OVERVIEW
The Concerned Citizens and The Wedgefield Civic Group have each put forth their platforms, and their candidates. Each group would like you to hand them your proxy, vote now, and vote their way. This year, maybe is the year to research, get your own answers, and not vote down the party line. In an effort to sort truth, I will blatantly tell you, I've never been a Concerned Citizen. I was the founder, the person who called a group of residents together, worked to form the steering committee of The Wedgefield Civic Group. I've given heart and soul, to the individuals on the steering committee, and sub committees. I've had to separate myself, and become an independent, in order to standby the original driving principles and goals of the group. I struggle, as many of you probably do, to make the right voting decisions, in the best interests of our community. Please read through, ask the candidates questions, review records, ramifications of recorded votes, etc. and determine what is real, and what is propaganda, from both groups.
THE CONCERNED CITIZENS
The Concerned Citizens are using a targeted approach. They have sent their platform letter to certain people. I wasn't one of them. This should be the first alarm. If the platform and candidates, are to benefit the entire community, why wouldn't they send it to every voter? In their usual form, they've also been calling homes to secure proxies and get their message out. Did they call your home? Will your vote, count? Will they allow residents who aren't it good standing vote again this year? Remember, the current Board majority is composed of five Concerned Citizens. Three of them Wilson, Thomas, and Walters are candidates this year.
THE CONCERNED CITIZEN PLATFORM - can be viewed at this website by reading the article titled, "The Concerned Citizens' Letter And Their Candidates". It can also be viewed at The Wedgefield Times. They make declarations of a "win", without a final order from the judge. They give you a choice - do you want to pay for the canal dredging, or not? They state they believe past and future assessments for canal dredging are wrong. Their biggest promise - their goal to is to give your canal assessment payments back to you. They claim "their actions" put your association in "legal jeopardy".
What Should You Consider? First, ask them to provide you a copy of the October 3rd court decision. Wouldn't you like to see first hand what the ruling was? The Concerned Citizens should put that claim of victory up for your review. To date, to my knowledge, there isn't a signed order. If there was, I don't believe it does, or would speak to responsibility for dredging, or the legality of the associated dredging assessments. Don't vote, with promises of a document, they don't have. If they do have it, review it and make sure they haven't told you, it says something it doesn't.
Second: Who told them past and future assessments were wrong, except their own propaganda machine? I wasn't here during the dredging 20+ years ago, but for all the reading I've done, no court ever ruled them as "wrong". The same holds true for the current assessment. What is true, is that the Concerned Citizen majority, of the WPA Board has voted to have the Board Attorney of Record, begin to be paid with our assessment dollars, to start more legal action for their cause, on our dollar.
The Third & Most Harmful: They claim "their actions", whose they? Are they the Board of 2009? Are they the Board Members who followed through on the canal assessments and filed liens? Are they, he, Robert Moran - their choice of lawyer, who told then President Walton, to proceed with following up on the liens?
The February 28, 2011, Email From Board Attorney Of Record, Robert Moran, To WPA President Jacky Walton: ""Jackie, The prior Board, acting upon advice of counsel, approved and levied a $5000 assessment against all canal front owners to pay for the dredging costs. It now appears that a number of owners have failed to pay their assessments and the Board has directed the legal chair to file Notices of Lien against the delinquent property owners as a fist step in the process of collection. Without giving you an opinion on the enforceability of the assessments, which issue is in contention, I do believe the Board is not setting itself up for any additional liability by following it's regular collection procedure. First, pleadings filed w/ the court are priviledged and do not give rise to a claim of "slander of title". Next, the provisions in the covenants and by-laws which provide for costs and atty's fees and unilateral, the HOA can collect but an individual homeowner has no such right. As long as the process is consistent, uniform, and reasonable and conducted in good faith your Board should not face any repercussions. Clearly, any owner is free to raise whatever claims, legitimate or not, in an action against the Board an there may be some additional attys fees incurred in defense costs. It's just the cost of doing business. Bob" Note: The Concerned Citizen Board majority, fired Moran, after he wrote an opinion stating the 2011 Petitioners should be allowed to hold a special meeting to recall: Wilson, Thomas, Huggins, Walters, and Barrier. After they used SC Non Profit Law to circumvent the By-Laws in the 2010 Recall, they went lawyer shopping and "found the religion of standing by the WPA By-Laws". Since then, they have turned to SC intermittently, in squelching resident inquiries for fact, record review, etc. Listen to the tapes of the meetings.
