision, he quickly became involved in all things Rivermist. He was a leader among the residents. Just a few years after moving there, Lysiak was elected to its overseeing community board.

That board position led him to the Community Association Institute's local board.

"What makes this fun is you are dealing with so many good people who are so passionate," Lysiak said.

It also helps that the chapter's offices are in the Waterfront Village building, just a few steps away from Rivermist.

The association is the voice for condo, townhouse and apartment owners, managers and developers. The Western New York chapter represents an estimated 12,000 condo and townhouse owners in Upstate.

He said they sometimes get an unfair rap. The association speaks for those owners and residents.

Some contend that condo and townhouse owners aren't real property owners because they live in a shared community instead of a single-family home.

That's nonsense, Lysiak said.

"I feel just as proud to be a homeowner at Rivermist as I did when I lived in Orchard Park," he said.

The association in recent years led a lobbying effort when the Town of Amherst sought to have condos, apartments and townhouses assessed at full value, much like single-family homes.

That's wrong, Lysiak said.

Condos and townhouse complexes pay for the upkeep and repair of their grounds and infrastructure, including plowing roadways, picking up garbage and repairing broken sidewalks.

"For that alone, we feel there should be some form of tax relief," he said.

Once a hot-button issue in Amherst, talks about full assessments for condos, apartments and townhouses have subsided as the town grapples with other matters, including the impact of the stalled New York state budget talks.

The association is closely monitoring Amherst. If the issue moves to the forefront, it says it is ready to renew the lobbying efforts.

Last month, the association held a seminar on the need for townhouse, condo and apartment complexes to have a properly funded reserve account to handle unexpected and, sometimes, emergency repairs.

A similar one is slated to take place in Rochester.

The association also has taken a leading role in something else: educating members about new requirements under the state's "Amanda's Law," which requires all residential units constructed after Jan. 1, 2008, to have a hard-wired carbon monoxide alarm in strategic locations, including near bedrooms.

Besides educating members about the law, the association was able to sell carbon monoxide alarms at a discounted rate.