During the January 17th WPA Board Meeting, Legal Chair Bob Garrison nominated resident Bob Nichols to serve on the Legal Committee. The motion passed. Was this action in the best interests of Wedgefield Plantation Association? Personally, I don't think so, but it goes deeper than the appointment of a resident to that particular committee. As long as we are covering the subject, we might as well address genuine concerns on the complete subject and start with the appointment of Garrison, by President Walton, as Legal Chair.
For over two years we experienced board leadership under dueling lawsuits. Real day to day governance was set aside while we existed with most of the Board, on one side of one of the lawsuits, trying to remove, diminish, or get control of legal. Thankfully, with the November 2011 election and the settlement of the lawsuit brought by Zieske, Wilson, and Thomas the majority of the Board members are not involved in a suit, one against the other. We now only have two involved in the counter suit - Garrison and McMillin.
If you remember, the Legal Chair appointment was so important to the Concerned Citizen element of the 2011 Board - Wilson, Thomas, Huggins, Barrier, and Walters that they removed Walton as President, made Wilson president, and named Huggins Legal Chair. In October 2011 they passed a motion to have Board Attorney Moody, begin to investigate legal action on some of the aspects contained in the Zieske, Wilson, Thomas lawsuit. They were prepared to use our association funds to continue their battle. Why, the Board entity had been removed from the lawsuit during the summer of 2011? Additionally, under this legal regime resident access to many records including legal, invoices, letter of engagement, etc. were cut off.
Garrison has a long recorded history with the Concerned Citizens. He was one of the Board organizers of the 2010 recall, spoke at public meetings of having fellow board members arrested for bank fraud, was part of the Board that publicly humiliated and attacked two female Board Members with threats of arrest - who were cleared of their unfounded accusations, and was one of the authors of a 2010 letter to residents recommending they put their $175.00/yr. and if applicable their $5,000 assessments in an escrow account.
In fairness, at later points in recent history it can appear that he has moved more to the middle, but just when you breathe a sigh of relief, he goes the other way. What do I mean? Most recently he wrote Board Members and told them they should follow the board attorney's advice and open the 2012 Reorganization Meeting to the membership. When residents appeared, he said he was surprised they were there and took a vote that closed the meeting.
In the least, he is still under a lawsuit brought by some residents in the community (former Board Members sued during the Zieske, Wilson, Thomas lawsuit), and a fellow Board Member. President Walton's appointment of Garrison, with a field of "untouched by the lawsuits" Board Members makes no sense.
If you didn't feel that way before, what is one of Garrison's first official moves? He nominates Bob Nichols, fellow co-author of the 2010 letter to residents recommending putting assessments in escrow.
We needn't spend more time here. Beyond these observations, there is one that is more significant. The Concerned Citizens, fall to this phrase when all else fails, "it is precedent". In regard to the Legal Committee, precedent is that until the appointment of two residents by McBride to the Legal Committee in 2011, there were no residents on the Legal Committee. At one time there was somewhat of a subcommittee who assisted the Legal Chair, in a clerical function, comparing WPA individual property records to county records. They did not have access to the Board Attorney, or attend meetings with the attorney.
Why should a resident, with the same status as you and me, be allowed to have preview of legal information and advice, that you and I don't. Why, should any individual, who we as a body, haven't elected, have that privilege?
We will never move forward if we continue to build bridges to lawsuits, hide information from the public, and make suspect appointments that interfere with good, sound governance. One more thought for the Board - two Board Members should attend every meeting with the Board Attorney.
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