I attended the May 21 board meeting. I've also gone back and listened to the tape. I have transcribed portions of the meeting, and will denote transcription with quotation marks and will underline those portions. I will relate what I heard, saw, and transcribed to the best of my ability. In all cases, if you didn't attend the meeting, you should listen to the tape yourself. Comments will be in red.
All nine board members attended the meeting.
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THE PRESIDENT'S REPORT:
President Walton reported that we are gearing up for the annual meeting. He asked for volunteers to serve on the nominating committee. If you are interested, you should contact Kathy at the office. He reminded us that there will be three board seats up for your vote.
I believe that President Walton, Garrison, and Barrier will have completed their terms. Will they run for board again? During the end of Walton's lame duck term, will he ever insist that his Community Liaison, Barrier, ever answer a resident and provide a report from the board table? Will he ask Legal Chair Garrison how he has allowed the board to operate without ALL of our by-laws, and how he has sat back and watched and voted to change policy without following our newest by-law? Will you ask him how he has allowed this to happen under his watch?
President Walton reported that we are gearing up for the annual meeting. He asked for volunteers to serve on the nominating committee. If you are interested, you should contact Kathy at the office. He reminded us that there will be three board seats up for your vote.
I believe that President Walton, Garrison, and Barrier will have completed their terms. Will they run for board again? During the end of Walton's lame duck term, will he ever insist that his Community Liaison, Barrier, ever answer a resident and provide a report from the board table? Will he ask Legal Chair Garrison how he has allowed the board to operate without ALL of our by-laws, and how he has sat back and watched and voted to change policy without following our newest by-law? Will you ask him how he has allowed this to happen under his watch?
VICE PRESIDENT'S REPORT:This report, while fairly brief, is very important. Go back and listen to this section of the tape for yourself. You'll hear vague reference to what should be, cloaked denial of an individual board member's right to review documents by the officers of the board, and a attempt to lead you to believe we are on the brink of a great new day of substantive planning.
Garrison reports that the mortgage obligation has been retired. They have paid off the dredging loan. We are now headed to the future needs of the association. The reserve study, a " financial blue print" , "NOT ENGINEERING", has arrived in preliminary report, a draft, to be reviewed by the board. He goes on to say that not everything can be done at once to maintain the community without facing financial burdens on the community. President Walton says Garrison has asked him to review it and he will make "HIS CHANGES". McBride asks to see it. DeMarchi says something about it being "senseless". Cline says she doesn't want to see it. President Walton says it is "INCORRECT". Cline tells President Walton to "MOVE ON."
This simple report speaks volumes to the extreme problems of this board, and to our individual board members' grasp for power, rather than use of the authority and guidance of good governance, respect and use of individual board member thinking and voting power, strong leadership powered by our governing documents, sound business sense, and serving in the best interests of the entire community.
*As a board member, McBride had a right to not only view the draft of the reserve study, but to REVIEW and comment on President Walton's corrections. There should never be selected, or secret information, for ANY board member! How are they expected to make the kind of decisions we elected them to make, without complete information? How arrogant of President Walton, Garrison, Cline, and DeMarchi to deny ANY board member the right to view information. How true to form for Walton, Barrier, Anderson, and McMillin to sit silently by. Your board, the apparent secret society sits by, and so do you. Where's the Concerned Citizens? Some of their leaders were in the audience. Some sit at the board table that kept the information from McBride. Why ask about the Concerned Citizens? Remember the fights at the board table in 2010, when board members were involved on one or the other side of the canal lawsuit? The fights were from Concerned Citizens wanting to see documents related to the lawsuits, even after lawyers from both sides told them they couldn't. Where's their principle now? As a member in good standing, I have a right to review the draft. I'll write the board and ask to review it.
*The reserve study, whether draft, or final product, is a farce! Your board has taken you firmly down the yellow brick road in its foundation, credibility, and projected ability to assist us in planning. Garrison himself, gives us one of the clues - it doesn't involve engineering. What he doesn't say either is that it doesn't have any financial footings, except those developed by certain individual board members - past and present, who knew everything about any and everything, and were in their own words - experts! This association has never had a PROFESSIONAL reserve study. One where our assets - roads, landing, canals, buildings, drainage, were evaluated by engineers to establish current conditions, long range needs, and dollars and a timeline attached to the document. DeMarchi assigned our reserves, apparently on study of designated expenses, over a number of years. What does that get you? A view of misspent association dollars from the dreams, biased political promises, of yesterday and today's board members' so called expertise. DeMarchi shoots himself in the foot later in this very meeting, when he says that the drainage chairs of the last six or seven years, have been wrong, but he is going to fix it. Yes, on his street and on the street that he built new homes on, at your expense. Remember, over a few years we spent over $800,000 to one vendor! We haven't done road work in two years and we are about to re-do some of the work that was done then. The only one who called for engineering in the 2010 fiasco was McBride. He was shut down, voted down by most of the board members at this board table. Anderson, road's chair, has road work being considered and is calling on engineers - real engineers, to help develop a plan for work and related expense. He is correct in the moment, but wrong in what he has sat back and voted for in regard to this reserve study. Your board, in general is trying to convince you that THEY, experts that they are have the tool.
Will you write and ask to review the reserve study contract, the draft reserve study, and ask DeMarchi what formula he used to develop assignment of our reserves, several months ago?
