Garrison began to speak promptly at 7:00 PM. He stated there was some confusion as to why there were visitors, when historically the reorganization meetings were closed. He didn't recall anyone determining it would be an open meeting. He said he didn't care, unless the Board opposed, and asked whether there should be a vote. When someone asked why it was posted, he said the Board had agreed to announce the meetings, but that did not determine resident attendance.
Jason Barrier wanted a vote.
McBride spoke and referred to an opinion from Attorney Moran and said there was nothing to hide and that they should proceed with the residents there.
Barrier told McBride that there was no need to refer to a Moran opinion. He tells McBride that he (Barrier) sent an email that was very clear and there was no need to revisit Moran's opinion. At one point Barrier tells McBride he wasn't even on the Board when this came up (Wait and read, because Barrier is wrong.)!
Barrier makes the motion to close the meeting. It is seconded by Walton. McMillin wants to know if they are setting a precedent. Garrison says there is a 20 year history of the reorganization meetings being closed. At one point Huggins suggests the Board adjourn to the inner office!
Enter resident Jude Davis who wants to know if they aren't going to follow the Attorney of Record, Moran's advice, have they taken the issue to Moody? No they haven't. She says the equivalent of "so you're not going to follow the Attorney of Record's advice"? No real answer was provided.
Now they have to decide whether they will vote by show of hand or by ballot. Barrier wants ballots. The vote by ballot is 5-4 to close the meeting. Garrison wants to know if anyone wants to inspect the ballots.
COMMENTS AND REAL DOCUMENTATION
Residents this was the biggest cat and mouse game I've witnessed in a long time! The sad part was it was same old, same old, at our expense. Garrison was head cat, and it appeared that at least part of the Board had staged this. I looked for their scripts, but obviously they had memorized their lines. Barrier and Garrison could have sung a duet. Huggins was ready to move the meeting away from the residents, to the inner office. Walton contributed by saying something about one of the closed meetings being one of the best they ever had.
Barrier was wrong! McBride was on the Board when Moran wrote an opinion regarding these special Board meetings.
If you were following the Board's scheduling of their special non member meetings, in the spring of 2011, you'll remember that then Attorney of Record, Bob Moran advised the Board that these meetings were to be open to the residents. It was during April and May when the Concerned Citizen element of the Board (Wilson, Thomas, Huggins, Walters, and Barrier) wanted to remove Walton as President. Later they acknowledged that because the President had the power to name committee chairs, and Walton had named McBride Legal Chair, that they had to remove Walton. Barrier asked Walton in a Board Meeting if he would reconsider his Legal Chair appointment. He refused and they removed him to make Huggins Legal Chair. The following quote is taken from a letter from Attorney Moran to John McBride, Legal Chairman and Jackie Walton, President, dated April 11, 2011:
"It is my understanding that a meeting is being held pursuant to a request from one or more of your Board Members for the purpose of reorganization of the Board. Initially I reiterate my advice to the Board to refrain from conducting business in executive session. There are very few purposes of conducting meetings which are not open to the Membership. Members may be prevented from participating in the meeting, but they should be given the opportunity to attend. This includes the organizational meeting conducted at the conclusion of the Annual meeting and, by implication, any subsequent re-organizational meeting. To the extent any business is ever conducted in executive session the results of the meeting needs to be re-affirmed in open session."
Once again McBride stood up for our residents, had the facts, and no one helped him carry the message. I'm not talking about the new Board Members Cline and DeMarchi. This was their first experience at this Board table. McMillin remained silent, as Barrier went after McBride. That wasn't always the case, but it has been for the last several months. Walton was a complete disappointment. You've read the quote from the letter above. The entire letter is available for your review at the end of this article.
The letter is addressed to Walton. He used this information when the Concerned Citizen element of the Board was trying to remove him. Walton sat back, gave verbal reinforcement/approval to holding a closed meeting, and took away our opportunity to view the process. He basically denounced our trust in him. He promised us open, legal, ethical, according to the governing documents, governance. He failed miserably! He failed McBride miserably! He left him hanging out on a limb. Did he want the presidency so bad that he was willing to stand against the principled governance he promised? He failed the 300+ people who voted for him and trusted him.
He failed to follow the advice of the Attorney of Record.
If you haven't read it, or heard it, the results follow:
PRESIDENT - Walton
VICE PRESIDENT - Garrison
TREASURER - Cline
SECRETARY - DeMarchi
What is worse, is when Walton was removed as President, it was because the Concerned Citizens on the Board wanted control of the Legal Chair appointment. What was one of his first moves as 2012 President? He appointed Garrison as Legal Chair. Garrison has snaked in and out of good governance over the last year. The lawsuit brought by Zieske, Thomas, and Wilson has been settled. Walton put legal in the hands of Garrison, who is still being sued in the counter suit. Why? It was obvious during the campaign leading up to the Annual Meeting that the Concerned Citizens were trying to continue their legal battles through the Board attorney, on our dime.
His next move was to appoint Barrier as Community Liaison. Barrier had this assignment during 2011 and was insulting to residents the few times he answered them. He failed to answer for months. Why appoint someone who had proven he couldn't or wouldn't do the job?
DeMarchi and Cline have tough assignments. Ask if there is anything you can do to make their jobs easier, and give them a chance to serve our community legally and ethically. If you are inclined, send McBride a note and thank him for standing up for our rights'!
THE DOCUMENT MENTIONED ABOVE FOLLOWS. USE THE ENLARGEMENT TOOL ON YOUR SCREEN TO MAKE IT READABLE.
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