The Huge Risk Of The Concerned Citizen Platform - Giving You Your Canal Assessment Dollars Back: Take time again, to review the quote in blue, from Moran. It is key, "the prior Board, acting upon advice of counsel, approved and levied a $5000 assessment against all canal front owners to pay for the dredging costs." During the same meeting, the motion approved seeking a loan, that would be paid, through a combination of assessments, and WPA operating funds. The bank issued a loan, and an appropriate loan document. Go to the Concerned Citizen website and review the entire document. Wilson, candidate and Concerned Citizen, mentioned a pause in payments, during the October 2011 Board Meeting. Listen to Thomas' motions, and the Concerned Citizen majority vote. If they are going to give you your money back by defaulting on the loan, suing the bank, etc., review the ramifications to our community and the association. The bank can demand full payment, take the Associations assets, including collecting our assessments, until the loan is settled. Read the document and judge whether you want to help them keep a promise to you, that they never had legal standing to keep.
THE CONCERNED CITIZEN CANDIDATES: Read their individual statements regarding background, previous involvement on the Board etc, in your Annual Meeting Packet. I started to review a history on each of them and then reconsidered, in an effort to keep from repeating myself. The Concerned Citizen candidates are: Ron Pietkewicz, Fred Thomas, Carol Zieske, Jackie Walters, and George Wilson.
Pietkewicz and Zieske have extensive histories on the WPA Board. Both resigned shortly after the 2008 Annual Meeting. Remember all of the Concerned Citizen writings about how the canal people took over the Board and voted in the dredging? On the day of the 2008 Annual Meeting, there were six Concerned Citizens who still had terms to complete, and three vacancies which were filled through the voting by Davis (canal resident), Gettmann (non canal resident), and McMillin (canal resident). That meant that the Concerned Citizens had six firm seats of non canal residents, plus Gettmann, and two canal lot owners. Zieske and Pietkewicz had the power to vote any canal proposals out. They resigned and claimed the canal owners took over. Now they'd like to tell a different story.
Wilson has both a recent and past history. I attended a Board Meeting when Pietkewicz was President and Wilson stated that the Association owned the canals, and they could go to wetlands. They certainly did not include his statements in the minutes (their style of minute taking), but by the following month, Wilson was off the Board. Why? Will Pietkewicz answer that question?
Wilson's history on the Board will include a Recall under SC Law, managed by himself, and fellow candidates Zieske and Thomas. Now he says we are sticking by the By-Laws as it relates to recalls, and unless you sue the Board, you'll have to live with that. He has struck a resident in the office, admitted to asking to have the official meeting tape erased, video taped certain residents attending meeting - for his private use, etc. The list is too long, and you need to review the meeting tapes and minutes.
Thomas has never been elected to the Board. He has been appointed by his Concerned Citizen co-horts. He has served as Legal Chair, but if you read the documented reports at The Wedgefield Times, he hasn't allowed residents to see the opinions of the Board Attorney he forced on us. He has taken resident mail to Zieske (not a Board Member) for instructions as to what to do with them. He operates in a swerve and miss fashion, that is not in the best interests of the community. What do I mean? I'll document it for you because as you see, files come and go under Thomas' direction.
Thomas is asked by Garrison to find out from Attorney Moran, who the 2010 Recall Documents belong to. Remember of the current candidates, Wilson and Thomas, had sent a post card to all residents, signed as Board Members, that the recall meeting was going to be held. On Aug. 18, 2010, Thomas writes the following to Moran (typed as written), "Bob, It's my position that this Board did not do the recall election. Thus those documents are not the Board's and we do not have them. In fact I do not know who has these documents. This turned out not to be a Board function. Remember the petitioners did the Recall. That been said, there are some documents and materials that are missing and I would be happy to work out an agreement with those that needing to see Recall information in return of our missing items. I my be able to find the Recall documents under those conditions. Other than that I really don't care where they are." Current candidate, Zieske had the documents. Despite the fact that Thomas said the Recall wasn't the Board's, he, and Wilson paid Attorney Moran to represent them with WPA funds.
Walters: has raised her hand and voted with the Concerned Citizen majority Board. She has done little but vote. She gave up her committee work on Yard of the Month, when she said a resident spoke harshly to her. After her appointment to the Board, she responded to a resident who asked if she was a Concerned Citizen, by stating she wasn't. Really? Review the 2011 votes, and see if she told the truth.
All of the Concerned Citizen candidates have a long history of secret Executive Meetings, false undocumented accusations against those who fail to agree, and votes that have harmed us, supported by undocumented facts. Please review the meeting tapes and minutes.
PLEASE NOTE: Part two of this report - The Wedgefield Civic Group - will be available at this site on the 31st.
