WITH THE SAME OLD SAME OLD BOARD-- CAN WE EXPECT PROGRESS? I wouldn’t count on it!
Although it’s a New Year, I wouldn’t expect any new ideas from this tired Board. A few positions have changed, but their idea of cohesion and cooperation is my idea of do nothing and don’t make waves. Let’s look at their track record:
Jacky Walton remains President and Chair of the ARC. As President, Jacky is responsible for the actions of his committee chairs. He continues to ALLOW: selective responses to member concerns, personal communications from the Board to members, hearsay instead of written legal opinions, miserable and inaccurate financial reports, a failure to welcome new residents in any manner, and a steady decline in the enforcement of ARC guidelines. Yes! He has chairs for all of these functions, yet Jacky continues to condone irresponsible behavior.
Bob Garrison is, once again, Vice-president and Legal Chair. It seems that the attorney of record, Mr. Moody, does not like to put legal opinions in writing. Bob, and the rest of the Board, allow Mr. Moody to tell Mr. Garrison who comes back and tells the Board. It amazes me that any volunteer Board member would accept a he said/she said opinion. We should not have to go back and pay again for a written opinion. Our legal expenses through November are more than $5,000 over budget. We can’t see the legal bills, so no member can see why the variance. The canal sub-association was Bob’s idea and a true fiasco. Meanwhile, nothing is being done about canal or spoil site maintenance –or was this Bob’s plan.
Janine Cline has switched from Treasurer to Secretary. As Treasurer, she was unable to get the management financial reports to come even close to accurate. It seems that William Douglas is trying to force our needs to fit one of their canned programs instead of customizing to our needs. Why did it take until the December meeting for the information regarding who pays the credit card fee to come to light. The only members who were made aware of this fact were the dozen at the December meeting. Was the confusing letter accompanying our coupon book Janine’s fault or the new treasurer’s—Al DeMarchi.
Al DeMarchi has gone from Secretary to Treasurer. Hopefully, he will finally straighten out our financial reporting mess. As Secretary, Al managed to violate our By-laws by denying access to documents. He created his own reserve distribution and passed the misused confidentiality agreement by claiming that it was previously approved. He bemoaned the lack of volunteers, blamed others for ruining it, and failed to take responsibility for his own actions. He continues to be the liaison with William Douglas—what a joke!
William Douglas through Edmund LaFrance has been a big disappointment and waste of money. Is this the fault of Edmund or the fault of controlling Board members? A quick look in the correspondence file does not reveal any written evaluation or complaints about Edmund’s performance. How can anyone expect improvement if the problem isn’t identified?
THIS IS PART ONE OF A SERIES OF ARTICLES. MORE TO FOLLOW.
