You know the old saying hope springs eternal? At the advent of a new year you'll often hear that phrase. With the annual meeting comes a reorganization meeting. The board elects new officers. The president of the new board has the privilege of naming committee chairs. Hope for change, even in the circumstance where we only really got one new board member, went out the door when you review the new officers - nothing changed, and committee chairs - minor cosmetic change in two areas.
PRESIDENT: Walton, VICE PRESIDENT: Garrison, TREASURER: De Marchi, SECRETARY: Cline. Nothing changed. Once again your board elected Walton president. Walton, as president, has the power to name the committee chairs. Little changed in the committee chairs. New board member, Keith Johnson was named ARC chair. Adam Anderson was named Community Liaison. Johnson has served on ARC for some time. Anderson replaces Barrier as Community Liaison. It shouldn't be a big job because your board hasn't answered residents in well over a year and infrequently before that. When we had a management company whose responsibility was to answer residents, certain board members strangled the process to the point that no one got answered.
The point is that this board let Walton return to a job he has failed to handle. His record speaks for itself. As president, he should provide oversight to his board and their committee responsibilities. The president should distance himself from sitting on individual committees, receive information and recommendations from them, and work with the chairs through scheduling their reports on the agenda, noting motions to come to the table for a board vote, etc. In his role of board and committee supervisor, if he stays out of committee membership, he observes with clean hands. Instead, Walton has placed our governance in a incestuous position and exhibited total disregard of the benefits of true committee structure.
Incestuous? Yes. Your board doesn't publish the names of the individuals serving on committees. I'm going to have to rely on memory. If there is an error, please let me know and I'll will print a correction. For the most part, your board stacks the committees with board members, rather than building committees in the true spirit of committees, that is the inclusion of new faces, ideas, etc. Yes, our committees are incestuous, and built to keep out more people and their ideas, monitoring and contributing to our governance. Take a look at the committees. They are loaded with board members and our president's participation, rather than supervision.
ARC: Walton, De Marchi, Johnson
LEGAL: Garrison, Walton, De Marchi, (one resident)
FINANCE: De Marchi, (3 residents)
ROADS: Anderson (unsure whether any others are on the committee)
DRAINAGE: De Marchi, Walton, (unsure if others are on the committee)
WATER AMENITIES: Mc Millin, Anderson, Walton (John), Johnson, (some residents) Should be noted that McBride had served on this committee but was thrown off the committee when he brought the dock in the canal issue to the board table.
GROUNDS: Mc Millin (No one else, I called the office about this committee a few months ago.)
WELCOME: McBride (Has resident participation.)
COMPLIANCE: De Marchi (Uncertain if he has anyone left on this committee. No reports in months.) Note the committees De Marchi sits on and the fact that he is the treasurer and this is just a big NO, NO!
COMMUNICATION: Cline
This committee set up, failure to list committee members, failure to post committee meeting reports, etc., just leads to secret deals, and poor governance, while taking away the power and benefits that real committee structure provides.
President Walton fails to oversee because he is in the middle of it all, rather than supervising it. He has allowed chairs to remain in place who fail, not only to serve, but fail to perform at all - COMMUNITY LIAISON. He sits by, or participates in the ugliness that takes place at the board table almost monthly, and speaks often in behalf of motions, that at times violate our governing documents.
Hope doesn't spring eternal for 2014 in Wedgefield.
